"You--you--dear, artless girl that you are--you an heiress! It can't be--it is impossible! and--what a pity!" he adds, aside, as one half his airy castle fell to the ground. "Now, sit down, Frank, and when you have heard my story, and my motives for doing as I have done, you will, I trust, pardon the duplicity I have been guilty of toward you." And before she had finished her recital Frank's plans were formed; so, falling at her feet, he poured out his acknowledgments for her condescension in honoring with her hand one so far beneath her, and had the satisfaction--cunning dog--of having a pair of white arms thrown around his neck, and a sweet kiss, from sweeter lips, pressed upon his brow, as the generous girl assured him that were her fortune ten thousand times doubled, she should consider all as dross compared with his love. "Well, I am fairly caught," quoth Frank, in the privacy of his apartment, "for I swore I never would marry an heiress. That was a rash oath--let it pass. But what a pity dear Ursula has money. I wish to my soul her father had not left her a cent--why could not he have endowed a hospital. She is a dear, noble girl, willing to bestow it all upon one whom she believes struggling with poverty; never mind, I shall get the laugh on her yet." At an early hour the following morning the venerable village pastor pronounced the nuptial benediction; and with the hearty good wishes of the old farmer and the dame, and followed by the loving eyes of Hetty, the new married pair bade farewell to the spot consecrated to so many happy hours. A ride of a few miles brought them to the steamboat; and just as the rays of the setting sun gilded the spires and roofs of the city, the boat touched the wharf. And now Frank's heart beat almost audibly, as he thought how rapidly the moment was approaching when, throwing off all disguise, he should lead his lovely bride to his own princely dwelling. And Ursula, too, had never looked so beautiful--had never felt so proud and happy; proud to present her husband to her good uncle and aunt, who were waiting to welcome them; happy that her beloved Frank would no longer have to plod on life's dull round in poverty and loneliness. It certainly was happiness to be an heiress. "Ursula," said Frank, as the carriage rolled rapidly over the pavements, "will you do me a favor?" "Most certainly, dear Frank--what is it?" "My sister, poor girl," replied Leland, in some embarrassment, "resides on the route to _your_ residence; will you alight there just for one moment, that I may have the happiness of bringing together the two dearest objects of my heart?" "Order the carriage to stop when you please, Frank--I, too, am impatient to embrace your sister," replied the blushing Ursula.