The fine intellectual cast of his mind, and his devotion to study, lifted him above the baser allurements of sense and kept his garments pure.
Such were Irene Delancy and Hartley Emerson--lovers and betrothed at the time we present them to our readers.

They met, two years before, at Saratoga, and drew together by a mutual attraction.

She was the first to whom his heart had bowed in homage; and until she looked upon him her pulse had never beat quicker at sight of a manly form.
Mr.Edmund Delancy, a gentleman of some wealth and advanced in years, saw no reason to interpose objections.

The family of Emerson occupied a social position equal with his own; and the young man's character and habits were blameless.

So far, the course of love ran smooth; and only three months intervened until the wedding-day.
The closer relation into which the minds of the lovers came after their betrothal and the removal of a degree of deference and self-constraint, gave opportunity for the real character of each to show itself.