mpassion of her look deepened as she spoke.

"I saw him but a week ago, vehement and vigorous as ever. He has come
hither often during the winter, has watched you unseen, and brought me
news of you which made Geoffrey's disclosure scarcely a surprise. He
said you bade him hear of you through me, that he preferred to come, not
write, for letters were often false interpreters, but face to face one
gets the real thought of one's friend by look, as well as word, and the
result is satisfactory."

"That is Adam! But what more did he say? How did you advise him? I know
he asked counsel of you, as we all have done."

"He did, and I gave it as frankly as to you and Geoffrey. He made me
understand you, judge you leniently, see in you the virtues you have
cherished despite drawbacks such as few have to struggle with. Your
father made Adam his confessor during the happy month when you first
knew him. I need not tell you how he received and preserved such a
trust. He betrayed no confidence, but in speaking of you I saw that his
knowledge of the father taught him to understand the daughter. It was
well and beautifully done, and did we need anything to endear him to us
this trait of character would do it, for it is a rare endowment, the
power of overcoming all obstacles of pride, age, and the sad reserve
self-condemnation brings us, and making confession a grateful healing."

"I know it; we tell our sorrows to such as Geoffrey, our sins to such as
Adam. But, Faith, when you spoke of me, did you say to him what you have
been saying to me about my unfitness to be his wife because of
inequality, and my unhappy inheritance?"

"Could I do otherwise when he fixed that commanding eye of his upon me
asking, 'Is my love as wise as it is warm?' He is one of those who
force the hardest truths from us by the simple fact that they can bear
it, and would do the same for us. He needed it then, for though instinct
was right,--hence his anxious question,--his heart, never so entirely
roused as now, made it difficult for him to judge of your relations to
one another, and there my woman's insight helped him."

"What did he do when you told him? I see that you will yet hesitate to
tell me. I think you have been preparing me to hear it. Speak out.
Though my cheeks whiten and my hands tremble I can bear it, for you
shall be the law by which I will abide."

"You shall be a law to yourself, my brave Sylvia. Put your hands in mine
and hold fast to the