ALL IS NOT GOLD THAT GLITTERS. 93

ing upon Edward, with an expression of deeply
insulted feeling, ‘ Sir,” she said; and before
she proceeded the cold monosy]lable had enter-
ed his heart ; “‘ Sir, my cousin Helen did not lie
in wait; a woman’s beauty may be called a
snare, if you please, but it is not one of her own
making; she was sought and won, and not by
an idiot; and it is ungenerous in you to speak
thus now, when time, and her being another’s
wife” 3

Poor Rose had entered on perilous ground,
and she felt it, and the feeling prevented her pro-
ceeding. She trembled violently; and if Ed-
ward could have seen her blanched cheek and
quivering lip, he would have checked his im-
petuosity, and bitterly reproached himself for
the rash words he had uttered. If he could
but have known how devoutly the poor fond
beating heart loved him at that moment, he
would, rustic though he was, have fallen at her
feet, and entreated her forgiveness. Doubtless
it was better as it was, for if men could see into
women’s hearts, I very much fear their reliance
on their own power would increase, and that
would be neither pleasant nor profitable to them-
selves or others; the very existence of love often
depends on its uncertainty. Some evil star at
that moment shed its influence over them, for
Edward Lynne, catching at Rose’s words, an-
swered,

* You need not, I assure you, entertain your