Simply, then, for I have been quite tormenting enough, Eugene has striven long with himself to conquer his love, to be happy as your friend; associating with you as he does with Emmeline, but he cannot.

He still loves you, Caroline, as devotedly, as faithfully--perhaps more so than when he first offered you his hand; he dares not renew that offer himself, for he feels a second refusal from your lips would wound him too deeply.

Your voice may chain him to England, an altered and a happier man, or send him from its shores a misanthrope and wretched: it is for you to decide, Caroline, dearest.

Must I plead with that eloquence, which you said would surpass even his own, or will the pleadings of your own kind heart suffice ?" She paused, in evident emotion, for with a faint cry Caroline had thrown herself on her neck, and buried her cheek upon her shoulder.

Every limb trembled with agitation; the ecstatic delight of that one moment--doubt was, indeed, at an end.