"I promise you I will not lay a straw in the path of Muriel's happiness, and it shall not be my fault if Mr. Granville fails in a lover's _devoir_. I was tempted to entice him from his sworn allegiance. Why should I deny what you know so well? But I will not, and when I give my word, it shall go hard with me but I keep it; especially when you hold the pledge. Are you satisfied? I know that you have little cause to trust me, but I tell you, sir, when I deceive you, then all heaven with its hierarchies of archangels can not save me." After all, Ulpian Grey was only a man of flesh and blood, and his heart was touched by the beauty of the young face, and the mournful sweetness of the softened voice. "Thank you, Salome. I accept your promise, and rely upon it. As a pledge of your sincerity I shall retain this rose, and return it to you when little Muriel is a happy wife." She clasped her hands, and looked at him with a mournful, wistful expression, that puzzled him. "My friend, my little sister, what is it? Tell me, and let me help you to do your duty, for I see that you are wrestling desperately with some great temptation." "Dr. Grey, be merciful to me. Send me away. Oh, for God's sake, send me away!" She had grown ghastly pale, and her whole face indexed a depth of anguish and despair that baffled utterance. "My dear child, where do you desire to go? If your wishes are reasonable they shall be granted." "Will you persuade Miss Jane to take Jessie in my place, and send me to France or Italy?" "To study music with the intention of becoming a _prima donna_?" "Yes, sir." "My young friend, I cannot conscientiously advise a compliance with wishes so fraught with danger to yourself." "You fear that my voice does not justify so expensive an experiment?" "On the contrary, I have not a doubt that your extraordinary voice will lift you to the highest pinnacle of musical celebrity; and, because your career on the stage promises to prove so brilliant, I shudder in anticipating the temptations that will unavoidably assail you." "You are afraid to trust me?" "Yes, my little sister; you are so impulsive, so prone to hearken to evil dictates rather than good ones, that I dread the thought of seeing you launched into the dangerous career you contemplate, without some surer, safer, more infallible pilot than your proud, passionate heart. If you were homely, and a dullard, I should entertain less apprehension about your future." Her broad brow blackened with a frown that became a terrible scowl, and her eyes gleamed like lightning under the edge of a thunderous summer cloud. "What is it to you whether I live or die? The immaculate soul of Ulpian Grey, M.D., will serenely wing its way up through the stars, on and on to the great Gates of Pearl,--oblivious of the beggar who, from the lowest Hades, where she has fallen, eagerly watches his flight."