“I have read those letters.”
Charles colored.
“How did it happen?” she continued; “how came I here? Truly, I do not know. I am tempted not to regret too much that I have read them; they have made me know your heart, your soul, and—”
“And what?” asked Charles.
“Your plans, your need of a sum—”
“My dear cousin—”
“Hush, hush! my cousin, not so loud; we must not wake others. See,” she said, opening her purse, “here are the savings of a poor girl who wants nothing. Charles, accept them! This morning I was ignorant of the value of money; you have taught it to me. It is but a means, after all. A cousin is almost a brother; you can surely borrow the purse of your sister.”
Eugenie, as much a woman as a young girl, never dreamed of refusal; but her cousin remained silent.
“Oh! you will not refuse?” cried Eugenie, the beatings of whose heart could be heard in the deep silence.
Her cousin’s hesitation mortified her; but the sore need of his position came clearer still to her mind, and she knelt down.