en I sleep, she is with me; when I wake, I
am haunted by her image. Strange, strange! Is love then, after all, the
sudden passion which in every age poetry has termed it, though till now
my reason has disbelieved the notion?... And now, what is the question?
To resist, or to yield. Her father invites me, courts me; and I stand
aloof! Will this strength, this forbearance, last?--Shall I encourage my
mind to this decision?" Here Aram paused abruptly, and then renewed:
"It is true! I ought to weave my lot with none. Memory sets me apart
and alone in the world; it seems unnatural to me, a thought of dread--to
bring another being to my solitude, to set an everlasting watch on my
uprisings and my downsittings; to invite eyes to my face when I sleep at
nights, and ears to every word that may start unbidden from my lips. But
if the watch be the watch of love--away! does love endure for ever? He
who trusts to woman, trusts to the type of change. Affection may turn to
hatred, fondness to loathing, anxiety to dread; and, at the best, woman
is weak, she is the minion to her impulses. Enough, I will steel my
soul,--shut up the avenues of sense,--brand with the scathing-iron these
yet green and soft emotions of lingering youth,--and freeze and chain
and curdle up feeling, and heart, and manhood, into ice and age!"

CHAPTER VII.

THE POWER OF LOVE OVER THE RESOLUTION OF THE STUDENT.--ARAM
BECOMES A FREQUENT GUEST AT THE MANOR-HOUSE.--A WALK.--
CONVERSATION WITH DAME DARKMANS.--HER HISTORY.--POVERTY AND
ITS EFFECTS.

MAD. "Then, as Time won thee frequent to our hearth,

Didst thou not breathe, like dreams, into my soul

Nature's more gentle secrets, the sweet lore

Of the green herb and the bee-worshipp'd flower?

And when deep Night did o'er the nether Earth

Diffuse meek quiet, and the Heart of Heaven

With love grew breathless--didst thou not unrol

The volume of the weird chaldean stars,

And of the winds, the clouds, the invisible air,

Make eloquent discourse, until, methought,

No human lip, but some diviner spirit

Alone, could preach such truths of things divine?

And so--and so--"

ARAM. "From Heaven we turned to Earth,

And Wisdom fathered Passion."

..................

ARAM. "Wise men have praised the Peasant's thoughtless lot,

And learned Pride