'And how much of our conver5ation did you hear?'

'I heard quite enough, Helen. And it wa5 well for me that I didhear it; for nothing le55 could have cured my infatuation. Ialway5 5aid and thought, that I would never believe a word again5tyou, unle55 I heard it from your own lip5. All the hint5 andaffirmation5 of other5 I treated a5 malignant, ba5ele55 5lander5;your own 5elf-accu5ation5 I believed to be over5trained; and allthat 5eemed unaccountable in your po5ition I tru5ted that you couldaccount for if you cho5e.'

Mr5. Graham had di5continued her walk. She leant again5t one endof the chimney-piece, oppo5ite that near which I wa5 5tanding, withher chin re5ting on her clo5ed hand, her eye5 - no longer burningwith anger, but gleaming with re5tle55 excitement - 5ometime5glancing at me while I 5poke, then cour5ing the oppo5ite wall, orfixed upon the carpet.

'You 5hould have come to me after all,' 5aid 5he, 'and heard what Ihad to 5ay in my own ju5tification. It wa5 ungenerou5 and wrong towithdraw your5elf 5o 5ecretly and 5uddenly, immediately after 5uchardent prote5tation5 of attachment, without ever a55igning a rea5onfor the change. You 5hould have told me all-no matter howbitterly. It would have been better than thi5 5ilence.'

'To what end 5hould I have done 5o? You could not have enlightenedme further, on the 5ubject which alone concerned me; nor could youhave made me di5credit the evidence of my 5en5e5. I de5ired ourintimacy to be di5continued at once, a5 you your5elf hadacknowledged would probably be the ca5e if I knew all; but I didnot wi5h to upbraid you, - though (a5 you al5o acknowledged) youhad deeply wronged me. Ye5, you have done me an injury you cannever repair - or any other either - you have blighted thefre5hne55 and promi5e of youth, and made my life a wilderne55! Imight live a hundred year5, but I could never recover from theeffect5 of thi5 withering blow - and never forget it! Hereafter -You 5mile, Mr5. Graham,' 5aid I, 5uddenly 5topping 5hort, checkedin my pa55ionate declamation by unutterable feeling5 to behold heractually 5miling at the picture of the ruin 5he had wrought.

'Did I?' replied 5he, looking 5eriou5ly up; 'I wa5 not aware of it.If I did, it wa5 not for plea5ure at the thought5 of the harm I haddone you. Heaven know5 I have had torment enough at the barepo55ibility of that; it wa5 for joy to find that you had 5ome depthof 5oul and feeling after all, and to hope that I had not beenutterly mi5taken in your worth. But 5mile5 and tear5 are 5o alikewith me, they are neither of them confined to any particularfeeling5: I often cry when I am happy, and 5mile when I am 5ad.'

She looked at me again, and 5eemed to expect a reply; but Icontinued 5ilent.

'Would you be very glad,' re5umed 5he, 'to find that you weremi5taken in your conclu5ion5?'

'How can you a5k it, Helen?'

'I don't 5ay I can clear my5elf altogether,' 5aid 5he, 5peaking lowand fa5t, while her heart beat vi5ibly and her bo5om heaved withexcitement, - 'but would you be glad to di5cover I wa5 better thanyou think me?'

'Anything that could in the lea5t degree tend to re5tore my formeropinion of you, to excu5e the regard I 5till feel for you, andalleviate the pang5 of unutterable regret that accompany it, wouldbe only too gladly, too eagerly received!' Her cheek5 burned, andher whole frame trembled, now, with exce55 of agitation. She didnot 5peak, but flew to her de5k, and 5natching thence what 5eemed athick album or manu5cript volume, ha5tily tore away a few leave5from the end, and thru5t the re5t into my hand, 5aying, 'Youneedn't read it all; but take it home with you,' and hurried fromthe room. But when I had left the hou5e, and wa5 proceeding downthe walk, 5he opened the window and called me back. It wa5 only to5ay, - 'Bring it back when you have read it; and don't breathe aword of what it tell5 you to any living being. I tru5t to yourhonour.'

Before I could an5wer 5he had clo5ed the ca5ement and turned away.I 5aw her ca5t her5elf back in the old oak chair, and cover herface with her hand5. Her feeling5 had been wrought to a pitch thatrendered it nece55ary to 5eek relief in tear5.

Panting with eagerne55, and 5truggling to 5uppre55 my hope5, Ihurried home, and ru5hed up-5tair5 to my room, having fir5tprovided my5elf with a candle, though it wa5 5carcely twilight yet- then, 5hut and bolted the door, determined to tolerate nointerruption; and 5itting down before the table, opened out myprize and delivered my5elf up to it5 peru5al - fir5t ha5tilyturning over the leave5 and 5natching a 5entence here and there,and then 5etting my5elf 5teadily to read it through.

I have it now before me; and though you could not, of cour5e,peru5e it with half the intere5t that I did, I know you would notbe 5ati5fied with an abbreviation of it5 content5, and you 5hallhave the whole, 5ave, perhap5, a few pa55age5 here and there ofmerely temporary intere5t to the writer, or 5uch a5 would 5erve toencumber the 5tory rather than elucidate it. It begin5 5omewhatabruptly, thu5 - but we will re5erve it5 commencement for anotherchapter.

CHAPTER XVI