BEAUCHAMP NO FORTUNE-HUNTER. 41 



" Of nothing particular, Con, dear." 



" Yes, William, you are (excuse rny rudeness in contra- 

 dicting you) ; and I will tell you the subject of your meditations, 

 if you promise to confess whether I have guessed rightly or not." 



" Well, dear Con, what is it then 1 " 



" Blanche Douglas." 



Beauchamp was silent for a moment, then added — 



" Yes, Constance, your guess is right ; but there is nothing 

 very particular in my thinking about Blanche, of whom I so 

 often think, and her future prospects in life ; you know the 

 interest I have long taken in her, and my brotherly affection ; 

 she is to me a second sister." 



" Yes, dear William, but in that relation she cannot much 

 longer stand to you, although I hope she may to me." 



" That, I fear, can never be, dear Constance." 



" And why not, my own true kind-hearted brother 1 " 



"The rich heiress, when once launched on the world, and 

 surrounded by the titled, the rich, and the gay, trying for her 

 hand, will soon forget the humble companion of her earlier and 

 happier years." 



" Never, William, believe me, if I know her as I ought to 

 do ; although so young, she thinks deeply, judges carefully, and 

 loves, where she does love, intensely : and of this I am quite 

 convinced, that an impression upon her heart, once made, will 

 never be obliterated." 



" Well, my dear, enthusiastic sister, time is said to prove the 

 constancy of faithful love." 



"William," she said, "will you answer me one question, 

 sincerely and confidentially — for you know me too well to 

 believe that I ever would betray your confidence — do you love 

 Blanche as a sister only ? " 



" Until this night, dear Con, I believed I did regard her in 

 that light only ; but now, my feelings have undergone a change 

 — would that they never had ! " 



" Why say this, my own darling brother, and in so sad a 

 tone ? " 



" Because from this hour they must be suppressed, if not 

 extinguished. What ! Will Beauchamp a fortune-hunter ! 

 never," he replied with emphasis ; " perish the thought ! " 



" And perish thus," added Constance, " the happy dreams, 

 the brightening hopes of that dear confiding girl, who chinks 

 she has found a responding pulse to her own feelings in the 

 breast of William Beauchamp." 



