"Does that letter offer you any suggestion ?" "I'm to give him some hope--what hope can I give him ?" "You're a free woman--free to marry.

For the boy's sake the mother will consent.

When she knows you as well as we know you she will--" "She will--what?
Love me ?" "She's a woman not given to loving--except, in unexpected bursts, her offspring.

But she will respect you." She stood for a few moments silent, her arm resting against the window jamb and her head on her arm.

She remained there so long that at last I rose and, looking at her face, saw that her eyes were full of tears.