ONE:It was reported that the Lady Isabella had been in a state of great excitement from the moment of perusing the parchment��that she had urged De Boteler to make the required vow, alleging that if the contract was not fulfilled, the engagement would, of course, be void��and, it was added, that De Boteler himself, had at first appeared disposed to comply; but, on further consideration, had resolved to wait till something further should transpire.He could not tell exactly what it was that had invigorated him, and jerked him out of his despair. It would seem as if Alice's presence alone had tonic qualities. Perhaps the secret lay in her unchangeableness. He had gone back to her after an absence of five years, and found her just the same, still loving him, still fighting him, the old Alice. Everything else had changed��his farm which in the former days had been the thriving envy of the countryside was now little better than a ruin, his home life had been turned inside out, but in the woman over at Cheat Land nothing had altered, love and strength and faithfulness still flourished in her. It was as if a man stumbling in darkness should suddenly hear a loved, familiar voice say "Here I am." The situation summed itself up in three words��She was there; and his heart added��"for me to take if I choose." ONE:"Why w?an't you let me kiss you?"

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