Claudius merely bent his head as if to indorse the contents of the paper, and was silent.

The Duke read the papers carefully through, and examined one of them very minutely by the light.

Then he laid them down with a certain reverence, as things he respected.
"My dear Claudius--" he rose and extended his hand to the young man with a gesture that had in it much of dignity and something of pride.

"My dear Claudius, I shall all my life remember that you honoured me with your confidence.

I accepted it as a token of friendship, but I am now able to look upon it as a very great distinction." "And I, Duke, shall never forget that you believed in me on my own merits, before you were really able to swear that I was myself." Claudius had also risen, and their hands remained clasped a moment.