第290章 MISS JEROMETTE AND THE CLERGYMAN.(20)

"I have refused to see him, she said, "until I had first spoken to you. You have read his letter. What do you say?"I could make but one answer. It was my duty to tell her what my own position was in the plainest terms. I did my duty--leaving her free to decide on the future for herself. Those sad words said, it was useless to prolong the wretchedness of our separation. I rose, and took her hand for the last time.

I see her again now, at that final moment, as plainly as if it had happened yesterday. She had been suffering from an affection of the throat; and she had a white silk handkerchief tied loosely round her neck. She wore a simple dress of purple merino, with a black-silk apron over it. Her face was deadly pale; her fingers felt icily cold as they closed round my hand.

"Promise me one thing," I said, "before I go. While I live, I am your friend--if I am nothing more. If you are ever in trouble, promise that you will let me know it."She started, and drew back from me as if I had struck her with a sudden terror.

"Strange!' she said, speaking to herself. "_He_ feels as I feel.