‘_Has_ Maggie been unhappy?’ inquired Iris, drying her eyes. She never told me so. And yet sometimes I have fancied there was _something_ which she kept to herself, when she has been particularly kind and loving to me. Oh! she is a dear good girl, Mr Farrell, and I am sure she will repay your love to her. I cannot tell you what she has been to me all through my wretched married life.’ ‘Well, the ways of women are queer,’ said Farrell, scratching his head thoughtfully, ‘and I don’t pretend to understand them. But I’m sure of one thing, that whatever Maggie is, or has been, she loves you, Miss Douglas, just like her own life. And she’d give up her life for yours any day into the bargain. I’m as sure of it as I am that there’s a heaven above us.’ ‘And so am I,’ responded Iris warmly, as she made her escape to her own cabin. END OF VOL. II. COLSTON AND COMPANY, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH. TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES: Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized. Archaic or variant spelling has been retained.