Alas, for Edith, and a thousand times alas, for poor, poor
Richard!




CHAPTER XXV.

DESTINY.


Not for one moment did Edith waver in her purpose, and lest
Richard should suspect what he could not see, she affected a
gayety in his presence sadly at variance with her real feelings.
Never had her merry laugh rang out so frequently before him--never
had her wit been one half so sparkling, and when he passed his
hands over her flushed cheek, feeling how hot it was, he said to
himself, "The roses are coming back, she cannot be unhappy," and
every line and lineament of the blind man's face glowed with the
new-born joy springing up within his heart, and making the world
around him one grand jubilee.

Victor was quick to note the change in his master, and without the
least suspicion of the truth, he once asked Edith, "What made Mr.
Harrington so young and almost boyish, acting as men were supposed
to act when they were just engaged?"

"Victor," said Edith, after a moment's reflection, "can you keep a
secret?"