Well, Leonard, this is the first time thou hast shown that thou hast in
thee the iron out of which true manhood is forged and shaped. Thou hast
_the power to resist_. Forth, unebriate, unpolluted, he came from the
orgy, as yon star above him came from the cloud.
He had a latch-key to his lodging. He let himself in, and walked
noiselessly up the creaking, wooden stair. It was dawn. He passed on to
his window, and threw it open. The green elm-tree from the carpenter's
yard looked as fresh and fair as if rooted in solitudes, leagues away
from the smoke of Babylon.
"Nature, Nature!" murmured Leonard, "I hear thy voice now. This
stills--this strengthens. But the struggle is very dread. Here, despair
of life--there, faith in life. Nature thinks of neither, and lives
serenely on."
By-and-by a bird slid softly from the heart of the tree, and dropped on
the ground below out of sight. But Leonard heard its carol. It awoke its
companions--wings began to glance in the air, and the clouds grew red
toward the east.
Leonard sighed and left the window. On the table, near Helen's
rose-tree, which he bent over wistfully, lay a letter. He had not
observed it before. It was in Helen's hand. He took it to the light, and
read it by the pure healthful gleams of morn:
"Oh my dear brother Leonard, will this find you well, and (more happy I
dare not say, but) less sad than when we parted? I write kneeling, so
that it seems to me as if I wrote and prayed at the same time. You may
come and see me to-morrow evening, Leonard. Do come, do--we shall walk
together in this pretty garden; and there is an arbor all covered with
jessamine and honeysuckle, from which we can look down on London. I have
looked from it so many times--so many--trying if I can guess the roofs
in our poor little street, and fancying that I do see the dear elm-tree.
"Miss Starke is very kind to me; and I think, after I have seen you,
that I shall be happy here--that is, if you are happy.
"Your own grateful sister,
"HELEN.
"Ivy Lodge."
"P.S.--Any one will direct you to our house; it lies to the left, near
the top of the hill, a little way down a lane which is overhung on one
side with chestnut trees and lilies. I shall be watching for you at the
gate."
Leonard's brow softened, he looked again like his former self. Up from
the dark sea at his heart smiled the meek face of a child, and the waves
lay still as at the charm of a spirit.