Not often, I have some right to expect, Mary; for I have undergone a great deal of vexation and privation, and I naturally look for that return, you know.' 'A very, very poor return,' she answered with a fainter smile.

'But you have it, and will have it always.

You have paid a dear price for a poor heart, Martin; but it is at least your own, and a true one.' 'Of course I feel quite certain of that,' said Martin, 'or I shouldn't have put myself in my present position.

And don't say a poor heart, Mary, for I say a rich one.

Now, I am about to break a design to you, dearest, which will startle you at first, but which is undertaken for your sake.