be thought of at this time in reference to her condition the young man started so suddenly at this that he his aching limb and uttered a cry of pain you ought to know he complained his face con love gone astray with suffering from a double cause that such a warning is unnecessary not only to day but never if there is any way to prevent it shall i allude in the most remote degree to any peculiarity in that matter i trust though my present position may lead you to doubt it that i have still in my veins the blood of a gentleman the made haste to the disagreeable effect of his suggestion and when he had succeeded in so doing he went to write the note to mrs gray informing her of the reason why she must come to his office instead of to the parlor of the hotel which had formerly been for the meeting he smiled gravely as he began the with the words my dear mrs g i regret to inform you that your husband has met with a slight accident when he had placed the letter in an envelope he did not write any address on the outside but gave it to his most faithful assistant with orders to put it into no hands but those of colonel s daughter at the hour came to the office and was escorted into gray s presence mr remained only long enough to make his and then with a smile left them together it took but a glance to show mr gray the beauty of the young girl he had promised to take foi his wife even the terrible suffering she had under gone could not blot out the loveliness of her features which must have been handsome short months before her form was rounded show husband and wife ing an earlier than usual development and she dressed with a quiet taste that spoke volumes for her judgment in such matters her eyes and were dark these observations were the easier made because the girl kept her gaze to the carpet for some seconds after she entered the room but before she spoke one opinion that had formed itself unconsciously in his mind there was nothing in her of the he had supposed if she was pale she was not weak her veins were full of rich blood that only the strangeness of the occasion had driven from her cheeks and still she seemed withal the of modesty and he could not understand no not in the least how it could be true what he had heard of her and there was nothing yet to testify at least to his inexperienced eyes the cause of her presence in that chamber it was she who first broke the silence i am sorry you have been hurt she said in a low but rich voice you are kind to say so he answered and his own tones sounded strange to him as if they were another s a horse with mine as i was riding this morning the doctor says i shall be out in a week then he paused having reached the end of all he wanted to say on that point he realized now with eyes averted that she was studying him as intently as he had been studying her she had as much reason perhaps when a girl is to live with a man for love gone astray the rest of her days it is important to know what he is like saw that her future lord was not ugly in appearance and that his bearing was agreeable though naturally somewhat strained at this time with a thought to the opinion of the world which she had begun a little late to care for she decided that he would satisfy as a suitable mate for her i am glad it is no worse she said when the silence became painful she looked about the room the pictures while he stole another searching glance at her features how he asked himself again could such a girl as that be won to it was inconceivable she who could hardly muster courage to talk there with him in a closed room while he lay helpless on a sofa this reflection was in his countenance when turning suddenly to speak again she saw it there and paused with a crimson cheek oh this is too hard she exclaimed bursting into sobs yes it is too hard for both of us i did not think you would mind not in the same way i do i did not realize what it must mean to you much distressed gray raised himself on an elbow and her to be calm all the chivalry in his nature was aroused he pitied the girl from the bottom of his heart her unexpected flood of raised her immensely in his estimation everything is arranged now everything is understood he answered soothingly mr has husband and wife procured the of of our marriage let me beg you not to repeat these she arose and threw herself on the floor by the side of the sofa laying her head on his bosom while she wept softly he was distressed as much by this move as the former one but he had not the heart to forbid it at least it led in the direction they would ultimately have to take listen he said when she had grown a little we must understand everything exactly alike let us see if we agree on all points for as we have one story to tell there must be no miss i mean mrs gray take your chair again and let us see if there is anything in which we differ the girl rose and took the seat fixing her gaze on a figure in the carpet and answering with that like accuracy which often of mind it was the 