"Tell me what the one thing is, Adelaide. If it is possible, I will do it." "I dare not mention it. It is useless to name it. Men like my brother throw their genius, their life and love, under the feet of girls like you; but they meet with no return." "Tell me what it is," repeated the other, her generous heart touched by the thought of receiving so much and giving so little. "If you would but consent to see him--I know you will not, but it is the only means of saving him--if you expressed but the faintest shadow of a wish, he would stay; I know he would." Marion hesitated. "How can I interfere?" she said. "How can I express any such wish to him?" "I knew you would not. That is why I did not care to tell you my trouble. Why should you--so rich, so happy, so beautiful--why should you interest yourself in the fate of people like us? My brother is a genius, not a lord." "I wish," cried the girl, impatiently, "that you would not be always talking to me about my riches. I cannot help them. You make me wretched. It is not because I am rich that I hesitate--how absurd you are, Adelaide!--but because your brother is a stranger to me, and I have no right to interfere in his life." "Is that all? I fancied you considered him so far beneath you. Genius is Godlike, but it is not money. Ah, Marion, if that be all, save him! Save him! He is all I have in the world! He is so young, so sensitive, so clever, so proud, you could influence him with half a word. If you said to him, 'Stay,' he would remain, though kings and emperors should summon him. Will you see him, and say that one word, Marion, for my sake?" It was very pleasant to know that one word from her could influence the life of this great unknown genius; very pleasant to believe that she was loved so dearly, so entirely, that even an emperor could not take the man who worshiped her from her side. It seems weak that she should so easily believe. Insight gives one a false estimate of her character; but there are many things to be considered before judging her. She was romantic in the highest degree; she was all idealty and poetry. She had no idea of the realities of life; she had the vaguest possible idea that there was wickedness in the world, but that ever deceit or treachery should come near her was an idea that never entered her romantic mind. She was too old to be at school; had her mother been living, she would have been removed from there. She would have had friends and admirers, her love and affection would have found proper objects, and the great calamity of her life would have been averted. Heaven help and guide any foolish, romantic girl left without the guidance of mother or friend!