“Yes! Go on!”
“It was at the Governor’s levee, where I was first introduced to her, and where you met after a long absence; I was present at the casual meeting. I beheld the strong emotion that she could not conceal. Some hours after that I was near her, when unobserved by all except myself, and unconscious of my presence also, she chanced to witness the reconciliation between yourself and your chosen bride. I saw her face grow paler than death, and then the meek head bow in submission, and the meek hands fold as in prayer, and the meek voice murmur low and fervently, ‘Thank God! Oh! God help me to say that sincerely.’ I had been interested in her before; but I saw that, and I loved her from that hour, the sweet, the lovely, the Madonna-like maiden! I loved her with an affection as free from passion as it was from selfishness, and as free from both as her own pure, saintly nature. And I offered her my heart and hand, as I said. And she sweetly and gratefully declined them, as I might have known before;—unveiling the sanctuary of her priceless heart, to quiet me forever with the revelation of another master there.”
“Oh, God! Oh, God!” said Clifton.
“What disturbs you so, Archer?”
“Never mind. Never mind! And so, rejecting you as a lover, she won you as a friend?”
“For life and death and eternity. Yes.”
“That was a triumph! Rejected lovers seldom become friends! That was a rare triumph! But then Catherine is a rare woman.”
“Very rare!”
“Truly nick-named ‘Maria Theresa.’”
“Catherine! ‘Maria Theresa?’ By whom? By some one, I suppose, who, recognizing her strong, practical mind, sees nothing better in her nature—sees not the pure heart and the lofty spirit of infinitely higher value than that.”