38 TRUE RICHES; OR,

 

over, his thoughts flowed in a calmer current; and
the stillness of the deserted room gave to his feel-
ings a hue of sobriety. He was not altogether satis-
fied with himself. Howcouldhebe? Noman ever -
was satisfied with himself, when seclusion and silence
found him after his first departure from the mght
way. Ah, how little is there in worldly ‘possessions,
be it large or small, to compensate for a troubled,
self-accusing spirit! how little to throw in the ba-
lance against the heavy weight of conscious villany !

How tenderly, how truly, how devotedly had ~
Edward Claire loved the young wife of his bosom,
since the hour the pulses of their spirits first beat
in joyful unity! How eager had he ever been to
turn his face homeward when the shadows of even- |
ing began to fall! But now he lingered—lingered,
though all the business of the day was over. The
thought of his wife created no quick impulse to be
away. He felt more like shunning her presence.
He even for a time indulged a motion of anger to-
ward her for what he mentally termed her morbid
sensitiveness in regard to others’ right—her dreamy
ideal of human perfection.

“We are in the world, and we must do as it
does. We must take it as it is, not as it should

So he mused with himself, in a self-approving ar-
gument. Yet he could not banish the accusing
spirit; he could not silence the inward voice of
warning.

Once there came a strong revulsion. Good im-
pulses seemed about to gain the mastery. In this
state of mind, he took from his pocket his ill-gotten