that evening a young woman and a young man sat on one of the benches in central park. they were holding hands, but modestly and with a clinging affection. no one appeared in sight; they had the moon-light, the fragrance of the spring foliage, and their true love all to themselves. the woman was grace, the young man was philip andrews, a candid-eyed, whole-hearted fellow whom any girl might be proud to be seen with, much more to be engaged to. grace was proud, but she was more than that; her heart was all involved in her hope—a good heart which he was equally proud to have won. yet while love was theirs[46] and the surroundings breathed peace and joy, they did not look quite happy. a cloud was on his brow and something like a tear in her eye as she spoke gently but with rare firmness.
"philip, we must wait. one love does not put out another. i cannot leave my old father now. he is too feeble and much too dependent on me. philip, you do not know my father. you have seen him, it is true, many, many times. you have talked with him and even have nursed him at odd moments, when i had to be out of the room getting supper or supplying some of his many wants. yet you do not know him."
"i know that he is intelligent."
"yes, yes, that is evident. any one can see that. and you can see, too, that he is frequently fretful and exacting, as all old people are. but the[47] qualities he shows me—his strong, melancholy, but devoted nature, quickened by an unusually unhappy life—that you do not see and cannot, much as you like him and much as he likes you. only the child who has surprised him at odd moments, when he thought himself quite alone, wringing his hands and weeping over some intolerable memory—who has listened in the dead of night to his smothered but heart-breaking groans, can know either his suffering or the one joy which palliates it. if i could tell you his story—but that would be treason to one whose rights i am bound to reverence. you will respect my silence, but you must also take my word that he needs and has a right to all the pleasure and all the hope my love can give him. i cannot be with him much; my work forbids, but the little time i have is his,[48] except on rare occasions like this, and he knows it and is satisfied. were i married——. but you will wait, philip. it may not be long—he grows weaker every day. besides, you are not ready yet yourself. you are doing wonderfully well, but a year's freedom will help you materially, as it will me. every day is adding to our store; in a year we may be almost independent."
"grace, you have misunderstood me. i said that i was no good without you, that i needed your presence to make a man of me, but i did not mean that you were to share my fortunes now. i would not ask that. i would be a fool or worse, for, grace, i'm not doing so well as you think. while i knew that my present employment was for a specified time, i had hopes of continuing on. but this cannot be. that's what i have to tell you to-night. it looks as if our marriage would have to be postponed indefinitely instead of hastened. and i can't bear it. you don't know what you are to me, or what this disappointment is. i expected to be raised, not dismissed, and if i had had——"
"what?"
the word came very softly, and with rare tenderness. it made him turn and look at her sweet, upturned face, with its resources of strength and shy, unfathomable smile. "what?" she asked again, with a closer pressure of her hand. "you must finish all your sentences with me."
"i'm ashamed." he uttered it breathlessly. "what am i, to say, 'if i had three thousand dollars the stickney company would keep me?' i have barely three hundred and those are dedicated to you."
