"No. Poor Harry! He still dreams that Maria is faithful to him. I think she might have given Harry one year's remembrance."
"What did she tell you about Harry in your last interview?"
"Nothing. She was more fretful and unreasonable than I ever before saw her. She could only cry and make reproaches; we parted in sorrow, and I fear in misunderstanding."
"Yes, if you do not know the price paid for your brother's life."
"The price paid! What do you mean, Neil?"
"The night Harry was condemned to death Lord Medway came to see Maria. He told her he would save Harry's life, if she would marry him. He would listen to no compromise, and she accepted the terms. It was a decision bitter as death at the time, but she has learned to love Medway."
Agnes did not appear to listen, she was occupied with the one thought that Maria had been the saviour of her brother.
"It seems incredible," she said at length; "why did she not tell me that last—last time I saw her. It would have changed everything. Oh, Maria! Maria! how I have misjudged you!"
"You had better tell Harry, and be very positive, there is really not a shadow of hope for him. Maria had to forget; it was her first duty."
Neil spent nearly three days with his beloved, and then they had to part. But this parting was full of hope, full of happy plans for the future, full of promises in all directions. In those three days Neil forgot all the sorrowful weeks of his despairing love. As a dream when one awaketh, they slipped even from his memory. For Agnes was loving and faithful, a steady hand to hold, and a steady heart to trust. And oh, she was so lovely and desirable! As he rode joyfully home, he could think of nothing but Agnes; of her eyes, gray as mountain lakes and full of light and shadow; of her smile, that filled even silence with content; her white arms, her brown hair, the warm pallor of her cheeks catching a rosy glow from the pink dimity she wore! Oh, how perfect she was! Beauty! Love! Fidelity! all in one exquisite woman, and that one woman loved him!