But he had found her now; they had met once more, and oh, why need they part again?
Why might he not seek her father, and beseech his blessing and consent?
His words were eloquent, his tone impassioned, and hard indeed the struggle they occasioned.

But Marie wavered not in the repetition of the same miserable truth, under the impression of which they had separated before.

She conjured him to leave her, to forget the existence of this hidden valley, for danger threatened her father and herself if it was discovered.

So painful was her evident terror, that Arthur pledged his honor never to reveal it, declaring that to retrace the path by which he had discovered it, was even to himself impossible.

But still he urged her, what was this fatal secret?
Why was it sin to love him?
Was she the betrothed of another?
and the large drops starting to the young man's brow denoted the agony of the question.
"No, Arthur, no," was the instant rejoinder: "I never could love, never could be another's, this trial is hard enough, but it is all I have to bear.