"This is too much!" he muttered, at length, in the bitterness of his heart. "I could endure poverty, without uttering a complaint for myself; I could endure anything but this!"
"Why, Ammy, what is the matter?" cried Mrs. Burgess, in alarm.
"Nothing—only we are beggars!" answered Hamilton, abruptly.
"Have you been unfortunate?" calmly asked his wife, affectionately taking him by the arm.
"Yes—the most unfortunate of men! I am ruined—we are beggars—but"—
"Dear Ammy, you must not let this cast you down. Business failures frequently happen, but they ought never to destroy domestic happiness. Come, how bad off are we? Are we really beggars?"
"My creditors will take everything," answered Hamilton, gloomily.
"They will not take us from each other," said Lizzie.
Mr. Burgess looked at his young wife with a bitter smile.
"Are you such a deceiver?" he muttered through his teeth. "Can you talk thus when you have just dismissed a lover?"