“‘No, mother,’ I replied; ’strong, healthy beings could not exist thus cloistered.’

“‘For less than money,’ she responded, ‘they have done more.’

“‘We should not agree,’ I said; ’I would be peevish and he would despise me.’

“‘Your companion must be a woman, my son.’

“A succession of short chills passed through every nerve, and a moment’s faintness possessed me.

“‘It must not be,’ I pleaded; ’a restless, chatting, plotting woman would be worse than all.’

“My mother marked my rising agitation and glided away.

“‘Whatever can relieve you, dear Luke,’ she said, ’your father shall obtain.’

“I now fancied that they believed me mad, and that a keeper was to be introduced to me, under the guise of a companion.  I formed many mental portraits of this fierce person, and they kept me awake through the long watches.  I even meditated escape, and unclosed my casement with that design, but the sunlight, the bird songs, and the zephyrs rushed into my window and staggered me like so many sentinels.  One day I slept fitfully, and dreamed that I was poor and orphaned, with the alternatives of death or work before me.  I had wandered to a village and thrown myself beneath some elms, with a horrible despair sealing my eyelids.  Suddenly the grass was stirred by some human footfalls, and two soft voices were speaking close beside me.

“‘It is strange,’ said the first voice; ’he is pale and delicate, but with no evidences of heavier afflictions.’

“‘You do not know him,’ murmured the other; ‘wait and see!’

“A face bent down to mine, and the lips of a woman touched my cheek.  I started in my sleep, caught my breath gaspingly, and quivered like an aspen.

“‘This is indeed terrible,’ said the soft voice compassionately; ’but do not despair.  It cannot be nature.  It must be habit, or bashfulness, or the effect of some childish and forgotten fright.  Cheer up, and hope!”

“‘Be kind to him, Heraine,’ resumed the other; ’you are my last resort, and becoming his companion you become my child.  Do not vex, do not excite him.  Be yourself—­always calm, gentle, and affectionate—­and the kindness which you show my boy may God return to you in mercy and blessing!’

“I unclosed my eyes; the scene was resolved to my quiet library.  Something glided through the door, but a form from the other side flung a shadow across my face.  A premonition of the keeper thrilled me a moment, but I turned slowly at length and looked into the intruder’s face.

“A woman, or rather a girl with a woman’s face, serene and placid, as if never ruffled by care or passion, sat between me and the window, and the gloomy light softened her calm countenance.  As I looked up her lashes fell, and her blue eyes were bent fixedly upon the floor.  She seemed like one of my sedate portraits, which had come down from its case.  She waited, apparently, for some sign