"I know--I know; but my promise stands in the way."
"What promise?"
"Gerald is promised to another--I cannot depart from my word."
Margaret smiled tenderly.
"What is the name of the young lady?"
"Miss Forester. You saw her on the unhappy night on which my friend left my house with his daughter."
"It was an unhappy night for all of us. Did this promise not bind you----"
He took up her words.
"Did this promise not bind me, I would, if I could find the courage to do so, and were I assured that Gerald and Lucy truly loved each other, go to my friend--of whose goodness every time that I speak of him brings fresh proof--and ask the hand of his daughter for my son."
Such happiness stirred Margaret's heart at these words that he felt her warm tears upon his hand as she kissed it again and again.