“_I cannot stay--I dare not stay any longer where I am forced to see you every day, and am thus reminded of my promise which I know I cannot now keep. Please try not to follow me; 'twould be of no use. I must be apart from you before I make up my mind. I am very unhappy, and I know that I am most unhappy because I have to give pain to one who is the best of men._ “_Nelly._” “You have read it?” cried Snowdon. “I had no notion that her whimsies would carry her so far. Oh, she is but a girl after all--I tell you that she is no more than a girl.” “She is a girl, and I think that she is the best that lives, to be a blessing to a good man's life,” said Wesley, returning the letter to his trembling hand. “The best? The best? She has made a fool of the man who would have died to save her from the least hurt, and you call her the best!” he cried, walking to and fro excitedly, crumpling up the letter with every stride. “She is the best,” said Wesley. “Sir, cannot you see that those lines were written by a woman who is anxious to be true to herself? Cannot you see that her sole fear is that she may do an injustice to the man who loves her?” “You see things, sir, that none other can see; I am but a plain man, Mr. Wesley, and I can see naught in this letter save the desire of a fickle young woman to rid herself of a lover of whom she has grown weary. Well, she has succeeded--she has succeeded! She exhorts me not to follow her. She need not have been at the trouble to do so: I have no intention of following her, even if I knew whither she has gone. Have you any guess as to the direction she has taken? Not that I care--I tell you, sir, I have no desire to follow her. Who do you suspect is her lover?” “Mr. Snowdon,” said Wesley, “her lover stands before me in this room. The poor child has had her doubts, as any true girl must have when she thinks how serious a step is marriage, and the best way that you can dissipate such doubts is to show to her that you have none.'Tis left for you to prove yourself a true man in this matter, Captain Snowdon, and I know that, being a true man, you will act as a true man should act.” “I know not what you would suggest, sir, but I can promise you that if you hint that I should seek to follow her, you make a mistake,” said Snowdon. “She may go whithersoever she pleases. I have no mind to be made a fool of a second time by her. I have some self-respect still remaining, let me tell you, Mr. Wesley.” “You may be sure that no advice to sacrifice it will come from me, sir,” said Wesley. “Oh, Mr. Snowdon, did not you come to me an hour ago to ask me to be your friend in this matter? Did you not ask me to give my advice to the young woman of whom we have been speaking? Was not that because you believed that my advice would be right?” “I know that it would have been right, Mr. Wesley; but now----”