"
He attempted to put a piece of gold into her hand, which she refused to
receive; and, in the slight struggle attending his wish to force it upon
her, it dropped to the earth.
"Let it remain an instant on the ground," said Alice, as the Master
stooped to raise it; "and believe me, that piece of gold is an emblem of
her whom you love; she is as precious, I grant, but you must stoop even
to abasement before you can win her. For me, I have as little to do with
gold as with earthly passions; and the best news that the world has in
store for me is, that Edgar Ravenswood is an hundred miles distant from
the seat of his ancestors, with the determination never again to behold
it."
"Alice," said the Master, who began to think this earnestness had some
more secret cause than arose from anything that the blind woman could
have gathered from this casual visit, "I have heard you praised by my
mother for your sense, acuteness, and fidelity; you are no fool to start
at shadows, or to dread old superstitious saws, like Caleb Balderstone;
tell me distinctly where my danger lies, if you are aware of any which
is tending towards me.
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