"No—no; Heaven forbid!"
A bright flush came over the face of the young girl, and clasping her hands, she said—
"Oh, sir, do not play with feelings that perhaps you scarcely guess at. Do not tamper with a heart so near breaking as mine. It is cruel—cruel!"
"Do I deserve such a charge," said the colonel, "even by implication?"
"No—no," said Arabella. "Recollect yourself, Johanna. You are unjust to one who has shown himself to be your friend, and a friend to him whom you hope to see again."
Johanna held out her little child-like hand to the colonel, and looking appealingly in his face, she said—
"Can you forgive me? It was not I who spoke, but it was the agony of my heart that fashioned itself at the moment into words my better judgment and my better feelings will not own. Can you forgive me?"
"Can I, Miss Oakley! Oh, do not ask me. God grant that I could make you happy."
"I thank you, sir, deeply and truly thank you; and—and—now—now—"
"Now, you would say, tell me my news."