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met before Allan was blind, and where they had first spoken of wedded life. Fanny could have almost wept to see the earth, and the sky, and the whole day, so beautiful, now that Allan's eyes were dark but he whispered to her, that the smell of the budding trees, and of the primroses that he knew were near his feet, was pleasant indeed, and that the singing of all the little birds made his heart dance within him--so Fanny sat beside her blind lover in serene happiness, and felt strengthened in her conviction that it was her duty to become his wife.
"Allan———I love you so entirely———that to see you happy is all that I desire on earth. Till God made you blind———Allan———I knew not how my soul could be knit unto yours———I knew not the love that was in my heart. To sit by you with my work———to lead you out thus on pleasant Sabbaths———to take care that your feet do not stumble———and that nothing shall ever offer violence to your face———to suffer no solitude to surround you--but that you may know, in your darkness, that mine eyes, which God still permits to see, are always upon you———for these ends, Allan, will I marry thee, my beloved———thou must not say nay———for God would not forgive me if I became not thy wife." And Fanny fell upon his neck and wept.
