e I thought would
continue to be such through life. Bah! They are nearly all married or
engaged; their lives have drifted completely away from mine, as it was
natural and inevitable that they should. We are good friends still,
but what does it amount to? I rarely think of them; they never of
me, I imagine. We exert no influence on each other's lives, and add
nothing to them. I never had a sister, but I had learned to love you
as if you were one, and when I heard that you were to be of our family
again, the resumption of our old relations was one of my dearest
expectations. It hurt me cruelly, Madge, when you laughed at the
idea as preposterous, and told me that I had forgotten myself when
following the most natural impulse of my heart. It seemed to me the
result of prudishness, rather than womanly delicacy, unless you have
changed in heart as greatly as in externals. You could be so much
to me as a sister. It is a relationship that I have always craved--a
sister not far removed from me in age; and such a tie, it appears to
me, might form the basis of a sympathy and confidence that would be
as frank as unselfish and helpful. That is what I looked forward to in
you, Madge. Why on earth can it not be?"

She was painfully embarrassed, and was glad that his words were spoken
under the cover of night. She trembled, for his question probed deep.
How could she explain that what was so natural for him was impossible
for her? He mistook her hesitation for a sign of acquiescence, and
continued: "Wherein have I failed to act like a brother? During the
years we were together was I not reasonably kind and considerate? You
did not think of yourself then as one of my young lady friends.
Why should you now? I have not changed, and, as I have said, I have
returned hungry for kindred and the quieter pleasures of home. It is
time that I was considering the more serious questions of life, and of
course the supreme question with a man of my years is that of a home
of his own. I have never been able to think of such a home and not
associate you with it. I can invite my sister to it and make her a
part of it, but I cannot invite young lady friends. A sister can be
such a help to a fellow; and it seems to me that I could be of no
little aid to you. I know the world and the men you will meet in
society. Unless you seclude yourself, you will be as great a belle as
Miss Wildmere. You also have a fine property of your own. Will it be
nothing to ha