"It's so long
since I wrote it, you see."
"Yes, you may see it," replied Selina, without raising her eyes; "but
it's all passed now," with another little sigh.
His disengaged hand had secured the letter, and hastily glancing over
the writing, he exclaimed with sudden fervour:
[Sidenote: "I'm Waiting!"]
"No, Selina! Every word I wrote then I mean to-day. When I left England
years ago it was with your image in my heart, and with the determination
that when I was rich I would come back and try my luck again. And in my
heart you, and you alone, have reigned ever since. And when after long
years I heard from my cousin that you might still be found at Seaton
Lodge, you don't know what that meant to me. It made a boy of me again.
It blotted out all the years that have divided us, and here I am waiting
for my answer."
"Oh, Edgar, we mustn't be silly. Remember, we're no longer boy and
girl."
"I remember nothing of the kind. All I remember is that it's Christmas
Day, that I've asked you a question, and that I am waiting for the
answer you would have given me years ago but for the damp and a drop of
gum. You know what it would have been then; give me it now. Dearest, I'm
waiting."
And Selina Martyn gave her answer, an all-sufficient one to both.
[Illustration: SELINA MARTYN GAVE HER ANSWER.]
[Sidenote: Young people, read and take warning by this awful example.
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