"It would indeed be a difficult matter for a lover to decide between two so much alike in beauty, grace, and loveliness." "Strange that I did not think of this before, mamma," said the childlike Fanny with an air of much wisdom.

"The poet must certainly have experienced the same predicament when he wrote: "How happy could I be with either, Were t'other dear charmer away." A week had elapsed after Maude had arrived at the castle when a hastily written note was received by Fanny Trevelyan from the former, containing sad news from Rome.

Gerald Bereford had apparently recovered, and was on the eve of returning home when he was suddenly seized with hemorrhage of the lungs, which rapidly reduced him and brought on prostration.

Medical assistance had been obtained, but he now lay in a critical state, every means being used to prevent another attack, in which case there could be no hope.
Maude Bereford had penned those lines in bitter anguish.

She loved her brother from the depths of her heart.