The man you trusted has deserted you; the boy you
pitied will prove loyal. Try him, Pauline."
"I will."
And with the bitter smile unchanged upon her lips, the low voice
unshaken in its tones, the deep eyes unwavering in their gaze, Pauline
went on:
"You know my past, happy as a dream till eighteen. Then all was swept
away, home, fortune, friends, and I was left, like an unfledged bird,
without even the shelter of a cage. For five years I have made my life
what I could, humble, honest, but never happy, till I came here, for
here I saw Gilbert. In the poor companion of your guardian's daughter he
seemed to see the heiress I had been, and treated me as such. This
flattered my pride and touched my heart. He was kind, I grateful; then
he loved me, and God knows how utterly I loved him! A few months of
happiness the purest, then he went to make home ready for me, and I
believed him; for where I wholly love I wholly trust. While my own peace
was undisturbed, I learned to read the language of your eyes, Manuel, to
find the boy grown into the man, the friend warmed into a lover. Your
youth had kept me blind too long. Your society had grown dear to me, and
I loved you like a sister for your unvarying kindness to the solitary
woman who earned her bread and found it bitter. I told you my secret to
prevent the utterance of your own.
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