He  realized  her  trouble  and  his  own  danger  full  well ;


CATHARINE'S  MISSION.  387

and  between  the  paroxysms  of  pain,  towards  the  last,
tried  to  fortify  and  prepare  her  mind  for  what  was  to  come.
At  intervals,  when  the  pain  was  beyond  human  endur
ance,  his  mind  wandered ;  and  he  would  talk  incohe
rently  :  then  again  it  would  come  back  to  a  keener  per
ception  of  the  realities  that  surrounded  him.
"  Catharine,"  he  exclaimed  in  one  of  these  lucid  in
tervals,  "  do  you  indeed  regret  this  bitter,  bitter  part
ing  ?  Alas !  how  little  reason  have  I  given  you  to  do  so
first  and  last !  And  oh,  how  much  to  rejoice  in  the  free
dom  it  will  give  you  to  contract  other  and  happier  ties  ! "

"  God  knows  I  want  no  such  freedom,"  said  Catharine
with  a  bitter  sob ;  "  though  it  is  true  that  I  did  before
I  learned  to  love  you.     Now  I  want  you  to  live,  —  to  be "
with  me  through  this  great  trial,  —  to  be  my  guide  and
protector  through  all  my  future  life."

"  0  my  darling  !  it  breaks  my  heart  to  know  that
this  cannot  be  ;  yet  your  love  is  the  only  strong  tie  that
binds  me  to  earth.  I  have  proved  the  vanity  of  all
other  earthly  things.  Ambition,  fame,  wealth,  parental
love  and  pride,  have  each  in  turn  lured,  blinded,  and
then  eluded  my  grasp,  and  pierced  my  heart  with  the
keenest  anguish,  until  I  lived  only  in  my  love  for  you,
and  the  unborn  hope  you  were  bringing  to  my  longing
heart.  But  I  shall  not  live  to  see  its  fruition :  I  have
sinned  too  deeply  in  the  past  to  be  permitted  to  do  that.
