"I will do as you say, Basil, dear; I will never, never forget your words. They will keep me good."
"Let them keep you brave as well, my dear. I promise to remember you always, to love you always, and perhaps when you are a woman--it will not be so long, Annette--we shall meet again."
"Oh, Basil, that will be true happiness."
"Time flies quickly, Annette. It seems but yesterday since I was a boy myself, and when I look back and think of my own dear parents, I am happy in the belief that I never did anything to cause them sorrow.
"Ah, my dear, I don't know that; but I had a good mother and so had you, and my father and yours were both noble men. They are not with us, and that makes the duty we owe them all the stronger. To do what is right because we feel that it is right to do it, not because it is done in the sight of others--that is what makes us good, Annette. My mother taught me that lesson as she lay on her death bed, and it has brought me great happiness; it has supported me in adversity. You must not mind my speaking so seriously, Annette----"
"I love to hear you, Basil. I will be like you, indeed I will.
"Much better, I hope. You see, my dear, this is the last time we shall be together for a long time; but not so long after all, if we look at it in the right light, and I should like you to remember me as you would remember a brother, who, being older than you, is perhaps a little wiser."
"I will, Basil. All my wicked thoughts are gone; they shall never come again; but I shall still feel a little unhappy sometimes."
"Of course you will, dear, and so shall I. But faith in God's goodness and the performance of our duty will always lighten that unhappiness. The stars of heaven are not brighter than the stars of hope and love we can keep shining in our hearts."
"Kiss me, Basil; that is the seal. I shall go away happier now."
"Tell me, Annette. Are your uncle and aunt kind to you?"
"They are neither kind nor unkind. They talk a great deal to each other, but very seldom to me, unless it is to order me to do something. Aunt says, 'Go to bed,' and I go to bed; 'It is time to get up,' and I get up? 'Come to dinner,' and I come to dinner. It is all like that; they never speak to me as my father and mother did, and they have never kissed me."