al merely of our loves?'

"'A light affair perhaps to you,' she said,
'But death to me. As whim or pleasure points,
You can go here, go there, and lead the life
You most affect; while I, the home-kept slave
Of others' humors, must brave poverty,
Neglect and cruel treatment.'--'Did you say
Poverty, Anna?'--'Do not breathe a word
Of what I tell you: father is a bankrupt,
Or soon will be; and we shall be compelled
To quit our freestone house, and breathe the air
Of squalid want. From that I'd not recoil,
Could I have loving looks and words; for what
Is poverty if there's but love to gild it?
Ah! poverty'--'Nay, Anna, poverty
You shall not know, only accept from me
The means to fix you in becoming plenty.'
'Never!' she cried; 'ah! cruel to propose it!'
And then more tears; till, touched and foiled, I said,
Looking her in the face while she gazed up
In mine with eager tenderness,--'Accept
A happy home, if I can help to make it.
We will be married, Anna, when you please.'

"And so she had her way, and we were married;
And the next day all Wall Street was aroused
By news that brave Papa had won renown
Not simply as a bankrupt, but a swindler,
Escaping, by the skin of his teeth, the Tombs.
'No matter! Papa has a son-in-law,
A greenhorn, as they say, who occupies
A stately house on the Fifth Avenue,
And, in his hall, Papa will hang his hat.'
And, in all this, Rumor but hit the truth.

"Six months rolled by. Repeatedly I asked,
'Where's Brother Ambrose?' He, it seems, was held
In such request by government, that rarely
Could he be spared for home enjoyment; but
At length I did encounter Brother Ambrose,
And once again I found him--

"Well, the scales
Dropped from my eyes. I asked no other proof
Than a quick look I saw the two exchange,--
Forgetful of a mirror at their side,--
To see I was betrayed. He was no brother.
I sought more proof; but they, imagining
I knew more than I did, were swift to act.
Before I could find steps for a divorce
She stole a march upon me, and herself
Took the initiative, and played the victim,
Nipping me as a culprit in the law.

"It was a plot so dexterously framed,
All the precautions and contrivances
Were with such craft foreplanned; the perjuries
Were all so well adjusted; my pure life
Was made to seem so black; the witnesses
Were so well dri