“I am so glad, so glad,” was all the burden of the girl’s cry while the world thought she was disconsolate.
And by and by Mrs. Hamilton, disheveled and tearful, rushed into the room and took her into her arms.
“Poor darling, how you have suffered! How much you have gone through!” she cried, in passionate sympathy.
“Oh, auntie, you believe in me after all you have heard?” incredulously.
“As in the angels, my darling. I was angry at first, but my brother has gone over it with me, and I see my mistake. Reggie was hasty and foolish. He will repent and beg you to forgive him to-morrow.”
“I am not angry, auntie. I am only too glad to be free.”
“Eva!”
“Yes, I was trying to love him, but there was another yet dearer, and I could not blot him from my heart.”
Long and earnestly they talked, until the midnight hour chimed, and they sought the restful slumber needed so much after such excitement.
Some there were who did not rest well that night, but Eva was not of them.