delight to
the time of his return, could you bear thus to dash his dearest prospects
to the earth?"

"But he must know it, mother. I could not marry him with a lie in my right
hand."

"It will not be so, Alice; you cannot help loving Arthur, above all men,
when you are with him; so noble, so generous, so gifted with all that is
calculated to inspire affection, you will wonder your heart has ever
wavered."

"But it has," said Alice; "and he must know all."

"Of course," said Mrs. Weston; "nothing would justify your having any
reserve with him, but this is not the time for explanation. If I believed
that you really and truly loved Walter, so as to make it impossible for you
to forget him and return Arthur's affection; if I thought you could not one
day regard Arthur as he deserves, I would not wish you to remain silent for
a day. It would be an injustice, and a sin, to do so. Yet I feel assured
that there is no such danger.

"A woman, Alice, rarely marries her first love, and it is well that it is
so. Her feelings, rather than her judgment, are then enlisted, and both
should be exercised when so fearful a thing as marriage is concerned. You
have been a great deal with Walter, and have always regarded him tenderly,
more so of late, because the feelings strengthen with time, and Walter's
situation is such as to enlist all your sympathies; his fascinating
appearance and interesting qualities have charmed your affections. You see
him casting from him the best friends he has ever had, because he feels
condemned of ingratitude in their society. He is going forth on the voyage
of life, alone, you weep as any sister would, to see him thus. I do not
blame him for loving you; but I do censure him in the highest degree, for
endeavoring to win more than a sister's regard from you, in return; it was
selfish and dishonorable. More than all, I blame myself for not foreseeing
this. You said yesterday, you could not bear the thought of being separated
from Arthur. You do not know your own heart, many a woman does not, until
time has been her teacher; let it be yours. Cousin Janet has thus advised
you; be guided by us, and leave this thing to rest for a while; you will
have reason to rejoice in having done so. Would you leave me for Walter,
Alice?"

"No, mother. How could you ask me?"

"Then trust me; I would not answer for your uncle's safety were we to speak
to him on this subject. How cruel to pain him, when a few months may
r