When Paula withdrew hers, she preserved her composure better than the governor's wife, and said quite calmly, though her cheeks were burning: "Then we will try to part without any ill-will, and I thank you for having made that possible.

To-morrow morning I hope I may be permitted to take leave of my uncle in peace, for I love him; and of little Mary." "But you need not go now! On the contrary, I urgently request you to stay," Neforis eagerly put in.
"George will not let you leave.

You yourself know how fond he is of you." "He has often been as a father to me," said Paula, and even her eyes shone through tears.

"I would gladly have stayed with him till the end.
Still, it is fixed--I must go." "And if your uncle adds his entreaties to mine ?" "It will be in vain." Neforis took the maiden's hand in her own again, and tried with genuine anxiety to persuade her,--but Paula was firm.

She adhered to her determination to leave the governor's house in the morning.
"But where will you find a suitable house ?" cried Neforis.