It  was  gratifying  and  entirely  fitting  that  her
beautiful  Lucina  should  have  a  heart-broken  lover  at
her  feet ;  still,  it  was  sad,  very  sad,  for  the  poor  lover.
"When  the  affections  are  enlisted,  one  shonld  not


*


i


850


hesitate  to  sl;iare  poverty  as  well  as  wealth/'  she  ad-
mitted, with  a  little  conscious  tremor  of  delicacy  at
such  pronounced  views.
"  I  do  not  think  Jerome  himself  wants  to  be  mar-
ried," said  Lucina,  quickly.
Miss  Camilla  sighed.  She  remembered  again  the
young  man's  fervent  eyes.  "I  hope  he  does  not,  my
dear,''  she  said.
"/do  not  intend  to  marry  either.  I  am  never  go-
ing to  be  married  at  all,"  said  Lucina,  with  a  seem-
ing irrelevance  which  caused  Camilla  to  make  mild
eyes  of  surprise  and  wonder  sadly,  after  her  niece  had
gone  home,  if  it  were  possible  that  the  dear  child
had,  thus  early,  been  crossed  in  love.
