Determination
“But alas! to make me A fixed figure for the time of scorn To point his slow unmoving finger at!”
“Let me but bear your love, I’ll bear your cares.”
“Paula!”
They had reached home and were standing in the library.
“Yes,” said she, lowering her head before his gaze with a sweet and conscious blush.
“Did you read the letter I left for you in my desk upstairs?”
She put her hand to her bosom and drew forth the closely written sheet. “Every word,” she responded, and smilingly returned it to its place.
He started and his chest heaved passionately. “You have read it,” he cried, “and yet could follow me into that den of unknown dangers at an hour like this, and with no other guide than Bertram?”
“Yes,” she answered.
He drew a deep breath and his brow lost its deepest shadow. “You do not despise me then,” he exclaimed. “My sin has not utterly blotted me out of your regard?”
The glance with which she replied seemed to fill the whole room with its radiance. “I am only beginning to realize the worth of the man who has hitherto been a mystery to me,” she declared. Then as he shook his