that was inexpressible, leapt down and took her hand.
'Well, but, Izz, we'll part friends, anyhow? You don't know what I've had to bear!'
She was a really generous girl, and allowed no further bitterness to mar their adieux.
'I forgive 'ee, sir,' she said.
'Now, Izz,' he said solemnly, while she stood beside him there; 'I want you to tell Marian when you see her that she is to be a good woman, and not to give way to folly. Promise that, and tell Retty that there are more worthy men than I in the world, that for my sake she is to act wisely and well—remember the words—wisely and well—for my sake. I send this message to them as a dying man to the dying; for I shall never see them more. And you, Izzy, you have saved me by your honest words about my wife from an incredible impulse towards folly and treachery. Women may be bad, but they are not so bad as men in these things! On that one account I can never forget you. Be always the good and sincere girl you have hitherto been; and think of me as a worthless lover, but a true friend. Promise.'
