“May God grant it!” he replied, with a fervor she could not understand.  “I thank you, Miss Carleton, for your kind words; I shall never forget them; and, however the battle goes, I can feel there is one, at least, whose friendship and confidence are mine, can I not?”

“Most assuredly, Mr. Mainwaring.  But why do you speak as though there were a possibility of defeat or failure?  I am so confident that you will win, after the story of your life that you have given me, that I am all impatience to learn the outcome of the contest, just as having read one chapter in some thrilling romance I am eager for the next.”

He smiled at her comparison.  “Real life, as well as romance, sometimes contains startling surprises, Miss Carleton.  The next chapter might prove less pleasant.”

She looked keenly into his face for a moment, and her manner became as serious as his own.

“There must be something,” she said, “of which you have not told me; if so, I will not ask your confidence until you choose to bestow it, nor do I trust you, personally, any the less.  It only seemed to me, with your prospects of success, and the great wealth and enviable position so soon to become yours, there could be no unpleasant anticipations for the future.”

A bitter smile crossed his face, as he inquired in low, tense tones, “Of what avail are wealth and position to one who finds an insurmountable barrier placed between himself and all that he holds most precious on earth?”

“I fear I do not understand you,” she replied.  “I cannot imagine any barriers surrounding you; and did they exist, my judgment of you would be that you would find some way to surmount or destroy them.”

“There are some barriers, some fetters,” he said, gently, “against which humanity, even at its best, is powerless.”

“Yes,” she answered, a touch of sadness in her voice; “and there are sometimes sorrows and troubles in which even the closest and warmest friendship is powerless to aid or comfort.”

“Don’t allow yourself to think that of your friendship for me,” he said, quickly.  “Assured of your confidence and sympathy, I shall be ten times stronger to face whatever the future may bring.  If I succeed in what I am about to undertake, I shall one day tell you all that your friendship has been worth to me.  If I fail, the thought that you believe in me and trust me, while it will not be all that I could wish, may be all that I can ask.”

“And if you should fail,” she queried, slowly, “would you give me no opportunity to show you, and others, my confidence in you, even then?”

“My dear Miss Carleton,” he replied, in tones tremulous with suppressed feeling, “much as I appreciate your kindness, I would never, now or at any future time, willingly mar your life or your happiness by asking you to share any burden which might be laid upon me.  I would at least leave you to go your way in peace, while I went mine.”