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I cannot
marry Captain Nichol as he now is"--there was an irrepressible
flash of joy in his dark eyes--"nor can I," she added slowly and
sadly, "marry you." He was about to speak, but she checked him and
resumed. "Listen patiently to me first. I have thought and thought
long hours, and I think I am right. You, better than I, know
Captain Nichol's condition--its sad contrast to his former noble
self. The man we once knew is veiled, hidden, lost--how can we
express it? But he exists, and at any time may find and reveal
himself. No one, not even I, can revolt at what he is now as he
will revolt at it all when his true consciousness returns. He has
met with an immeasurable misfortune. He is infinitely worse off
than if helpless--worse off than if he were dead, if this
condition is to last; but it may not last. What would he think of
me if I should desert him now and leave him nothing to remember
but a condition of which he could only think with loathing? I will
hide nothing from you, Hobart, my brave, true friend--you who have
taught me what patience means.


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