"How! do you know Charles Hadley?" she inquired, with deepened interest.
"Ah, I perceive you are not unacquainted with the history of the young lady. Perhaps I am addressing Miss Mandeville in person?"
"Your supposition is true, my name is Mandeville. But you have not answered my question yet."
"Pardon me, fair lady, for my seeming rude neglect. Yes, I know Mr. Hadley well, and a better man does not live. He is my near and dear friend."
"Do you say so much? Then it is from him you have a message?"
"It is."
"Oh! tell me, is he well?"
"He is, but is longing to hear from you, to see you, to know that you are still spared by the hand of death."
"You speak as though he were near. Is it indeed so?"
"It is, fair lady; he awaits your presence, or such word as you may be pleased to send him, a short way from here, in the denser portion of the forest, not wishing to transgress your father's commands contrary to your wishes, or to expose himself to the displeasure of your parent, lest it bring trouble and disquiet to your own heart. But please read the note he commissioned me to bear to you; it probably explains the matter better than I can, as he only confided to me such facts as were essentially necessary for me to know, in order to an intelligent performance of the part he has allotted to me as his friend."