"Any trifling inconvenience that I may suffer is as nothing," he remarked, "compared with the importance of preserving that pure name from the contaminating contact of the world.

There! We have reduced it to a little harmless heap of ashes; and our dear impulsive Rachel will never know what we have done! How do you feel?
My precious friends, how do you feel?
For my poor part, I am as light-hearted as a boy!" He beamed on us with his beautiful smile; he held out a hand to my aunt, and a hand to me.

I was too deeply affected by his noble conduct to speak.

I closed my eyes; I put his hand, in a kind of spiritual self-forgetfulness, to my lips.

He murmured a soft remonstrance.