It was perhaps a daring thing to do, but Nellie was somewhat older than I, and very self-possessed and dignified in her bearing, and we never met with the slightest inconvenience from being without an escort. We had a very pleasant time together; we had plenty of money, and did not need to stint ourselves; Nell loved art, and I music, so for a year we put ourselves under the best of masters, and gave ourselves up to these accomplishments, and had our fill. But I am getting somewhat ahead of my story. “While we were in London, a few months after reaching England, we met a literary gentlemen, a Mr. Charles Southcourt, who paid me considerable attention, and to whom I was very strongly attracted. We met often, too, upon the Continent, for he, also, was traveling in search of material for his writings, and our routes frequently crossed each other. Finally, during my second year abroad, he confessed his affection for me, and asked me to marry him. He was brilliant, handsome, talented, but poor. Had he been rich I would not have hesitated a moment, for I loved him; but I knew, far too well, what poverty was to be willing to relinquish my fortune and the handsome income it brought me, the luxuries and pleasures it yielded me, to say nothing of depriving my parents and sister of the comforts and advantages they were enjoying, and I refused him. He knew that I returned his affection—he had not dreamed of being rejected—and demanded the reason. I told him frankly. He then informed me that all pecuniary difficulty could soon be removed, for there was a prospect of his soon receiving a responsible appointment somewhere in the far East, which would secure him an ample income which, with what he should realize from his writings, would enable him to provide for the comfortable support of my family, and secure to me every luxury which my own fortune was then giving me. Would I become his wife if he secured this appointment? he asked. I told him yes, and I believe if it had not been for depriving my delicate and aged parents and sister of the comforts they were enjoying—if I had only had myself to consider, I should have willingly thrown up my fortune, and become his wife, whether he secured the appointment or not. “Full of hope at having won my consent, Charlie returned at once to London—we were at that time in Rome—to bend all his energies to secure his coveted position. Two months later, Nellie and I returned to Paris, where we were again joined by Mr. Southcourt, who was jubilant, for he said he was sure of his appointment, and he showed me a letter, from a person high in authority, which seemed to promise it beyond a doubt.