there, with their mischievous little twinkle upon occasion, and--in
fact, Jane can be as provoking as ever when she takes the fancy, for
she is as sure of my affection now as upon the morning of that rare
ride to Windsor. Aye, surer, since she knows that in all these years
it has changed only to grow greater and stronger and truer in the
fructifying light of her sweet face, and the nurturing warmth of her
pure soul. What a blessed thing it is for a man to love his wife and
be satisfied with her, and to think her the fairest being in all the
world; and how thrice happy is he who can stretch out the sweetest
season of his existence, the days of triumphant courtship, through the
flying years of all his life, and then lie down to die in the quieted
ecstasy of a first love.

So Jane halted my effort to pour out my heart, as she always did.

"There is something that greatly troubles me," she said.

"What is it?" I asked in some concern.

"My mistress," she answered, nodding in the direction of the two
riding ahead of us. "I never saw her so much interested in any one as
she is in your friend, Master Brandon. Not that she is really in love
with him as yet perhaps, but I fear it is coming and I dread to see
it. She has never been compelled to forego anything she wanted, and
her desires are absolutely imperative. They drive her, and she is
helpless against them. She would not and could not make the smallest
effort to overcome them. I think it never occurred to her that such a
thing could be necessary; everything she wants she naturally thinks is
hers by divine right. There has been no great need of such an effort
until now, but your friend Brandon presents it. I wish he were at the