Arthur and Nina

It was rather late in the evening when Arthur returned, looking
more than usually pale and weary, and still there was about him an
air of playful pleasantry, such as there used to be, when Edith
first knew him. During the long ride to Tallahassee, Victor,
either from accident or design, touched upon the expected marriage
of his master, and although Arthur would not ask a single
question, he was a deeply-interested auditor, and listened
intently, while Victor told him much which had transpired between
himself and Edith, saying that unless some influence stronger than
any he or Grace could exert were thrown around her, she would keep
her vow to Richard, even though she died in keeping it.

"Girls like Edith Hastings do not die easily," was Arthur's only
comment, and Victor half wished he had kept his own counsel and
never attempted to meddle in a love affair.

But if Arthur said nothing, he thought the more, and the warfare
within was not the less severe, because his face was so unruffled
and his manner so composed. Thought, intense and almost
bewildering, was busy at work, and ere the day was done, he had
resolved that he would help Edith if all else forsook her. He
would not throw one single obstacle across her pathway. He would
make the sacrifice easier for her, even if to do it, he suffered
her to think that his own love had waned.