Would it bring her the greatest happiness or only fresh anguish and
unrest?

She saw him coming!--The plume of his helmet first came in sight above
the bushes, and then his whole figure emerged from among the shrubbery.
She leaned against the pillar for support now, for her knees trembled
under her. Tall and stately, his armor blazing in the sunshine, he came
straight towards her--a man, a hero--exactly as her fancy had painted him
in many a dark and sleepless hour. As he passed her mother's tomb, she
felt as though a cold hand laid a grip on her beating heart. In a swift
flash of thought she saw her own home with its wealth and splendor, and
then the ship-builder's house-simple, chillingly bare, with its
comfortless rooms; she felt as though she must perish, nipped and
withered, in such a home. Again she thought of him standing on his
father's threshold, she fancied she could hear his bright boyish laugh
and her heart glowed once more. She forgot for the moment--clear-headed
woman though she was, and trained by her philosopher to "know herself"--
she forgot what she had fully acknowledged only the night before: That he
would no more give up his Christ than she would her Isis, and that if
they should ever reach the dreamed-of pinnacle of joy it must be for an
instant only, followed by a weary length of misery. Yes--she forgot
everything; doubts and fears were cast aside; as his approaching
footsteps fell on her ear, she could hardly keep herself from flying,
open armed, to meet him.

He was standing before her; she offered him her hand with frank gladness,
and, as he clasped it in his, their hearts were too full for words.
Only their eyes gave utterance to their feelings, and when he perceived
that hers were sparkling through tears, he spoke her name once, twice--
joyfully and yet doubtfully, as if he dared not interpret her emotion as