the love that for a brief while it i say i loved and in proportion to the sincerity of that love i afterwards measured the intensity of my hate i a brilliant may had begun in paris the foliage was all in its beauty of pale green leaf the were bright with flowers and the gay city looked its loveliest my father was still ed by his affairs in england but i knew he would not remain away much longer now as he was anxious to relieve me of some of the more cares of business before the time for my marriage came too close at hand st was also expected back daily her mother had recovered and she had therefore nothing to detain her any longer in told me this news and i noticed that she did not seem at all over enthusiastic concerning her cousin s return like a fool i flattered myself that this was because i had now become the first in her affections and that as a perfectly natural consequence the once adored was bound to occupy a lower and vastly inferior place i was full of my own joy my own triumph and i was blind to anything else but these true i did remark on one or two occasions during my visits to her that my was sometimes not quite so brilliant as usual that there was a certain and ethereal delicacy about her features that was suggestive of hidden suffering that her deep blue eyes seemed larger than the used to be � larger darker and more intense in their of expression that now and then her lips quivered when i kissed her and that there were moments when she appeared to be on the verge tears put i attributed all these signs of subdued ro emotion to the nervous excitement a young girl would feel at the swift approach of her marriage day i knew she wa exceedingly sensitive and for this reason i rather looked forward to the return of as i felt certain that she with her womanly tact quiet wa s and strong tenderness for would by her very presence in the house do much to soothe my little s highly strung and over wrought condition and would also take a great deal of the fatigue of preparation for the wedding off her hands still i did not really think very deeply about it any and i was rather taken by surprise one afternoon when on calling to leave some flowers for en the servant begged me to enter and wait in the drawing room for a few minutes as the de had expressed a particular wish to see me alone on a matter of importance i crossed the familiar threshold i remember that day with a strange dull sensation at my heart and as the doors of the great were thrown open for me a shiver seized me as though it were winter instead of spring the room looked bare and blank in spite of its rich furniture and no came in to greet me and i stood hat in hand leaning against the edge of the grand piano gazing through the window and wondering foolishly to myself why the gardener usually so neat had left a heap of the past winter s dead leaves in one corner of the outside gravel path there they were an ugly brown pile of them and every now and then the light may wind fluttered them blowing two or three off to whirl like dark against the clear blue sky i was still meditating on this trifle and comparing those swept up of decay with the cluster of rich red roses i had just brought for my and which i had laid carefully down on a side table near me when the door was opened softly and closed again with equal care and the de approached she looked worn and anxious and there was a puzzled pain and sorrow in her eyes that filled me with alarm i caught my breath � is she ill i faltered i knew not what she is not well began the co gently then paused my heart beat violently it is something dangerous you have sent for a physician you here my attempted self control gave and i exclaimed let me see her i must � i madame i have the right to see her why do you hinder me the laid her hand on my arm in a manner and smiled a little be tranquil there is nothing serious the matter to day it is true she is not well she has been weeping violently re � such tears � and the mother s voice quivered slightly as she spoke � i have asked her a hundred times the cause of her distress and she me it is nothing � always nothing but i think there must be some reason she who is generally so bright and happy would scarcely weep so long and without cause � and this is why i wished to speak to you mon � to ask ou � is the love between j ou both as great as ever i stared at her amazed what a silly woman she was i thought to make such an odd and altogether unnecessary inquiry most mt is madame i replied with emphatic earnestness it is even greater on ni part and of her tenderness i have never had a moment s occasion to doubt that she sheds tears at all is of itself distressing news to me � but nevertheless it is true that girls will often weep for nothing especially when they are a little over strung and excited as may be at the time she � with a very natural regret for which i should be the last to blame her � that ver soon she will have to leave her home and your care � the change from 