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vaunted themselves upon the antiquity of their line, and were randeur than was quite well-bred

When I knew them they were not wealthy, or in what they would have

called 'society' Indeed, the -house

near the law-school I attended There were several sons--very

decent, enterprising fellows But one lived at hohter,

the wife of a lieutenant in the navy, whom I never saw I boarded

with thehter! Hoas that?"

"I must have expressed myself aardly if I conveyed any such idea

I did notcruise

The wife I met constantly--knew very well You need not look at me

so intently, love, as if you feared that some dark mystery lurked

behind this matter-of-fact recital If I do not tell you every event

of my former life, it is not because it was vile I could not

sustain the light of your innocent eyes if I had ever been guilty of

aught dishonorable or cri man's early career are not fit themes for your ears And I

was no wiser, no e; was

apt to believe that fair which was only specious, and that I ed tools Nor had I seen you then, my

treasure--my snow-drop of purity! Mabel! do you kno sole it is to be loved and trusted by a man, as I love and confide

in you? It terrifies me when I think of the absoluteness ofyou--how

poor, wretched, and miserable I should be without you I shall not

draw a free breath until you are mine beyond the chance of recall"