harm Rosamond now."

By this time Rosamond came with the pillows, which she arranged upon
the sofa, making him lie down while she sat by, and laid her hand
soothingly upon his burning forehead.

"We will have tea in here to-night," she said, "I told Mrs. Peters so,
and I will make it myself. Do you feel any better?" and she brought
her rosy face so near to his that he felt her warm breath upon his
cheek.

"Yes, I am better," he replied, "but keep your hand upon my forehead.
It assures me of your presence, when my eyes are shut."

So Rosamond sat beside him, and when Mrs. Peters came in to lay the
cloth, she found them thus together. Smiling knowingly, she whispered
to herself, "'Nater is the same everywhere," and the good lady bustled
in and out, bringing her choicest bits and richest cake in honor of
her pet's return. That night, freed from boarding-school restraint,
Rosamond slept soundly in her own pleasant chamber, but to Ralph
Browning, pacing up and down his room, there came not a moment of
unconsciousness. He could not forget how near he had been to one who
had embittered his whole life--nor yet how near to her young Rosamond
had been, and he shuddered as if the latter had escaped an unseen
danger. Occasionally, too, the dread thought stole over him, "suppose
she should come here, and with her eagle eye discover what, if it
exist at all, is hidden in the inmost recesses of my heart."

But of this he had little fear, and when the morning came he was
himself again, and, save that it was haggard and pale, his face gave