Shafto was in great haste to be gone, to leave Revelstoke and its vicinity behind him. It was too late for regrets or repentance now. Not that he felt either, we suppose; and what he had done he would do again if there was no chance of being found out. In the growing exuberance of his spirits, he could not help, a day or two after, taunting Florian about Dulcie till they were on the verge of a quarrel, and wound up by saying, with a scornful laugh: 'You can't marry her--a fellow without a shilling in the world; and I wouldn't now, if she would have me, which I don't doubt.' Poor Dulcie! She heard with undisguised grief and astonishment of these events, and of the approaching departure of the cousins. The cottage home was being broken up; the dear old Major was in his grave; and Florian, the playmate of her infancy, the lover of her girlhood, was going away--she scarcely knew to where. They might be permitted to correspond by letter, but when, thought Dulcie--oh, when should they meet again? The sun was shedding its light and warmth around her as usual, on woodland and hill, on wave and rock; but both seemed to fade out, the perfume to pass from the early spring flowers, the glory from land and sea, and a dim mist of passionate tears clouded the sweet and tender blue eyes of the affectionate girl. He would return, he said, as he strove to console her; but how and when, and to what end? thought both so despairingly. Their future seemed such a vague, a blank one! 'I am penniless, Dulcie--a beggar on the face of the earth--twice beggared now, I think!' exclaimed Florian, in sorrowful bitterness. 'Don't speak thus,' said she imploringly, with piteous lips that were tremulous as his own, and her eyes drowned in tears. They had left the road now, and wandered among the trees in a thicket, and seated themselves on a fallen trunk, a seat and place endeared to them and familiar enough in past time. He gazed into her eyes of deep pansy-blue, as if his own were striving to take away a memory of her face--a memory that would last for eternity. 'And you really go to-night?' she asked, in piteous and broken accents. 'Yes--with Shafto. I am in a fever, darling, to seek out a position for myself. Surely Shafto may assist me in that--though I shrink from asking him.' 'Your own cousin?' 'Yes--but sometimes he looks like a supplanter now, and his bearing has been so unpleasant to me, especially of late,' said Florian. 'But you will wait for me, Dulcie, and not be persuaded to marry anyone else?' he added imploringly, as he clasped each of her hands in his. 'I shall wait for you, Florian, if it should be for twenty years!' exclaimed the girl, in a low and emphatic voice, scarcely considering the magnitude and peril of such a promise. 'Thank you, darling Dulcie!' said he bending down and kissing her lips with ardour, and, though on the eve of parting, they felt almost happy in the confidence of the blissful present.