"I see," he said, in a low and mournful tone, "that this does not meet
your wishes, nor can I wonder at it, for I feel I am not worthy of so
precious a gift, except for the intense love I bear her,--a love which,
I trust, if permitted, shall be manifested in every action of my future
life."
"Not meet my wishes! You have totally mistaken me, my friend, my
brother, as I would now joyfully call you," pressing fervently his
companion's hand as he spoke; "you are worthy of my darling Ella, my
beloved sister, and there is none other, to whom I could yield her less
reluctantly than yourself. With a brother's blessing I commit her to
you, and as she has been to me the most faithful and affectionate of
sisters, so, I am sure, you will find her the truest and most devoted of
wives."
There was a pause. Both the gentlemen were affected, and they continued
their walk, which had been extended to a solitary part of the city's
suburbs, for some time in silence, which Ernest was the first to break.
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