This will make
him bear better what would otherwise be a dull visit. But I leave
this matter entirely in your hands. You know the boy and I do not,
and you can therefore better judge what will be best for him to
know. And now, dear Mary, if you will pardon my once again calling
you so,
"I remain,
"Your affectionate friend,
"HERBERT PENFOLD."
It was characteristic of Mrs. Conway that at the first reading of this
letter she thought rather of the writer than of the bright prospects
which his offer opened to her son. She thought rather of Herbert
Penfold, her first love, now ill, if not dying, of the days of their
engagement and its rupture, than of the fact that her son was to
inherit half the Penfold estates. She had been sorely hurt at the
time; and even after all these years it was a pleasure to her to know
that the quarrel was not as she had often thought at the time, a mere
pretext for breaking off the engagement, but that Herbert had really
loved her, had cared for her all these years, and had been the
mysterious friend whose kindness had so lightened her cares.
"I did not throw away my love after all," she said to herself, as with
her eyes full of tears she stood at the window and looked out towards
the sea. "He cared for me enough to be faithful all this time and to
think of me constantly, while I had almost forgotten the past.
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