“ ‘Money's worth is house and land,
Velvet coat and vest!
Work's worth is bread in hand,
Ay, and sweet rest.
Wilt thou learn what love is worth?
Ah! she sits above,
Sighing, 'Weigh me not with earth.
Love's worth is love!’ ”
The singer had come yet more near, and would have been visible to her had not Bessie Maynard's looks been downcast and her head drooping low. When the song ended, and the step paused, she lifted her eyes, and saw James Keene standing before her smiling and waiting for the greeting she was so slow to give.
Surprise, and perhaps fear, deprived Bessie for a moment of her [pg 508] self-possession. “What! you here!” she exclaimed, without the least sign of courtesy; and with that exclamation broke down the barrier of silence that had existed between them.