He mustn't begin reading her letters! After his first disappointment, he was half-glad he would have to wait till to-morrow to see her,--for, of course, he would wait.

To have thus sat in her room was almost enough for a first meeting.

It was like stealing upon her while she slept.
Then he began a letter; but as he wrote, who was this suddenly standing at his side?
Was it Isabel?
No...it was a little sobbing body quite near to his, crying as if its heart would break...
Oh, Jenny, Jenny--God forgive me! The spell was broken, the fit was over.

Theophil left no letter for Isabel, and no message, and the same evening he was once more back in his little study in Zion Place, wild with remorse.

O for the scourge and the fire! But what penance shall avail to ease that poor little creature's broken-hearted crying?
"She seems to have had a shock!--She seems to have had a shock!".