So it came to pass that society at last coupled their names together, and Sir Percy himself, mistaking the sentiments of one who no longer had a heart to give, made our heroine an offer of his hand in a letter which appeared to me to allude to the lady’s fortune rather than to herself. Evelyn answered that she would take time to consider the proposal, provided Sir Percy could assure her on his honor as a gentleman that there was no blemish attached to his name. This assurance, as may be imagined, the baronet readily gave. My dearest friend then spoke to me fully and confidentially; frankly confessing that she no longer hoped for happiness on earth, she at the same time added, that she was anxious to marry, hoping that enshrined within the sacred precincts of a husband’s home, and safely sheltered by his protection, she should have strength to crush forever from out her heart that now guilty passion which still tortured her. “I could not,” she continued, “again meet D’Arcy except as a wife—no. I too much fear my own weakness. I should sink to the earth with shame, did he for one moment suspect the state of my heart. Besides, I gave him my word I would marry, and at any cost I will keep my promise. Ella, too, dear child, is firmly resolved never to wed till she sees her mother, as she imagines, happy. Ah! Mary, does not this man’s offer appear to you as it does to me, almost as a providential occurrence?” “Had you not better at least wait Mr. D’Arcy’s next letter before you give a definite reply to Sir Percy?” “Yes, my friend, I will wait. You are right. Dear Mary, my soul is bound up in the future happiness of Philip and that of my Ella, but like St. Paul I may say, ‘I feel two laws warring within me, and these are contrary, the one to the other, so that when I would do good, evil is present with me.’” And the expected letter came, and it stated that war having been declared between the North and South, it was quite impossible for D’Arcy to leave his post. Nor could he foresee when he dared hope to return to Europe. Could not his beloved friends, he suggested, all come over to New York next summer? He would place at their disposition _The Retreat_, a villa beautifully situated on the banks of the Hudson, which it would afford him the greatest pleasure if they would occupy as long as the weather should render such a sojourn agreeable. In conclusion, he reminded Evelyn, that being already familiar with the continent of Europe, the difference of scenery and the manner of living in the New World, would greatly interest her, and that she would find in this splendid country much to compensate her for the fatigues of the voyage. D’Arcy had never in any letter alluded either directly or indirectly to our heroine’s projected marriage, nor had he ever known the name of her probable husband, the fact alone of her engagement having been communicated to him by the imprudence of Ella. That same day Evelyn wrote an acceptance to Sir Percy Montgomery.