Elinor had not seen Algernon since his return to the Hall. She ran down the little path which led to the road to meet him, and the next moment was in his arms. Algernon could not restrain his feelings as he clasped her to his heart; he burst into tears.
"You have had a great loss, my Algernon; I will not chide these tears. The death of a kind parent leaves an awful blank in our existence, a wound which time alone can heal."
"His death, Elinor, has not cost me a single tear."
"Algernon!" Elinor stepped back, and looked at her lover with death-pale cheeks and expanded eyes. "Part!"
"Yes, but not for ever, I hope. But for a long, long period of time; so long, that hope dies in my heart while naming it."
"But why is this, Algernon? Your father's death, you always told me, would remove the only obstacle to--to--" Her voice failed her. She buried her face in her apron, and wept.
"Yes, dearest; that was, provided he left me the means to support a wife. He has not done so. He has left all to my brother--and I am destitute."
"Good Heaven! And this is my doing. Oh, Algernon. What have you not lost on my account!"
"We will not think of that now, love," said Algernon, growing calmer now the worst had been told; "I came to pour into your faithful heart all my sorrows, and to tell you my plans for the future."
"Algernon," said Elinor, gravely, after remaining for some time in deep thought, "your attachment to me has overwhelmed you with misfortunes. Comply with your father's wishes--resign your engagement to me, and your brother will, in all probability, restore to you the property you have lost."
"And would you wish me to be under obligations to him? Is not this his work? Elinor, I would rather enlist as a common soldier, than live in affluence, and he my benefactor. But I am poor now, and my love may have become valueless in your eyes," and he turned his fine eyes, moist with tears, reproachfully on his beautiful mistress.
"I spoke not for myself," said Elinor, gently. "Is not the love that has sacrificed a fortune for my sake beyond all price? But the thought of ruining the man I love overwhelms me with despair."
"Patience, my dear girl--time will remedy the evil. I am going to work hard to win a fortune. In a few years I shall return from India, a rich man."