In the midst of this delighted existence,--while yet he revelled in the
pleasure of loving and being loved,--there came to him, like a dark
cloud over a clear sky, the unwelcome thought that it was wrong for him
to entangle the affections of his benefactor's daughter. He was a
beggar,--the object of her father's charity. Her prospects were
brilliant and certain, and he felt that he had no right to mar or
destroy them. He knew that she would love him none the less for his
poverty; but, probably, her father had already anticipated something
better than a beggar for his future son-in-law.
Poor Captain Carroll! The modesty of true greatness of soul had left
unconsidered the genuine nobility of the man. He thought not of the name
he had won on the field of battle,--of the honorable wounds he bore as
testimonials of his devotion to his country. He was poor, and, in the
despondency which his position induced, he attributed to wealth a value
which to the truly good it never possesses.
He loved Emily, and his poverty seemed to shut him out from the hallowed
field to which his heart fondly sought admission.
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