"Don't promise too hastily. You may be offended if I tell you my poor boy's secret."
"No, no," answered Grace; but her agitation showed that she began to suspect.
"Plainly then, my dear young lady, he is madly, hopelessly in love with you."
Grace half-rose from her seat, while her expressive face showed a variety of contending emotions.
"Do not be angry," implored Mrs. Vernon. "The poor boy cannot help it. He never would have dared speak to you, nor would he have allowed me to come to you had he known my intention."
"May you not be mistaken?" asked Grace, in a low voice.
"No; he has spoken to me more than once about his love, and in his delirium your name has been constantly upon his lips."
"I did not dream of this," she said; "it distresses me."
"I knew you would sympathize with us," said the poor mother.