“She ought to have been married long ago.” “And so she would, I am told, if her father had not interfered.” “To whom?” “To some young man, who, not being rich enough, was not considered good enough.” “Then there is some chance for her now.” “I don’t know. Perhaps the young man loved her father’s money quite as well as he loved her, and will now change his mind altogether. Ah me! It is wonderful how a man’s views and opinions will alter under the force of a money-argument.” Thus the gossip ran. As for old Mr. Pascal, to whom allusion was made in this conversation, he had his eyes about him, and his ears open to all that concerned Mr. Townsend. Long before the failure of the United States Bank, he had seen enough to make him dissatisfied with the proposed alliance, and, as has been shown, endeavored to induce his son to give up all idea of marrying Eveline. Immediately upon the failure of the Bank, in the stock of which he had some twenty or thirty thousand dollars invested, he said to his son: “Henry, nearly every dollar of Mr. Townsend’s property is locked up in the stock of this institution.” “It cannot surely be!” returned the son, evincing surprise and concern. “It is true, Henry. Mr. Townsend has acknowledged it himself, and declared that the failure had ruined him. You will see the necessity for breaking off all connection with the family, and you had better do it at once.” “There seems something so mercenary and heartless in that,” said the young man. “As to its seeming, Henry, you have nothing to do with that,” replied Mr. Pascal. “You are, certainly, not so mad as to think of connecting yourself with this family now, when your position gives you the chance of forming an alliance with one of the best and wealthiest in the city. In six months, take my word for it, Mr. Townsend will be bankrupt. Are you prepared to marry the daughter with that certainty staring you in the face?” “I hardly think I am.” “Believe me that such a certainty exists.” Under this assurance, Henry Pascal began the work of withdrawing himself from the society of Eveline. The death of her brother caused her to exclude herself from company almost entirely, so that he rarely saw her abroad. To meet her, he had to visit her. Instead of calling every week, and sometimes two or three times a week, his visits were made at longer intervals, were briefer, while his manner was more reserved. There was something so deliberately heartless in this, that the young man shrunk in shame from the image of himself that was reflected in his own mind. The act lost him his self-respect; but such was the potency of the influences acting within and without him, that he steadily persevered in his design, until finally all intercourse between him and Eveline was at an end. CHAPTER XI. CONSEQUENCES.