"Oh, Julia, you have been indeed imprudent. But what said
she--how looked she when you confided to her our secret?"

"She made no other remark than to ask how long our
attachment had existed, adding that she had once known
something of you herself; and her look and voice were
calm, and her cheek underwent no variation from the
settled paleness observable there since her arrival."

"And in what manner did she receive her trust?" again
eagerly demanded the Colonel.

"With a solemn assurance that it should be delivered to
you with her own hand--then, and then only, did a faint
smile animate her still but beautiful features. Yet why
all these questions, Ernest? Or can it really be? Tell
me," and the voice of the young girl became imperative,
"has Miss Montgomerie any claim upon your hand--she
admitted to have known you?"

"On my honor, none;" impressively returned the Colonel.

"Oh, what a weight you have removed from my heart, Ernest,
but wherefore your alarm, and wherein consists my
imprudence?"

"In this only, dearest Julia, that I had much rather
another than she had been admitted into your confidence.
But as you have acted for the best, I cannot blame you.
Still I doubt not," and the tones of the American were