"Will you kindly hand it to me?" Jack requested. Dora complied and she was about to leave the room when he protested and she resumed her seat.
Jack's hand trembled as he took the box and Dora's eyes were moist when he looked in her direction. Was it the attraction of her womanliness which made him lay before her the awful fate of the one to whom these letters belonged? Gradually he spoke of himself, his aspirations, his plans for the future with its seemingly infinite possibilities all gone now "There is no use in longer deceiving myself. My future in this world lies in the past." His tone was bitter and though evidently relieved by unburdening his mind, he seemed utterly crushed.
"Mr. De Vere," said Dora resolutely, "what you tell me is indeed terrible. I do not pretend to understand why one endowed with so many noble qualities should be thus stricken. An orthodox Christian would tell you that it is the will of God that it should be so and you must pray for strength to bear
