"Oh, my poor dear!" she cried, when she saw him. "How terribly ill you look! Why didn't you tell me? I felt there was something wrong with you when I had no word." She carefully laid the sleeping child on the couch and returned to embrace her husband.
"Don't, Mary!" said he, keeping her back.
"Oh, James dear!" she said, clasping her hands. "What has gone wrong? You look worn to death!"
"Everything's gone wrong, Mary!" he answered. "My whole life's gone wrong!"
"What do you mean?" she asked in breathless terror. "What have you in your hand?"
He held out to her the letter, and sat down and covered his face.
"Oh, but this is good news, James!" she exclaimed. "You are elected minister at Upton!"
"I can't go, Mary! I can no longer be minister there or anywhere!"
"James, my darling!" She knelt beside him, and put her arms about him. "Something has happened to you! Tell me what it is!" But he held his peace. "Remember, my dear, that we are all the world to each other; remember that when we were married we said we should never have any secret from each other! Tell me your trouble, my dear!"