"You have tried to break me in to the loss of your society by degrees; you have not come here for three days."
"I was busy—disagreeable things occurred at home—I had no opportunity. But it is better as it is—we must now part, and I hope you will forget me"——
"Forget you! That is impossible. But I shall try to find methods of enduring the separation."
"I trust you will—I did not mean to part from you in unkindness: your voice is altered—your eyes are changed"——
"Because I am Edgar Ravenswood no longer; nor you Lucy Ashton. You made me know, for the first time in my life, what it was to have a true and absorbing attachment. I worshipped you with the fervour of a boy—I loved you with the sincerity of a man. You played me off for the gratification of your paltry triumph over affections that were too valuable to be wasted on a flirt. I have heard of the assize ball—I have heard of young Jeeks—I have unmasked you, and you are Betsy Juffles."
A glance—bright and sparkling, but instantly subdued—appeared for a moment in her eyes, which now swam in tears.
"Be it so, then. If I were to stay longer in this part of the world, I might perhaps try to set myself right in your eyes; but as it is"——she paused, and sighed.
"You go then soon?"
"I go to-morrow."