But he made them in vain. Edwin acknowledged
the kindness, in the warmest terms, but remained firm in his purpose
to sail with the vessel.
"Why will you go away and leave us, Edwin?" said Kate, one evening
when they happened to be alone, about two weeks before his expected
departure. "I do think it very strange!"
Edwin had avoided, as much as possible, being alone with Kate, a
fact which the observant maiden had not failed to notice. Their
being alone now was from accident rather than design on his part.
"I think it right for me to go, Kate," the young man replied, as
calmly as it was possible for him to speak under the circumstances.
"And when I think it right to do a thing, I never hesitate or look
back."
"You have a reason, for going, of course. Why, then, not tell it
frankly? Are we not all your friends?"
Edwin was silent, and his eyes rested upon the floor, while a deeper
flush than usual was upon his face. Kate looked at him fixedly.
Suddenly a new thought flashed through her mind, and the color on
her own cheeks grew warmer. Her voice from that moment was lower and
more tender; and her eyes, as she conversed with the young man, were
never a moment from his face.
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