Then she saw that the blinds were in the
act of being drawn down.
"Is it so?" she said.
"Yes," said Julius, in a quiet tone, as sad and subdued as his
looks. "He slept himself away peacefully a quarter of an hour ago."
"I suppose I must not go in now. I longed to come before. Poor
boy, he was like a toy flung away."
"You need not grieve over him," said Julius. "Far from it. You
have done a great deal for him."
"I--I only caused him to be put into temptation."
"Nay. Your care woke his spirit up and guarded him. No one could
hear his wanderings without feeling that he owed much to you. There
is a drawing to be given to you that will speak much to you. It is
at the Rectory; it was not safe here. And his mother is here. I
can't but hope her soul has been reached through him. Yes," as
Lenore leant against the gate, her warm tears dropping, "there is no
grief in thinking of him. He had yearnings and conceptions that
could not have been gratified in his former station; and for him an
artist's life would have been more than commonly uphill work--full
of trial.
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