I now had no doubt upon my mind that she loved me, and that her present affliction was caused by my approaching departure.
"Dearest Inez!" I stammered out at length, as I pressed her hands to my lips,--"dearest Inez!"-- a faint sob, and a slight pressure of her hand, was the only reply.

"I have come to say good-by," continued I, gaining a little courage as I spoke; "a long good-by, too, in all likelihood.

You have heard that we are ordered away,--there, don't sob, dearest, and, believe me, I had wished ere we parted to have spoken to you calmly and openly; but, alas, I cannot,--I scarcely know what I say." "You will not forget me ?" said she, in a low voice, that sank into my very heart.

"You will not forget me ?" As she spoke, her hand dropped heavily upon my shoulder, and her rich luxuriant hair fell upon my cheek.

What a devil of a thing is proximity to a downy cheek and a black eyelash, more especially when they belong to one whom you are disposed to believe not indifferent to you! What I did at this precise moment there is no necessity for recording, even had not an adage interdicted such confessions, nor can I now remember what I said; but I can well recollect how, gradually warming with my subject, I entered into a kind of half-declaration of attachment, intended most honestly to be a mere _expose_ of my own unworthiness to win her favor, and my resolution to leave Lisbon and its neighborhood forever.
Let not any one blame me rashly if he has not experienced the difficulty of my position.