"
"May I stay?" he asked.
She felt so weak and unnerved, so in need of a sustaining hand and
mind that she looked at him appealingly, and said:
"Yes. This gentleman cannot disgrace me more than I have myself
this evening."
"Disgrace you! Miss Burton," exclaimed the gentleman. "Your name
is a household word in our home, and our honor for it is only
excelled by our love. You remember my invalid daughter, Emily
Musgrave--our only and unfortunate child. She attended the college
in which you are an instructress. Before she came under your
influence her infirmities were crushing her spirit and embittering
her life. So morbid was she becoming that she apparently began to
hate her mother and myself as the authors of her wretched existence.
But by some divine magic you sweetened the bitter waters of her
life, and now she is a fountain of joy in our home. In her behalf
and her mother's, I thank you; and even more, if possible, in my own
behalf, for the reproachful, averted face of my child was killing
me;" and tears stood in the strong man's eyes.
There was nothing conventional in the way in which Jeannie Burton
received his warm gratitude. She leaned wearily back in her chair,
and for a moment closed her eyes.
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