“It was his duty to speak to you. It was less your fault than his. It was nobody's fault. It was a disaster.” Ruth thought poorly of Ezra's tactics as a lover, but she was not bent on expressing her own opinions. Reuben would never have acted in such a way. He would have known at least whether his letter had been received or no. Would any _man_ take silent contempt as a final answer from the woman he loved? It was the man's real business to come conquering, whatever airs of gentleness he might wear. And animated by these reflections the girl became filled with impatience at the old maid's self-upbraidings. She was sorry, sorry with all her heart, for both, but if there were fault at all it lay on Ezra's side. “I shall see him in the morning,” she said, finally, thinking of Reuben. “He will go to his uncle.” “Child,” said Aunt Rachel, with the beginning of a return to her old manner, “do you think I can consent to have my affairs bandied from messenger to messenger in this way? I will write.” She said this boldly enough, but her heart shrank from it. Her mind went blank when she tried to figure what she should say. She could do nothing but prostrate herself anew before the re-established idol. She began to realize the fact that whatever disguise of hate and despite her love had taken, she had done nothing but love him all along. Ruth contented herself with the promise, but, as it happened, Rachel never wrote, or had need to write, upon this question. For Reuben, strolling early in the morning, and finding his feet wandering in the direction of Rachel's cottage, encountered his uncle, and their talk rendered the letter unnecessary. Ezra flushed and coughed behind his hand in more than a commonly deprecatory way when he sighted his nephew. “Well, lad,” he began. “Ruth took the letter,” answered Reuben. “I waited outside for her, and I know Miss Blythe was deeply affected by it, because I heard her crying. Ruth stayed all night with her,” he continued, “and I suppose”--with a flush and a little hesitation--“I suppose she's there now.” “That means as they two are reunited?” said Ezra; and, without saying much more, the old man took his nephew's arm and they strolled by the cottage together.