was not a Nihilist, or a free-lover, or an atheist, or an
unprincipled fellow with a dangerous temper, yet I was curious to
see him as he really was.

"If you only knew how happy you had made me!" he was saying. And
indeed, as far as happiness went, there was not much to choose
between them, I fancy; for Gertrude Morley looked radiant, and in
her clove-like eyes there was the reflection of the love which
flashed in his.

"You must talk to my mother about it," she said after a minute's
silence. "You see, I am still under age, and she and Uncle Henry my
guardian must consent before we are actually betrothed."

"I will see them at once," said Zaluski, eagerly.

"You could see my mother," she replied. "But Uncle Henry is still
in Sweden and will not be in town for another week."

"Must we really wait so long!" sighed Sigismund impatiently.

She laughed at him gently.

"A whole week! But then we are sure of each other. I do not think
we ought to grumble."

"But perhaps they may think that a merchant is no fitting match for
you," he suggested. "I am nothing but a plain merchant, and my I
people have been in the same business for four generations. As far
as wealth goes I might perhaps satisfy your people, but for the rest