diff options
Diffstat (limited to '43358.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 43358.txt | 19857 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 19857 deletions
diff --git a/43358.txt b/43358.txt deleted file mode 100644 index e348d9d..0000000 --- a/43358.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,19857 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Modern Flirtations, by Catherine Sinclair - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Modern Flirtations - A Novel - -Author: Catherine Sinclair - -Release Date: July 30, 2013 [EBook #43358] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MODERN FLIRTATIONS *** - - - - -Produced by Robert Cicconetti and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - -Transcriber's Note: Minor typographical errors have been corrected -without note. Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have -been retained as printed. Words printed in italics are noted with -underscores: _italics_. The Table of Contents was not present in the -original text and has been produced for the reader's convenience. - - -[Illustration: Granville intercepting the Stranger.--See page 176] - - -MODERN FLIRTATIONS, - -A NOVEL: - -BY CATHERINE SINCLAIR, - -AUTHOR OF "BEATRICE." - -[Illustration: Blind Uncle Arthur endeavoring to escape from the -flames.--See page 334] - -STRINGER & TOWNSEND, NEW YORK - - - - -MODERN FLIRTATIONS, - -A NOVEL: - - -BY CATHERINE SINCLAIR, - -AUTHOR OF - -"BEATRICE, OR THE UNKNOWN RELATIVES," "MODERN ACCOMPLISHMENTS," "MODERN -SOCIETY," "HILL AND VALLEY," "SHETLAND AND THE SHETLANDERS," -"HOLIDAY HOUSE," "CHARLIE SEYMOUR," ETC. - - - "I clasped my hand close to my breast, - While my heart was as light as a feather, - Yet nothing I said, I protest, - But, ---- 'Madam! 'tis very fine weather!'" - - RITSON'S SONGS. - - -NEW-YORK: -STRINGER & TOWNSEND, PUBLISHERS, -222 BROADWAY. - - - - -CONTENTS - - PREFACE - - CHAPTER - - I. - II. - III. - IV. - V. - VI. - VII. - VIII. - IX. - X. - XI. - XII. - XIII. - XIV. - XV. - XVI. - XVII. - XVIII. - XIX. - XX. - XXI. - XXII. - XXIII. - XXIV. - XXV. - XXVI. - XXVII. - XXVIII. - XXIX. - XXX. - XXXI. - XXXII. - XXXIII. - XXXIV. - XXXV. - XXXVI. - XXXVII. - XXXVIII. - XXXIX. - XL. - XLI. - XLII. - XLIII. - XLIV. - XLV. - XLVI. - XLVII. - - - - -PREFACE. - - -It was the rule of a celebrated equestrian, which might be adapted to -authors as well as to horsemen, that every one should ride as if he -expected to be thrown, and drive as if he expected to be upset. -Impunity in publishing, far from rendering an author presumptuous, -should tend rather to increase his timidity, the danger being greater -always of venturing too much, than of hazarding too little; and the -more cause any writer has to feel grateful for the lenient judgment of -an enlightened public, the more circumspect should he become, not to -trespass by an obtrusive reappearance on that notice which has already -perhaps been, as in respect to the author herself, beyond all -expectation favorable. - -An old proverb declares that "a goose-quill is more powerful than a -lion's claw," and authors have been called "keepers of the public -conscience;" but no influence is perhaps so extensive as that -exercised by what is termed "light reading," which has now in a great -measure superseded public places and theatrical entertainments, -affording a popular resource with which the busiest men relax their -hard-working minds, and the idlest occupy their idleness. It becomes a -deep responsibility, therefore, of which the author trusts she has -ever felt duly sensible, to claim the leisure hours of so many, while -it is her first desire that whatever be the defect of these pages, no -actual evil may be intermingled, and the cause of sound religion and -morality supported, for her feelings are best expressed in the words -of the poet, - - "If I one soul improve, I have not liv'd in vain." - -Novel-reading, formerly considered the lowest resource of intellectual -vacuity, has been lately promoted to a new place in the literary -world, since men of the brightest genius as well as of the highest -attainments in learning and philosophy, allow their pens occasionally -to wander in the attractive regions of fiction; therefore works of -imagination, no longer merely a clandestine amusement to frivolous -minds, are now avowedly read and enjoyed, to beguile an idle hour, or -to cheer a gloomy one, by men of science, of wisdom, and of piety. -Such is the general encouragement given now to works of fancy, that, -as the literary existence of authors depends on attracting readers, -there will scarcely be encouragement enough soon to induce historians -and biographers to dip the pen of veracity into the ink of -retrospection, while it is perhaps to be lamented that when so large a -proportion of the public attention is occupied by novelists, their -works being certain of instant circulation, for a very short period -and for no more, few authors afford themselves time to aspire at the -highest grade of imaginary composition. When such volumes are really -true to nature, they convey very important truths in a form more -popular than a dry sententious volume of moral precepts, and perhaps -history itself can scarcely afford so graphic a portrait of human life -as many of those fictitious volumes, written under the inspiration of -genius, which portray in vivid coloring, the thoughts and motives by -which men are internally influenced. - -The Life of Cleopatra, or the Memoirs of Agrippina, can afford -scarcely so much direction to young ladies respecting their views of -life and manners in the present day, as might be conveyed by a -judiciously-drawn portrait of that world as it is, on the stage of -which they are about to be personally introduced; and a large -proportion of those elaborate volumes dignified with the name of -history, can only be considered in the main fictitious, because, while -biographers would confidently state the private opinions, secret -intentions, and real characters of illustrious men who lived and acted -several hundred years ago, they cannot justly estimate the actual -dispositions and motives of their own most intimate friends, nor -confidently point out what circumstances have influenced the greatest -events in their own day. If two authors, entertaining opposite -political sentiments, were to write the history of last year, every -fact recorded, and every individual mentioned must inevitably be -represented, or misrepresented, according to the writer's own private -feelings, while each would believe he was writing unadulterated truth. - -Thus poetry and fiction, when true to the principles of human life, -exhibit the mind and soul of man visibly to the senses; and history, -which has been called "the Newgate Calendar of Kings and Emperors," -supplies the facts of human existence, and may be considered a -portrait of men's persons and external actions. - -In writing a story of domestic life, it is singular to reflect how -commonly men are remembered by their eccentricities, and loved for -their very faults, while the most difficult task in fiction is, to -describe amiable persons so as to render them at all interesting and -not utterly insipid. Probably it may be for this reason that modern -writers too frequently, instead of describing the principles which -ennoble human nature, and the sentiments which embellish life, have -painted in vivid coloring, all that is low, mean, and vicious in -society, introducing their readers into scenes, the reality of which -would be shunned with abhorrence, and flinging over vice such a mantle -of genius as converts the deformities of society into subjects of -interest--unfortunately even of sympathy. - -Were authors obliged hereafter, to live with the characters they -create, how few would desire to share with them in such a world! Even -where the intention is to represent an attractive character, it seldom -appears as one which could be an agreeable acquisition to any family -circle; and in works of sentiment or feeling, nothing is less -successfully pictured than a generous and refined attachment, fitted -to survive every trial or vicissitude of existence, between those who -are to love each other for ever. Few stories could be written, if -lovers in a romance acted with the slightest degree of confidence or -esteem; but such narratives are generally founded on a teazing -succession of narrow-minded suspicions, and unwarrantable concealments -on the part of heroes and heroines, who condemn each other unheard, -and go through volumes of heart-breaking alienation, enough to -terminate life itself, rather than ask the most simple explanation, -while the reader cannot but feel a certain conviction in closing the -last page, that an engagement begun with cavilling jealousies and -painful recriminations, can never become productive of lasting peace. - -The mothers and daughters in fashionable society have of late been so -harshly stigmatized by the press, that it seems as if some authors had -taken up a porcupine's quill dipped in gall, to ridicule their conduct -and motives, while not a pen has yet been drawn from the scabbard, nor -a drop of ink spilled in their justification; but the weight of -censure might become greatly lightened by being more equitably divided -among all who are entitled to carry a share, and in these volumes an -endeavor is made to rectify the balance more justly, though with what -success remains to be discovered by the author herself, as not a -single friend ever sees her pages, or puts on the spectacles of -criticism till after they are printed. The only peculiarity to which -she makes any pretension, in once more presuming to publish, is, that -avoiding all caricature, all improbability, and all personality, she -has introduced a few individuals acting and thinking in the ordinary -routine of every-day life, while her highest ambition is to represent -in natural colors, the conduct and feelings of men elevated and -ennobled by the influence of Christianity. - -When Dr. Johnson remarked once that it required a clever person to -talk nonsense well, Boswell replied, "Yes, sir! If you were to -represent little fishes speaking, you would make them talk like great -whales;" and on a similar plan, authors describing society, instead -of sketching the good-humoured chit-chat and lively _persiflage_ -with which the business and amusements of fashionable life are carried -on, too frequently fill up their dialogues with set speeches, moral -essays, and long quotations, such as never are extemporized in any -drawing-room, where too energetic a stroke given to the shuttlecock of -conversation makes it instantly fall to the ground. The flagrant -impossibilities by which a carelessly-written narrative is carried on, -destroys often at once the illusion. Persons are described, who may be -overheard speaking aloud their most secret thoughts when supposing -themselves alone, soliloquizing audibly in the streets, journalizing a -history of their own crimes, becoming permanent guests in houses to -which they have no introduction, preserving the noblest sentiments -amidst the most degraded habits, and dying enlightened Christians when -they have lived as dissolute infidels. - -A celebrated mathematician threw aside a novel once in disgust, saying -that "it proved nothing;" but in these pages the author has -endeavoured to prove much. Amidst the bustle and business, the joys -and sorrows of life, she has attempted to illustrate how truly -"wisdom's ways are of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace,"--how -superior is the Christian standard of principle to the mere worldly -code of honour or expediency, and how much of the happiness intended -for man by his Creator is ruined and forfeited by the perversity of -his own will, in neglecting the good of others, and in vainly -grasping, like a spoiled child, at more than is intended for his -share. While thus writing a fiction, which may perhaps be denominated -a large religious tract in high life, the author humbly submits her -pages to the judgment of others, and cannot conclude in the words of a -more universally venerated, or of a more generally popular fictitious -author than the excellent Bunyan: - - "Thus I set pen to paper with delight, - And quickly had my thought—in black and white; - For having now my method by the end, - Still as I pulled it came, and so I penned - It down, until at last it came to be, - For length and breadth, the bigness which you see." - - - - -MODERN FLIRTATIONS. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - - -The newspapers have recently adopted a strange habit of sometimes -unexpectedly seizing an individual's name, long since retired from -public notice, and gibbetting it up before the world's eye, when least -anticipated, by volunteering a paragraph to announce, that some aged -lord, or ex-minister, whom no one has remembered to think of for half -a century or more, is residing on his estates, and enjoying, the -editor is happy to understand, astonishing health, considering his -advanced years. In observance of this custom, an exclamation of -irritability and astonishment, too violent to be worthy of record, was -elicited one day, from a dignified and very distinguished-looking old -gentleman, with a venerable head, such as Titian might have painted, -and a high lofty forehead bearing the traces of deep thought and -feeling, when, after having seated himself on his favorite arm chair -at the United Service Club in Edinburgh, his eye rested with a look of -kindling amazement on these few lines, in large consequential-looking -type, on a leading column of the Courant. - -_June 1829._ "We are happy to inform our readers that the brave and -noble veteran, once a distinguished hero in many a well-fought fight, -Sir Arthur Dunbar, G.C.B., is yet alive, reposing on his well-earned -laurels, at a retired mansion in the marine village of Portobello. -Though frequently and most severely wounded in battle, besides being -deprived of an arm in Lord Rodney's engagement during the year '82, the -Admiral's health continues unimpaired and his cheerfulness invariable, -at the advanced age of 70." - -"Pshaw! stuff and nonsense! Some enemy is resolved to make a -laughing-stock of me in my old age!" exclaimed he, angrily pointing out -the paragraph to his gay young relative, Louis De Crespigny, who was -familiarly leaning over the high back of his chair; and then crumpling -up the offending Courant with an obvious wish that it might be consumed -in the flames--"I hope this is only the work of some wretched -penny-a-liner; but if I even suspected that my conceited, good-looking -scoundrel of a nephew had a hand in the jest, I would cut him off with a -shilling,--or rather without one, for I could scarcely raise so much as -a shilling to leave him, and he knows that. This is most thoroughly -ridiculous! I, who have been dead, buried, and forgotten for years, to -be made as conspicuous here, as a hair-dresser's wig-block! The editor -shall be prosecuted,--horse-whipped,--or--or made as absurd as he has -made me!" - -"Why really, Admiral, I wish he had as much good to say of us all, and -then the sooner he paragraphs about me the better!--'We are happy to -inform our readers that the agreeable and fascinating Cornet De -Crespigny, of the 15th Light Hussars, now in his eighteenth year, is -still alive!'--the public likes to know the exact age of distinguished -men, such as you and I, Admiral!" - -"The public is an ass!" replied Sir Arthur, breaking into a smile; -"and perhaps I am another, to mind what is said at all, but that -rascal of an editor has made me ten years older than I am; besides -which, though a grey-haired Admiral of sixty-four is not probably much -addicted to blushing, he really has put my modest merit out of -countenance. I would rather pay the newspapers any day for overlooking -than for praising me. We ought to live or die for our country; but -now, when I am no longer needed, let me stay in peace on the shelf, -like," added he, giving a comic smile at his empty sleeve, "like a -cracked tea-cup with the handle off!" - -"But, Sir Arthur!" replied the young Cornet warmly, "you who never -turned your back on friend or foe, are not very likely to remain -quietly on the shelf, as long as every man who lives must respect you, -and every man who dies continues to appoint you, as my father did, his -executor, the trustee of his estates, and the guardian of his -children, asking you to lend them a hand, as you have done to me in -all the difficulties of life." - -"I have but one hand to lend, and that is much at your service, in -whatever way it can be useful! the other, though absent without leave, -has been my own best friend, as the loss of that arm was the luckiest -hit in the world. It obtained me a step at the time, and the pension -has supported me ever since. What with my nephew's frantic -extravagance, and my two young nieces being but indifferently provided -for, I often wish, like every body else, for a larger income. Poor -girls!" added Sir Arthur, knitting his bushy eye-brows into a -portentous frown, which gave to his venerable countenance a look of -noble and manly sorrow. "No one can blame them! but it was little -short of insanity in my brother to leave such young children under the -sole guardianship of a heartless spendthrift like your friend and my -nephew Sir Patrick, who would sell his soul for sixpence." - -"Yes! and squander it the next minute," added young De Crespigny, -laughing. "I saw Pat produce a L20 note yesterday at Tait's -auction-room, and a buzz of wonder ran all through the circle of his -friends. Such a sight had not been seen in his pocket for many a day, -and he threatened to put it up to auction, saying, he was sure we -would all give double the value for it, as a rarity, considering the -quarter from which it came. He really seems to pique himself on his -poverty, and has the art of doing what another man would be cut for, -with so much grace and apparent unconsciousness, that his friends -really forget to disapprove." - -"I never forget!" replied the Admiral, slowly rising and adjusting his -spectacles. "I am even told the incorrigible rascal has mortgaged the -legacy he pretends to expect from me! He would do anything short of a -highway robbery for money, and has done some things that seem to a man -of honor quite as bad. But," added Sir Arthur, growing more and more -angry, "as long as he can give his friends a good bottle of claret, -they ask no questions! Patrick Dunbar has caused me the only feeling -of shame I ever had occasion for, and yet to see that proud -snuff-the-moon look of his, you would suppose the world scarcely big -enough to hold him! With his chin in the air, as I saw him yesterday, -he will certainly knock his forehead some day against the sky!" - -"You cannot wonder, Sir Arthur, that Dunbar is in immense favor with -himself, when he is so admired, and almost idolized in society. He -certainly has the handsomest countenance in Scotland;--as my uncle -Doncaster says, Pat is a portrait of Vandyke in his best style. With -that grand, chivalrous, Chevalier-Bayard look, he is the best rider -who ever sat on horseback! I could not but laugh when he mounted -yesterday for a ride along Princes Street, and turned to me, with his -lively, victorious laugh, saying, 'Now I am going to give the ladies a -treat!'" - -"The insufferable coxcomb!" said Sir Arthur, relaxing into an -irresistible smile of indulgent affection. "From the day he first -came staggering into this world to astonish us all, he has thought -himself the finest sight between this and Whitehall!" - -"Of course he does! Pat is asked for so many locks of his hair, by -various young ladies, that his valet keeps a wig to supply them; and -he might almost pay his debts with the countless collection he has -received of sentimental rings, displaying forgotten forget-me-nots, in -turquoises and gold! Who, on the wide earth, except yourself, Sir -Arthur, would ever dream of finding fault with our gay, dashing, -high-spirited friend, Dunbar, the life of society, the model of dress, -equipage, and good living. Why! the very instant he opens his lips, -all dulness vanishes like a spectre! I wish the whole world were -peopled with such men; but he promises to shoot himself as soon as he -sees his own equal. He staked his reputation one day that he would!" - -"His reputation!! the sooner he parts with it the better! Let Patrick -Dunbar exchange his own with the first man he meets in the street, and -he will gain by the bargain." - -"Pardon me there, Sir Arthur, your nephew is universally allowed to be -the best fellow upon earth!" - -"Very probably! 'the best fellow upon earth' generally means a -selfish, extravagant, scatter-brained roue; but I must be off! There -is a cold, sharp, cutting wind, blowing in at the back of my neck, -which makes me feel like Charles the First when the axe fell. If you -have any influence, De Crespigny, with my scape-grace of a nephew--all -nephews are scape-graces, as far as my experience goes--try to make -him more like yourself, and I shall be grateful, with all my heart." - -"Like me!!!" said the young Cornet, turning away with a smile; but it -was a smile of bitterness, almost amounting to remorse, while he -hastily grasped a newspaper, and flung himself into a seat. "No! no! -Sir Arthur, he is not quite so bad as that. Dunbar has his faults; he -wears them upon his sleeve, and attempts no disguise; but there are -many worse men in the world, who are held up as examples by those who -know no better. Whenever I reform myself, you may depend upon my -lecturing our friend, but not till then. We must both sow all our wild -oats first." - -"Yes! and endure the fruit of them afterwards," replied Sir Arthur, -with a look of anxious kindness at his young relative. "That is the -only crop where to sow is more agreeable than to reap! But I waste -words! Young men will be young men, and I might as well ask this east -wind not to blow, or try to turn the sea from its course, as attempt -to stop the mad career of that scatter-brained madcap! It would matter -less if he only fell himself hereafter, like a pebble in the stream; -but the fatal eddy extends in a wide circle, which must reach the -interests of those helpless young girls, my nieces; and I cannot but -grieve over the consequences which may, and must befall them, after I -go to that rest which is in the grave, and to that hope which is -beyond it." - -"Never trouble your head about that which shall occur then, Sir Arthur! -'Too much care once made an old man grey.' My motto is, '_apres moi le -deluge_!' This little world of ours got on wonderfully well before we -came into it, and will do astonishingly well again, after we make our -exit," said young De Crespigny, with a strange medley in his tone, of -melancholy thought, and contemptuous derision. "Pat tells me that both -my young cousins promise to turn out a perfect blaze of beauty, with -long shining ringlets that they almost tread upon in walking, teeth -that would make the fortune of a dentist, and complexions that -Rowland's kalydor could not improve. Ten years hence, I shall propose -to one or both of them myself, if that will give you satisfaction." - -"Perfect! but as marrying two sisters at once is not quite customary, -let your intentions be limited to Agnes. She is several years the -eldest; and I like the good old patriarchal rule of marrying by -seniority; besides which, she is quite a little flirt already, though -scarcely yet in her teens. She will be a young lady, entirely suited -for the ordinary marrying and giving in marriage of every-day life; -but little Marion is the very light of my eyes, and I must match her -by a very high standard indeed. It will be a dark day for me, if ever -I am obliged to part with her at all; and being now only in her sixth -year, I may, without selfishness, hope to keep her beside me for my -few remaining days. I must begin match-making for Agnes, however, -directly, and your offer shall be duly considered. A future peer, with -countless thousands in expectancy, and not particularly ill-looking, -does not fall in our way every morning." - -"So all the young ladies seem to think!" replied the young Cornet, in -his most conceited tone. "Girls dislike nothing so much as to marry on -a competence; there is a great deal of romance in marrying on nothing, -and a great deal of comfort in marrying on wealth; but a mere vulgar -competence has neither romance nor reality. Now I can offer both! -First, actual starvation on a Cornet's pay; and then, with my uncle's -leave, the pumpkin will turn to a carriage, and the mice into horses; -but in the meantime, Sir Arthur, Pat tells me you keep a capital -chop-house at Portobello, so pray invite me to drop in some day at -six, to begin my siege of your pretty niece. I must come and see, -before I can conquer," added Mr. De Crespigny, in a tone of peculiar -conceit, with which he always spoke either to ladies or of them. -"Probably next week I may find my way to this _terra incognita_ -of yours. Is it across the Queensferry, or where?" - -"My good friend! you are not so pre-eminently ignorant of geography as -you would appear; for did I not see you honoring that dullest of all -dull places, the little obscure village of Portobello, with your -august presence, only yesterday. I nearly spitted you on the point of -my umbrella, you hurried so rapidly past, evidently wishing to escape -from that girl in a cloak, who seemed to beset your footsteps!" - -"Impossible!!!" exclaimed young De Crespigny, coloring violently, and -starting from his seat. "Could it be in the nature of things that I -should cut you!" - -"True enough! I might have said, like Lady Towercliffe to Prince -Meimkoff, '_vous m'avez coupe_.'" - -"Indeed!" continued the cornet, trying to conceal his countenance. "I -wish you had cut my throat in return!" - -"If it is to be done, I would rather somebody else did! Why, De -Crespigny! you will set the house on fire with that violent poker -exercise! Your own face is on fire already! Have more regard for your -complexion! Ah! now it is pale enough! Are you ill? My dear fellow! -what is the matter?" - -"Nothing! I am merely looking at the beautiful sunset!" - -"What! does the sun set in the east to-night?" asked Sir Arthur, -jestingly; "that is worth looking at!" - -"I am annoyed with a spasm of toothache!" said De Crespigny, putting a -handkerchief to his face, which nearly covered it; and then suddenly -throwing open the window, he looked far out, as if in search of his -groom. He leaned forward so long, however, that Sir Arthur kindly but -vehemently remonstrated on the danger of exposing himself, while in so -much pain, to the cold air; enumerated a whole host of remedies for -decayed teeth; suggested the great comfort and convenience of having -the offender extracted by Hutchins, and ended by hoping his young -friend would still have a tooth left for his proposed dinner at -Portobello. - -"Depend upon me for that," replied Mr. De Crespigny, with forced -vivacity. "I shall ferret you out next week. I have little doubt your -pasture is excellent in that quarter, and there is no one from whom I -would be half so happy to receive a soup ticket." - -"Keep your flattery for the ladies, where it will always be -acceptable, and where I hear you are already an experienced -practitioner in the arts of captivation. As for my dinner, I consider -it an imposition to ask any friend, and not give him the best my cook -and cellar can furnish; and you may expect whenever you do come, to -find a notice over my door, 'hot joints every day!'" - -"But it was the society of your house, and not the dinner, to which my -agreeable anticipations were directed; and there, you know, I cannot -be disappointed! as somebody wisely said, when shown a tempting bill -of fare, 'show me a bill of the company!'" - -"That reminds me to say, you must not expect my pretty niece to be at -my little bathing machine of a house! It would not be fair to inveigle -you under such false pretences; but I promise you an old man's -welcome, and the best that my cottage can produce; aged as this -newspaper makes me I enjoy every inch of life, and hope you, at the -same age, will do the same. I may almost apply to my little villa that -favourite saying in Spain, - - 'My home, my home! though thou'rt but small, - Thou art to me th' Escurial.'" - -With a cordial shake of the hand, and a smile of cheerful benignity, -Sir Arthur withdrew, and as his firm and stately step receded, Mr. De -Crespigny watched him with a look of respectful interest, which ended -in his turning away after the admiral had disappeared, and heaving a -deep sigh, while a cloud of care darkened on his forehead, and a look -of angry vexation shaded his previously animated eyes. - -Day after day passed on, subsequent to the preceding conversation, -during which Sir Arthur frequently postponed his chop, to what he -considered an atrociously late hour, in hopes of his promised guest -appearing. Once the admiral felt positively convinced that he had seen -him enter a Portobello omnibus at four o'clock, but still he appeared -not. Week after week elapsed, and still Sir Arthur ate his dinner -alone, in long-surviving expectation that either his own not very -dutiful nephew, or young De Crespigny, would "cast up;" but at last -these hopes and wishes were ended by his hearing that Sir Patrick's -embarrassments had caused him to leave Edinburgh by moonlight, and -that, soon after, Mr. De Crespigny as suddenly departed, no one knew -why, when, or wherefore. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - - -The two most dashing, bold, and mischievous boys at Eton during their -day, had formerly been Sir Patrick Dunbar and Louis De Crespigny, who -astonished the weak minds of masters and pupils, by the strange and -startling invention displayed in their exploits, as well as by the -ingenuity with which both got safely out of every threatening -predicament, and the sly humor or cunning with which they frequently -shifted the disgrace, or even the punishment, of their offences, on -others who deserved it less, or perhaps not at all. Invariably at the -head of every mad exploit, or at the bottom of every secret design, -how they could possibly have escaped being expelled was a frequent -topic of subsequent wonder among their contemporaries in the classes; -but their delight was to run as near the wind as possible, and still -to display their skilful pilotage by baffling justice, and evading the -utmost rigor of the law, while always ready rather to do harm than to -do nothing. - -When very young, the two enterprising friends, both since gazetted -into the 15th Light Huzzars, had shown an early predilection for -military life, by frequently escaping to the neighbouring barracks, -assisted by a ladder of rope on which they descended every night from -the windows. A gay, joyous reception invariably awaited these lively -boys at the mess-table, where they sung many a jovial song, and -cracked many a merry jest over their claret, till, after some hours -spent in rapturous festivity, they stole silently back within bounds, -and were re-admitted at the window, by their respective fags, who had -received orders, under pain of death, to keep awake and answer their -signals for the ladder by instantly lowering it. The spirits of both -these young companions were more like the effect of intoxication, than -mere sober enjoyment; and, on one occasion, they set the table in a -roar, by having a rivalship which would best imitate the gradual -progress of becoming tipsy, though drinking nothing but cold water; in -which exhibition they showed so much talent for mimicry, taking off -the surrounding officers before their faces, and making so many -home-thrusts and personal remarks, that the scene was never afterwards -forgotten in the regiment. On another occasion Sir Patrick caused -himself to be placed in a coffin, stolen from the undertakers, and was -carried through the barracks by his companions, who made paper -trumpets with which they played the dead march in Saul, while all the -sentries saluted as they passed. Such juvenile exploits in the dawn of -life were now the subject of many a laughing reminiscence, and had -been followed by others on a more extended scale and of more matured -enterprise, at Mr. Brownlow's, a private tutor, where the two young -men afterwards distinguished themselves in a way not easily to be -forgotten, causing their better disciplined companions to wonder, -though in very few instances to admire. - -In the favorite aristocratic achievements of driving stage-coaches, -breaking lamps, wringing off knockers, assaulting watchmen, with other -fistic and pugilistic exploits, they were nearly unrivalled; and -occasionally their genius had soared into an extraordinary display of -dexterity, in transposing the signs suspended over shops, and in -filching silk handkerchiefs from the pockets of their friends, merely -as amateurs, but still the deed was done, and the laugh raised -literally at the expense of the sufferer, as the plunder was retained -to be a future trophy of success. Each successive stage of their -youth, in short, supplied an inexhaustible fund of standing jests and -lively anecdotes, the wit of which mainly consisted in their mischief, -while they betrayed an utter recklessness about the opinions or the -feelings of others, till at length the patience of their unfortunate -private tutor was so completely exhausted that he gave them a secret -hint to withdraw, which they accordingly lost no time in preparing to -do, but not till they had enjoyed a very characteristic revenge. When -Mr. Brownlow had taken a party of friends with him one evening to the -theatre, Sir Patrick suddenly discharged from the gallery the whole -contents of a prodigious bag of flour, which powdered all the heads, -faces, and coats, in the pit, perfectly white, and caused an uproar of -anger and of irresistible laughter throughout the house; and the same -evening Louis De Crespigny, as a farewell frolic, abstracted a stuffed -bear from the neighbouring hair-dresser's, and having equipped it in -the costume of Mr. Brownlow, hung it from the lamp-post, where a -panic-struck crowd was speedily assembled by the alarming report that -the reverend gentleman had committed suicide. A strict investigation -took place respecting the authors of these unpardonable tricks, but, -though suspicion fell at once upon the real culprits, and the -circumstantial evidence against them seemed irresistibly strong, Sir -Patrick argued his own cause with so much skill and vivacity, while De -Crespigny looked so innocently unconscious of the whole affair, that, -with a silent frown from the master, of stern reproof and suspicion, -they were, not honorably acquitted, but allowed to return home without -any public mark of censure or disgrace; and soon after both joined -their regiment at Dublin. - -De Crespigny and Sir Patrick had but one companion whom they -acknowledged as their equal at Eton, in all the spirit, enterprise, -and vivacity of their characters, but who was, in a thousand other -respects their superior, for seldom, indeed, has there been known, in -one so young, a character of as much intensity, or which displayed a -combination so singular, of superb talents, rare judgment, sound -principle, deep piety, and energetic feeling, as in Richard Granville, -an object of admiration to all, and of envy to many; though jealously -lost half of its bitterness in association with one so eloquent and -single-hearted in conversation, so courteously amiable and -conciliatory in manner, and with so fine a principle of tact, ready as -far as possible to enhance the pleasures, to palliate the faults, and -to share the sorrows of all his companions. Cultivated in all that -could adorn the heart as well as the head, in whatever was amiable, -high-spirited and generous, Richard Granville had but to follow the -impulse of natural feeling as well as of principle, and he out-did the -very wishes of his friends, while no one excelled him in all the manly -exercises suited to his early years. His countenance was illuminated -with an expression of intellectual energy, at times almost sublime, -while there was a living grace and amiability in his manner -irresistibly attractive. Brave, liberal, and resolute, he entered with -eagerness into all the offensive recreations of his companions, and no -one excelled him in riding, fencing, and cricket, while he was the -best shot in his own country; but he firmly declined ever to squander -his time or money on any game of chance, cards, billiards, or gambling -in any form. While Sir Patrick's betting-book was from the first a -model of skill, in hedging bets, and all the manoeuvres of -jockey-ology, young Granville said all that eloquence and affection -could dictate, to point out how dangerous and dishonorable was the -course on which he seemed about to enter, but in vain, for Sir Patrick -finished the discussion by offering to bet him L5 he would not be -ruined in less than ten years. "I have a fortune and constitution -which will last me till thirty," said the young baronet; "and I do not -wish to live a day longer." - -"It is easy," said Prince Eugene, "to be modest when one is -successful; but it is difficult not to be envied." While the very -presence of young Granville in the room, with his riotous young -associates, seemed as if it held up a glass to their mind's eye, -testifying the folly and evil of their course, yet Richard Granville -abhorred display, while Sir Patrick and De Crespigny frequently -declared he was "too clever and too good for them;" and unavoidable -circumstances afterwards combined to estrange the young men still -more. A law-suit had been going on almost since the period of their -birth, conducted in an amicable way by their guardians, in which the -interests of all three were so deeply concerned, and the case so -exceedingly complicated, that years passed on, during which the youths -had all grown to manhood, and the case remained still undecided; while -the one-sided view which was given to Dunbar and De Crespigny on the -subject caused in them an angry feeling of hostility and rancour -against their amiable and high-minded young relative, who was so -enthusiastically desirous to enter the English church, and devote -himself to those sacred duties, that he scarcely wished a favorable -decree, which would prevent the necessity for his pursuing a -profession at all. - -A Scotch law-suit may be compared to a game at battle-dore between the -tribunals of England and Scotland, while the gaping client sees the -shuttle-cock for ever flying over his head, higher and higher out of -reach, and sent backwards and forwards with ceaseless diligence, but -no apparent progress; or it is like a kitten playing with a ball of -worsted, which is allowed to come often apparently within her grasp, -and is then, when she least expects, twitched away farther than -before. The Granville case had been decided by the Court of Session, -against the two cousins, Dunbar and Crespigny, but being appealed to -the House of Lords, was recommended for consideration, re-argued, -re-considered, and nearly reversed, while replies and duplies, remits -and re-revisals, commissions of inquiry, and new cases, followed each -other in ceaseless succession, and many of the lawyers who were young -men when the case began, grew grey in the service, while it yet -remained in suspense. A grand-uncle of Sir Patrick's had fifty years -before, bought an estate of L12,000 a-year from the Marquis of -Doncaster, to whom young De Crespigny was now heir presumptive; but -Mr. Dunbar having, it was conjectured, entertained some suspicion that -the title deeds were not perfectly valid, as an entail had been -discovered afterwards, by which it was generally thought that the land -must be restored to the original owner, he hastily and most unfairly -sold the property to the late Mr. Granville for L350,000, and dying -intestate, after having lost nearly the whole sum in a mining -speculation, it could not be proved whether Sir Patrick's father had -acted as an executor for the deceased or not, so as to render himself -responsible for his debts, and liable to refund the sum paid by Mr. -Granville. Thus, whether the entail held good, and carried the estate -back to Lord Doncaster, or whether it had been legally broken, so as -to entitle the Granville family to keep it, or whether, if it were -refunded, the price could be claimed from the heirs of Mr. Dunbar, -still continued a mystery never apparently to be solved. - -For many generations past, the ancient Marquisate of Doncaster had -been inherited by a succession of only sons, all strict Papists, who -had each in his turn been reckoned by the next heirs exceedingly -sickly and unpromising, but still the wonder grew, for not one had -ever died, till he left a substitute in regular rotation, to supply -the vacancy which he created himself; and a long train of minorities -in the family had caused the accumulation of wealth and property to be -enormous, when the present proprietor succeeded fifty years before our -story commences. Nothing could exceed his own astonishment at the -unembarrassed magnificence of the fortune, of which he most -unexpectedly found himself in possession, as his father had been in -the habit of concealing the amount of his own income, and allowing his -heir rather less than nothing, saying, that as he himself had never -had anything to eat till he had no teeth to eat with, he was resolved -that his successor should be similarly treated. In pursuance of this -plan, the old nobleman even on his death-bed, had actually expired -with a practical joke on his lips. He sent for his son, gravely told -him that with debts, mortgages, and settlements, the very encumbered -estate he was about to inherit would scarcely pay its own expenses, -and recommended him to live in future with the most penurious economy. -When the will was opened, finding to his unutterable joy, that he had -merely been played upon by the old humorist, who, in reality left him -L40,000 per annum clear, so great was Lord Doncaster's surprise, that -he declared his good fortune at the time to be "almost incredible;" -and it might have been supposed, that he never afterwards completely -believed it, as his personal expenses were always in a style more -suited to the old Lord's threat than his performance, and he became a -fresh instance of what may be so often remarked, that the most -extravagant heirs in expectancy become the most avaricious in -possession. - -There was one singular peculiarity in the settlements of Lord -Doncaster's family, that so long as he had no son, or if his son at -twenty-one declared himself a Protestant, he had the power of selling -or bequeathing the estates according to his own pleasure or caprice; -and the ancestor who had inserted this clause in his deed of entail, -made his intention evident, that the succession should go to the Roman -Catholic Church, rather than to a Protestant heir; but the present -peer had taken advantage, on so large a scale, of his own childless -privilege, to sell the family estates, that his two deceased sisters, -Lady Charlotte De Crespigny, and Lady Caroline Smytheson, used -secretly to complain, that little would be left for their children, if -he persevered in turning every acre into gold; yet no one ever could -guess how the large sums were squandered or melted away, which the old -Marquis was continually raising, unless they went, as was strongly -suspected, in the form of "secret service money," among the priests by -whom he was surrounded. - -Nobody had a better right to be eccentric than Lord Doncaster!--old, -rich, unmarried, and originally educated at home,--a misfortune -sufficient in itself to engender so many peculiarities, as to render a -man unfit for society ever afterwards. The aged peer was shy, proud, -and arbitrary beyond all conception, avaricious about trifles, yet -lavish to excess on great occasions, suspicious of all men's motives -and intentions, and yet confiding to the last extreme of weakness, in -the Abbe Mordaunt, his confessor, despising all men, and yet anxious -beyond measure for the world's good opinion, addicted to the very -worst female society, when he might have enjoyed the best, hating -company, and yet sometimes plunging into it, when and where he was -least expected, jealous to excess of his next heir, Louis De -Crespigny, whom he enslaved to his caprices, as if even his existence -were to be given or withheld at his option, yet sometimes whimsically -cordial in his manner to him, though ready to take fire in an instant -if his condescension led the lively youth into the slightest approach -towards confidence or familiarity. - -Mr. Howard Smytheson, the wealthy brother-in-law of Lord Doncaster, -having purchased most of the De Crespigny estates, as acre after acre, -farm after farm, and house after house, came successively into the -market, bequeathed them on his decease to an only daughter then an -infant, and it became a favorite day-dream with the old peer, that his -nephew and niece should be educated for each other, while to this end -he tried his utmost power of conciliation with the maiden sister of -Mr. Howard Smytheson, to whose care the young heiress had been -consigned, hoping that thus all the amputated limbs of his vast -property might yet be reunited in their pristine magnitude, to which -very desirable end he thenceforth directed his whole conversations -with young De Crespigny, to whom he more than hinted that, unless -their will were the same about this marriage, his own will after death -would be found very different from what his nephew probably -anticipated and wished. - -The private vices of Lord Doncaster had been so very private, that -though much was suspected, little could be known; yet, while he had -few visible or personal expenses, and no imaginable outlet for his -fortune, he invariably spent all his income, and considerably more, -being one of those personages occasionally seen who excite the wonder -and speculation of relations and neighbours, by unaccountably -frittering away fortunes of almost royal splendor, without any -appearance of royal luxury or royal liberality. Wearied of the world, -in which he had nothing more to desire, and of himself, as he had -nothing to think of or to do,--bored in short with the want of a want, -Lord Doncaster's life was indeed a mere heartless pageant of mean -ostentation and fretful pride, sternly insulated in a state of -solitary old-bachelor despotism, and absorbed in himself to a degree -which no ordinary mind could conceive or comprehend. Encumbered with -so many unoccupied hours, it was a subject of as much wonder how he -disposed of his superfluous time, as of his superfluous fortune; but -he settled that question, by remarking one day to his nephew, that -"the great business of life is, to shuffle through the day anyhow till -dinner time." Like all parsimonious men, Lord Doncaster could not -endure to hear any one else reckoned affluent, and Louis De Crespigny -knew that a certain receipt for irritating him was, to over-estimate -everybody's income, consequently he amused himself occasionally by -audibly giving out Lord Towercliffe's fortune to be L15,000 a-year, -and estimating his friend Sir Patrick Dunbar's rent-roll at a clear -sum of L20,000 per annum, while he slyly watched his uncle's rising -choler, and patiently heard, for the fiftieth time, an elaborate -explanation, that it was impossible, and a sober calculation which -reduced both the offending parties almost to beggary. - -In the month of August, as regularly as time revolved, Lord Doncaster -delighted to read in the newspapers, his own pompous advertisement, -the only original composition he was ever known to attempt, in which -he prohibited poachers and strangers from shooting on his moors in -Argyleshire, Mid-Lothian, Yorkshire, Galloway, Cromarty, and -Caithness, but except the annual appearance of this spirited -manifesto, no public evidence ever came forth of that extraordinary -wealth which property so extensive must be supposed to produce. No -charitable donations bore witness to Lord Doncaster's liberality--no -country objects were encouraged by his public spirit--and the -monuments daily arising in memory of departed merit, made a vain -appeal for his pecuniary tribute of respect and regret, for Lord -Doncaster neither respected nor regretted any man. - -It was an often-repeated axiom of Lord Doncaster's, that every man -cheats or is cheated; but in one instance, and one only, his Lordship -had shown apparently some kind feeling, or rather perhaps he might be -said to have exhibited a capricious freak of benevolence, though the -result had been such as to afford him an excuse ever afterwards for -not again attempting a single act of gratuitous liberality. - -The nearest relative to his ancient family, after Louis De Crespigny -and Miss Howard, was Mrs. Anstruther, a distant cousin, who, after -making a low and almost disgraceful marriage, had suddenly died, it -was believed by her own hands, thus consigning her two young children -to helpless, and apparently hopeless poverty, till at length they were -very unwillingly invited, or rather permitted to become residents in -an almost menial capacity at Beaujolie Castle, in Yorkshire, where, as -they could neither be drowned like kittens, nor shot like puppy-dogs, -the Marquis caused them to be treated like the "whipping boys" in -Charles the First's time--sometimes employed as playmates to amuse his -nephew and niece during their holiday visits to his residence, but -more frequently treated in a sort of mongrel way between dependents -and slaves by the heartless and tyrannical old peer, who considered -them as mere poachers on the preserve of his family honors, having -forced their way into existence by some untoward accident, and become -absolute blots in the creation, liable to be suspected, and even -accused to their faces of every low and vicious propensity, in -consequence of which, from an early age, he destroyed their -self-respect, and irritated their evil passions by the most rash and -unfounded aspersions--theft, swindling, lying, and gluttony, were -among the principal counts in his Lordship's indictment, when he -sometimes vented a paroxysm of ill-humor on these his unhappy -dependents; and many a time the tears of Mary Anstruther, and the -flashing eye of her brother Ernest, bore witness to the anger and -grief with which they listened to his bitter and often unmerited -upbraidings. - -At times, however, Lord Doncaster found it convenient for his own -private purposes to patronize the Anstruthers, and threatened, in the -hearing of all his young relatives, that if Louis De Crespigny's -conduct did not in all respects satisfy him, an heir more subservient -to his wishes might be found, and though the culprit must be his -nephew, he need not be his successor, while the glance of his eye -towards Ernest aroused hopes, wishes, and even expectations of the -wildest extravagance, which were then confirmed for a time by his -being promoted to temporary attention and consideration, not only -displayed ostentatiously by their capricious patron, but extending to -the increased respect and observance of the servants, the thermometer -of whose obedience rose and fell according as the sunshine of Lord -Doncaster's favor shone upon his young relative or not; yet brief as -these periods of increased importance had always been, they made an -indelible impression on the young and ambitious minds of those usually -neglected children. "The child becomes a boy, the boy a youth, and -then the game of life begins in earnest." - -Without education or principle, and with no friend on the wide earth -to confide in or to consult, the two young Anstruthers, like weeds -that will yet flourish though trampled upon, grew up vigorous in body, -and enthusiastically as well as devotedly attached to each other, with -a depth and power of affection which appeared, before long, the only -redeeming quality in characters wherein strong passions and weak -principles promised little, and threatened much, to all with whom they -might hereafter become associated. - -The resemblance between them was as remarkable as their attachment, -both having dark Italian-looking countenances, of remarkable symmetry, -with a singularly excitable and determined expression in their large -lustrous eyes, while it was remarkable that neither could by -possibility look any one steadily in the face. There was a wild, -almost feverish brilliancy in the eye of Ernest, expressive of a fiery -impetuosity, amounting at times almost to an appearance of insanity, -when, after being obliged to crouch and flatter for his bread before -Lord Doncaster, he would retire with Mary, and give loose to all the -angry torrent of his long-suppressed emotions. The sister's heart -cowered sometimes before the flood of invectives and imprecations with -which he relieved his heart by speaking of his wrongs, while he seemed -to cherish a gnawing belief that fortune herself had shown him a most -unaccountable and undeserved enmity, which he was resolved, by fair or -by foul means, to subvert. "I shall yet rise above all the accidents -of fortune! It shall be done, I care not how, Mary," said he sternly. -"We must not be over-particular on that score, for, as the proverb -says, 'a cat in mittens will never catch mice!'" - -Bold, fearless, and ready, with a keen appetite for danger, a fearless -ambition, consummate cunning, and an insatiable thirst for adventure, -it seemed sometimes as if he would put his mind into a pugilistic -attitude, and buffet his way forward to pre-eminence in spite of all -the malice of fortune and of mankind. With a temper vindictive, harsh, -and deadly, his blood mounted like mercury in a thermometer at the -very thought of success, and often when he spoke to his sister in the -lowest whisper of their future prospects, she would start and look -hastily round as if in terror, lest the wild dreams of his -undisciplined mind might be overheard and resented, for he nourished a -feverish hope, which he called a presentiment, but which amounted -almost to a monomania, that the splendid residence in which they were -now only tolerated on sufferance, "as reptile dependents," would one -day become his own. - -If every man living might remove at pleasure all those who stand -inconveniently in his way, political economists would have nothing to -fear from a too rapidly increasing population, and the day-dreams of -Ernest, which gained strength and consistency every hour, were -prolific in both deaths and marriages. He carefully collected in the -Peerage all the instances there recorded, in which distant relations -had succeeded through a long mortality of twenty or five-and-twenty -intermediate heirs,--he remembered that neither Louis nor Caroline had -yet endured the measles,--he thought their Shetland ponies very -dangerous, and, in short, if their days had been measured by him, the -measure would have been short indeed. His personal vanity was -excessive, and amidst his wild schemes of aggrandisement, the first -and foremost had lately been to marry his lively, frolicsome, little -cousin, and occasional playmate, Caroline Howard Smytheson, in whose -infant manner, heedless and good-humored as she was, he flattered -himself there might be traced an evident appearance of preference, -while he could not but also remark, that before any of the young party -had attained the age of maturity, and Caroline was yet a mere infant. -Louis De Crespigny had already begun to exercise his genius for -flirtation in the society of his humble cousin Mary Anstruther,--humble -only in circumstances, but possessing that pride without principle, -which goes before a fall. - -Time had ripened the faults of the two young Anstruthers, and -perfected also their extraordinary beauty of person, when, after -Ernest had attained the age of nineteen, a whim as sudden, and -apparently as unaccountable as their adoption, caused Lord Doncaster, -or rather the Abbe Mordaunt, unexpectedly to announce that they were -dismissed from the house. Various rumours were circulated among the -servants to account for this harsh and hasty decision, but nothing -could be discovered for certain. Ernest was reported to have expressed -himself with the greatest rancour and contempt respecting a report in -circulation, that Lord Doncaster intended to marry the Abbe Mordaunt's -beautiful niece, then on a visit at Kilmarnock Abbey, near Edinburgh. -The Abbe was said to have missed some valuable jewels belonging to his -niece Laura, who accused both the Anstruthers of having been seen in -her room,--a large sum of money, it was hinted, had mysteriously -disappeared--some people said that Ernest had been discovered at a -late hour of the night attempting to enter the sleeping apartment of -Lord Doncaster, without being able to give any satisfactory account of -his intentions, and others declared that Louis De Crespigny's -assiduities to Mary Anstruther had recently become rather too obvious, -while surmises arose against her character; but whatever might be the -cause, they were both hastily transferred on a few hours' notice from -the splendors of Kilmarnock Abbey, to a small obscure lodging at -Portobello. As Ernest was about to leave that house which had so long -been his home, with Mary sobbing in uncontrollable grief on his arm, -anger and despair were fearfully stamped on their young faces, when -the Abbe Mordaunt advancing silently, placed a small sum of money in -their hands, which the young man furiously dashed upon the ground, and -trampled upon, saying in accents of strong and almost terrifying -vehemence, while his countenance exhibited a dark insidious expression -of almost maniacal fury, "I would not be human if I did not hate your -niece and you!--my curse shall rest on both till I am revenged! Take -back your paltry gold, I shall build up my own fortune, or perish in -the ruins! I shall live by my own hands, or--by own hands I shall -die!" - -From that day forward the names of Mary and Ernest Anstruther never -passed the lips of Lord Doncaster or the Abbe, who ordered the -servants also to abstain from ever mentioning them, which only piqued -the curiosity of the second table into greater activity than ever; but -though many vague conjectures, dark suspicions, and absurd rumours, -were promulgated throughout the establishment, nothing certain could -be ascertained, except that they returned no more to Kilmarnock Abbey, -and that a final extinguisher had been placed on all their prospects -and hopes from Lord Doncaster. - -About this time Mrs. Bridget Smytheson sent Miss Howard, then only six -years old, to school, and seemed so little anxious to encourage an -intimacy between the young heiress and Louis De Crespigny, whom she -had long disliked, that Lord Doncaster, piqued and indignant, angrily -reminded her of his sister Lady Caroline's dying injunction, to which -she had promised implicit attention, that if the cousins, after they -were grown up, could be ascertained to have to have a disinterested -preference for each other, every opportunity should be given them to -become attached and engaged. - -"Certainly, Lord Doncaster; and I shall fulfil my pledge," replied the -over-dressed, and rather under-bred aunt, in her usual tone of -fantastic affectation; "but these boy-and-girl intimacies are not the -most likely to produce that romantic love with which young people -ought to begin their married lives; and besides, how could their -preference be disinterested, where the brilliant prospects of both are -continually descanted on as motives to their union. No! I have a -considerable spice of romance in my composition; and when they do meet -again, it shall be under very different circumstances." - -"What a creature to have the charge of any girl!" thought Lord -Doncaster, as he returned from handing her, with every appearance of -profound respect, into her pony-carriage. "There is another woman -half so insane out of bedlam; and that mad-cap child herself is as -wild as a horse with the reins broke. The greatest annoyance on earth -is, to have a rich and vulgar upstart among on's near connections." - - - - -CHAPTER III. - - -The life of Louis De Crespigny, from the hour he entered the army, was -one continued steeple-chase after pleasure and amusement, in whatever -form they could be courted, or at whatever expense they could be -enjoyed. At a very early age, he was already a veteran in the world -and its ways; for he stood "alone in his glory," the most admired, -courted, and idolized of mankind, a perfect adept in all the arts of -rendering himself agreeable in society, and possessing many pleasant -qualities, but none that were valuable. During a gay career of -dissipation and frivolity, he had entered with successive eagerness on -a thousand flirtations, though he always forgot to marry in the end, -while his heart, like a phoenix, was frequently consumed, yet never -destroyed, and always ready at the service of any young lady, with -youth, beauty, and accomplishments enough to excite his temporary -interest. Being of opinion, that, though not yet a peer, he ought -speedily to be one, young De Crespigny openly avowed the impossibility -of marrying while Lord Doncaster survived, and jocularly remarked, -that it would be a pity prematurely to cut off the hopes of his -hundred and one Scotch cousins, who lived, like Ernest Anstruther, on -the hope, that if his neck were broken at Melton, his succession might -yet be "cut up" amongst them; and to the friendly inquiries of his -many relatives, he frequently replied with a condoling look, that he -and his uncle were both "hopelessly well." - -Lord Doncaster was not even yet, by any means, so great a -Methusalemite in age, nor so weighed down by infirmities, as his -lively nephew chose among the mothers and daughters of his intimate -acquaintance to represent; and some ladies whom young De Crespigny had -piqued or affronted, were actually ill-natured enough to hint, that -Lord Doncaster was still almost young and almost handsome! They had -even been so malicious as to insinuate, that his Lordship might -possibly have a genius for marrying his house-keeper, almost the only -respectable female who ever crossed his threshold; but Mrs. Fireland's -very mature age, and very antiquated dress, shewed how completely she -must have given up that point; and even her desire to please him in -her own department, became every hour so increasingly difficult, and -was attended with failures and disappointments so unforeseen and -unaccountable, that the good woman often shook her head ominously, in -alluding to his Lordship's numerous whims, saying, in a confidential -under tone, which seemed to mean more than met the ear, to the -steward, "he's petiklar! he's very petiklar! It would require a person -bespoke to order to please his Lordship." And certainly he had become -of late years more particular than ever. - -One personage only seemed to have the art of doing no wrong in the -estimation of Lord Doncaster; and the respect which he withheld from -all mankind, was concentrated to an immeasurable degree on the Abbe -Mordaunt, who was the Cardinal Wolsey of Kilmarnock Abbey and -Beaujolie Castle. Proud, overbearing, harsh, and arbitrary, he ruled -over the house, the purse, and even the will of his patron, with -despotic and unlimited sway. Men are generally advanced in years -before the passions and feelings have stamped their indelible traces, -like the impression of a seal, which becomes permanent only after the -wax has began to cool; but in every feature of the Abbe's countenance, -might now be seen the evidences of a gloomy, severe, and almost -ferocious temper, yet never was there a greater triumph of art over -nature, than in the skill with which he adapted his looks and -conversation to the taste or caprice of those whom it was his interest -to govern, and the astonishing facility with which he could call up a -bland smile and insinuating voice, to supersede the habitual -haughtiness of his tone and manner. - -Educated at St. Omers, in all the dark superstitions of that bigoted -college, the Abbe was nevertheless far from desirous to seek within -the walls of a cloister any protection from those temptations to -worldly indulgence, which he had not even the wish to resist. He -neither preached nor practised the virtues of his vocation, but -paraded a whole troop of vices openly in the public eye; and far from -attempting to reform mankind, he never attempted even to reform -himself. Though in personal appearance of distinguished ugliness, yet -such was the magic of his manner, that even by ladies he was -considered perfectly irresistible; and to all, whether old or young, -he generally succeeded in imparting a conviction, that he saw in her, -for the first time, a realization of female perfection and female -fascination. The Abbe was never known to stop half-way in arduously -pursuing any object of pleasure, profit, or ambition, nor, whatever -might be the impediments, was he ever seen to fail of success; for, -like Bonaparte, he did not know the meaning of the word "impossible." - -After having recklessly squandered, in a career of almost startling -dissipation, the whole of his own patrimony, it was believed that he -had obtained fraudulent possession of L10,000 belonging to his very -beautiful niece, to whom he must have refunded it had she lived to -come of age, or had she married it must have been restored to her -children, but about the time our story commences, she was supposed -either to have died, or to have retired to a convent abroad, though -whether upon conviction or not, might be considered very doubtful, as -she had been educated by her mother in the Protestant faith, and it -was generally conjectured that to so sudden and entire a removal from -all former connections, her poverty more than her will must have -consented. Laura Mordaunt had resided much at Kilmarnock Abbe with her -uncle, to whom she seemed warmly and blindly attached, but the -gossiping world sometimes conjectured that perhaps the evident -partiality and admiration of Lord Doncaster might have roused in her -some ambitious thoughts, backed by the influence of the Abbe. Among -the peculiarities of the Marquis he had always professed a decided -contempt for all respectable ladies, and therefore his attentions to -Laura Mordaunt were at best a very questionable compliment, and became -naturally of a nature which few relatives would have wished to -encourage, yet Miss Mordaunt still remained a guest at Kilmarnock -Abbey, till the period of her sudden disappearance, which caused so -much astonishment among her intimate friends and near connections, -that the father of Richard Granville, her cousin, shortly before his -own death, wrote an affectionate letter, entreating her to return, -were it but for a few months, and to make a home of his house for the -future, should it suit her to do so; but to this kind and generous -offer no reply ever came, and as all communications were to pass -through the Abbe's hands, who alone knew his niece's direction, it -might be doubted whether the invitation ever reached that hand for -which it was intended. - -That Lord Doncaster had cruelly disappointed Laura Mordaunt, as he had -already disappointed many others, her friend and cousin had good -reason to believe; and though unable to imagine any really romantic or -lasting attachment to a man, however elevated in rank or agreeable in -manners, of at least fifty years old, yet he knew that Laura, who -lived so retired that she could boast of few friends and no admirers, -might really have been dazzled with the splendour of his rank or the -fascination of his conversation; while it seemed the most -unaccountable part of the whole affair, that if such were the case, -the attachment had not been reciprocal, between a young and beautiful -girl, thrown so continually in his way, and an aged roue, who had so -evidently admired her. - -If the probable duration of Lord Doncaster's life had been measured -according to the estimate formed of it in many an Edinburgh -drawing-room, it would have brought a very small premium indeed at the -insurance offices. By referring to that valuable record, Debrett's -peerage, it was satisfactorily proved that the De Crespignys were a -very short-lived family! One Lord Doncaster had died of a fall from -his horse at thirty-five; another had been killed in battle, at -forty-two; and not one of them had contrived very much to exceed -eighty, therefore hopes might be entertained of the popular and -fascinating Louis De Crespigny at last gaining the long-expected -"step." It might have been supposed by strangers in Edinburgh, that -there was but one marquisate in Britain, so frequently were the -strawberry-leaves of Lord Doncaster under animated discussion; and any -visitor who accidentally took Burke or Debrett in his hand, might -smile to observe that the pages naturally fell open where that -interesting paragraph presented itself to notice, - - "Doncaster, Marquis of. Heir presumptive, Louis Henry De - Crespigny." - -A tradition prevailed among the elder ladies of fashion now in -society, that a splendid set of diamonds, which had been long the -ornament and admiration of Queen Charlotte's drawing-rooms, were since -entailed, by an old Lady Doncaster, in the family; and many a young -beauty, in arranging a bright futurity on her own plan, had frequently -worn these far-famed jewels in her imagination, when presented at -Court as a Marchioness, the envy and admiration of all her -contemporaries. Meantime nothing could be more astonishing than to -find how much was known in Edinburgh concerning the modes of life, -temper, and character of the present Lord Doncaster, though he lived -not only secluded from society, but made it his peculiar study to -evade the scrutiny of impertinent curiosity, and was so anxious to -check the loquaciousness of servants, that his butler and housekeeper -had strict orders to keep up a sort of prison discipline in the -establishment, and not to allow a word to be spoken when at meals. It -was, however, authentically ascertained by some unknown means, that -Lord Doncaster, who had formerly been a man of dissipated habits and -irregular hours, now devoted himself to the care of his health as -diligently and intensely as a miser does to the care of his money, and -that to him it had become a subject of almost avaricious interest. If -the Marquis had a finger-ache, it was magnified in Edinburgh into a -case of certain death; but after a really severe illness, he was heard -jocularly to remark, in sporting phrase, "I have had another round -with death!" while he seemed confident, on these occasions, of always -coming off victorious, though few among the young ladies of his -nephew's acquaintance would have been found ready to back his -expectations, while Agnes Dunbar impatiently remarked, that Lord -Doncaster had been so long in the world, he seemed not to know how to -leave it. - -It was generally understood by the juries who sat upon Lord -Doncaster's case in society, that his breakfast consisted of strong -gravy-soup and poached eggs, which were pronounced to be very -plethoric,--he ate no luncheon, which must be very exhausting at his -time of life,--he had an enormous appetite for dinner, which would -certainly drive blood to his head,--and above all, he took a hot -supper, which must be fatal at last;--every newspaper tends to prove, -that after eating a hearty supper the night before, people are -invariably found dead in their beds the next morning;--and it was -already unaccountable how many mornings Lord Doncaster had survived! -Any day in the world might bring accounts of his death,--some day must -do so, sooner or later,--hundreds of old people were dying -continually, and so might the superannuated peer; yet though his days -were numbered in so many houses, they nevertheless seemed to be -numberless, while gentlemen, older than himself, were often heard -impatiently speculating and wondering what will he would make, and -declaring they only wished to live, in order to know the result of so -many anxious conjectures, while his dutiful nephew gayly remarked, -that his uncle need never wait for parchment to write his will upon, -while the skin on his face looked so like it. - -Still Lord Doncaster obstinately persevered in living on, while, -strange to say, many of the manoeuvring mamas who had been heard to -declare, that if an old person must die at any rate, they could spare -his Lordship better than any other mortal, became mortal themselves, -and were first consigned to the tomb. Even some of the young and -lovely girls, who had thought, in the morning of life, before the -freshness of their bloom had been dimmed, or the lustre of their -beauty had decayed, that this one obstacle to their happiness must be -removed,--many of these gay, joyous, and unthinking beings had sunk -unexpectedly into an early grave, while still Lord Doncaster, in a -most provoking and unprincipled manner, disappointed everybody, and -continued to exist in a world where he was anything but welcome, -resolved apparently, never, in an every-day vulgar way, to die at all. - -In the mean time, Louis De Crespigny, devoted to the amusements of -life, but independent of all its finer sympathies, seemed to breathe -nothing but the exhilarating ether of life, joyous, giddy, and -intoxicating. He revelled in a laughing, lively, satirical -consciousness of his own exact position in society, and privately -resolved to make the most of it,--not that he deliberately made up his -mind to deceive,--his code of honor was rigid enough in respect to his -transactions with gentlemen, but in the case of young ladies it was -otherwise,-- - - "Man, to man so oft unjust, - Is always so to woman." - -With ladies Mr. De Crespigny considered his own brilliant prospects -and personal fascinations to be fair, marketable produce, which there -could be no objection that he should use to the utmost advantage, for -bringing in the largest possible return of pleasure, profit, and -amusement. Accordingly, the gay young Cornet, living upon what he -could borrow, on the disinterested attentions of manoeuvring -mothers, and on the expectation of his uncle's speedy demise, made -himself the chosen attendant of half a hundred accomplished and -perfectly amiable young ladies, who laughed, talked, sang, and danced -with him, while he soon became but too intimately known as a ruthless -flirt, to many a young heart, and to many a happy home, where he took -care that it should be distinctly implied and understood, that nothing -but the jealous penuriousness of "that old quiz, Lord Doncaster," -impeded his ardent wish to settle for life; while in the mean time, -wherever a good table and cellar were kept, he testified exactly such -a degree of partiality for the sister or daughter of his host, as made -her be considered his wife-presumptive, and secured him a regular -knife and fork in the house on all family festivals and state -occasions, without any trouble in either ordering or paying for the -entertainment. It has been said, that as a rolling stone gathers no -moss, neither does a roving heart gain any affection; but whatever -might be the case with others, Louis De Crespigny felt himself without -a doubt the idol of every drawing-room, where he sentimentalized, -rattled, and flirted in every style, with every girl under twenty, as -diligently as if he were canvassing for an election, while they -talked, looked, smiled, and dressed their very best; and the -excellence of any gentleman's wine might be accurately estimated by -the thermometer of Mr. De Crespigny's attention to the daughters; but -he had a declared abhorrence of family dinners, which looked too -business-like and domestic, as if he had really committed himself; -though, as Lady Towercliffe remarked to her four daughters one day, -"he never said anything to the purpose, when the purpose was -marriage." - -Though Mr. De Crespigny seemed, at the "dignity dinners" in Edinburgh, -to live for no other object on earth, but the one fascinating young -lady, with whom it was his game at the time to appear _epris_, and -though she might probably be astonished and piqued during the following -week, to observe this indefatigable amateur in flirtations equally -assiduous in his attentions to another, and shooting like a brilliant -meteor in the ball-room, unheedingly past herself, yet she might -console herself by reflecting, that Mr. De Crespigny was in the habit -of confidentially hinting how much he felt embarrassed and annoyed by -the necessity of generalizing his intimacies, that no gossiping reports -might reach his whimsical relative. "Because actually!" he one day -whispered in confidence to Lady Towercliffe, "when my uncle becomes -irritable, he threatens to make all sorts of ridiculous marriages -himself; and it would be my last hour in his will, if he thought me -heretic enough merely to dance with a Protestant partner. He would not -engage so much as a housemaid of your persuasion; but for my own part, -I leave all these concerns to the Abbe Mordaunt, who, to do him -justice, lets me off very easily." - -The difference of faith made wonderfully little difference in the -intentions of those young ladies who believed themselves the objects -of Mr. De Crespigny's unacknowledged preference, for every bit of -millinery in a ball-room was in a flutter of agitation whenever he -approached; and certainly no one ever excelled more in making those he -conversed with rise in their own opinion, from his tact in showing how -very high they stood in his, and the consequence was, that he already -possessed a rare and romantic collection of sentimental valentines, -sketches with his figure in the foreground, songs with the magical -name of Louis conspicuously introduced, withered bouquets, anagrams, -anonymous letters, and anonymous verses, all with a too-well-remembered -history belonging to them, which called up a smile of derision, or a -sigh of self-reproach, according as the case required, but all -treasured as relics of former happy hours, which had perhaps been the -history of a lifetime to the fair donors, and the diversion of a few -days only to himself, while he secretly applauded his own dexterity in -escaping the matrimonial noose, and to them there remained only the -silent remembrance of that intercourse, now for ever at an end, which -they had believed was to last for life. - -Mr. De Crespigny's engagement book was nearly as complicated an affair -as any ledger or day-book, and much more so than his own banker's -account, for he arranged it on the most systematic principles of -profit and loss. In whatever house he had been invited to dine, he -considered himself as "owing a quadrille" to one of the young ladies -at the next assembly. If he had actually "sat under her father's -mahogany," as he termed it, she might be perhaps entitled to two -dances; and when he had spent the greater part of a summer in her -mother's country house, that established a sort of sinking fund in her -behalf, which entitled him to have the use of him as a partner, -whenever he happened accidentally to be disengaged, though indeed -nothing ever occurred accidentally in Captain De Crespigny's -arrangements, for he never acted on impulse, but always on systematic -calculation. He seemed, with his gay pell-mell manner, the most -off-hand, careless, and undesigning of men; but even in the trifling -affair of going to a ball, where he might literally have exclaimed, "I -am monarch of all I survey," he invariably carried in his mind's eye a -list of all those partners with whom policy or self-interest directed -him to dance, and very seldom indeed did he swerve from his -pre-conceived muster-roll. - -It was a singular evidence of young De Crespigny's discretion and -skill, that, while paying attentions which should either have never -been paid at all, or never afterwards discontinued, and while, with all -its fascinations, Lady Towercliffe declared it was dangerous to a young -lady's happiness to be even introduced to him, still, in not one -instance had "his intentions" ever yet been asked, and neither fathers, -uncles, nor brothers had betrayed the slightest symptoms of -insurrection against his universal dominion, believing, as his excuse -for delaying to propose was so perfectly unanswerable and respectable, -that his intentions might safely be allowed to "lie on the table," -while they awaited in breathless suspense the _denouement_, certainly -to take place on Lord Doncaster's death. - -Some of Mr. De Crespigny's brother officers, envious perhaps of his -extraordinary success in society, threw out sceptical hints respecting -the certainty of his succession, and laughed sarcastically at the -indefatigable vanity with which he evidently liked being thus torn to -pieces among the chaperons and dowagers of society; but he laughed as -heartily as themselves. No one could ever get the start of him in a -joke; and his associates, when he came in competition with any one of -them, found it no laughing matter. He knew his own power--who does not -know that?--and difficulties only enhanced his triumph. - -Lord Doncaster often dryly remarked, that the best economist in -Britain must certainly be Louis De Crespigny, as, to his certain -knowledge, he possessed only L300 a year, and yet he seemed to revel -in all the luxuries of life, besides having a great deal over for -extravagance. There was no occasion for the young Cornet ever to think -of dining at his club, as he might be entertained at the houses of -three or four friends in a day, if he could have mustered as many -appetites. In summer he incurred no expense, except to pay for his -place occasionally on the top of a coach, or in a steam-boat, from one -hospitable country house to another, where gigs were sent a stage to -meet him on the way, if he were expected by the mail, or if by sea, a -chariot might be seen waiting on the pier. He got "a mount" from one -friend, the best seat in a barouche from another, and often the vacant -place in a britschska from a third party, even to the expulsion of its -more legitimate occupiers. - -"De Crespigny has nothing on earth, and you see how he looks!" remarked -his handsome friend Sir Patrick one day to Sir Arthur Dunbar; "yet how -magnificently he contrives to live at the expense of all those deluded -mortals who have disposable or indisposable daughters. His future -prospects act like a cork jacket in society, keeping him always at the -top. Last summer worthy Lord Towercliffe, with his rapidly increasing -family and rapidly decreasing income, took De Crespigny in his gig to -that old tumble-down castle of his in Argyleshire, where he spent six -weeks, ruining the family in champagne and wax candles. The house -became rather cold in September, so at last he accepted a cast in Lady -Winandermere's carriage to that nest of nieces and daughters at Castle -Highcombe, where he found excellent yachting and sea-bathing. There he -lingered a month, till the brother of those four pretty Miss Vavasours -bid still higher for his company, by offering him a mount at Kelso, and -mentioning that he had a first-rate French cook a '_cordon bleu_,' who -hires his own stall at the opera during the London season, and enjoys a -salary and perquisites amounting to more than the best curacy in the -English Church; and all this De Crespigny repays with a few frothy -nothings, which he is for ever repeating to any young lady who will -lend an ear. Those who beat the bush do not always snare the bird; and -I wonder the manoeuvring world does not yet see that he is evidently no -marrying man." - -"What sort of looking individual, is a marrying man?" asked Sir -Arthur, slyly. "I am often told that you, for instance, do not look -like a marrying man; but pray point me out any one who does, that I -may become more a connoisseur on the subject than I am. As for what -you say of Louis De Crespigny, it sounds to my unpractised ear very -like swindling; and he is not the youth I took him for if he live in -such an element of deceit, sacrificing all sense of honor, all -confidence, and all good feeling, for a worthless and transient -popularity, or worse than all, for motives of mean, heartless -self-interest. Such a man is not worth the space he occupies in the -world!" - -The Admiral's honest indignation would have been vented in still -stronger terms, could his upright and honorable mind have been made to -understand how entirely every thought, word, and action of Mr. De -Crespigny's life was based on the most unswerving principles of cold, -hard, unrelenting selfishness, and with what utter carelessness he -seemed ready to trample on the wounded feelings of others; for it -mattered not to him what degree of confidence he betrayed, or what -degree of sorrow he inflicted. If in one house where he had been -received as a son or a brother, he no longer found the cordial welcome -of other days, a hundred other doors were still opened wide to receive -him, where he could boast of having been "very nearly caught," and -carry on the same game as before, which was a pastime to him, though -fatal to the peace of many, who would willingly have died rather than -betray the injury their feelings had suffered, when, after passing -through the ordeal of his assiduities, they found themselves beguiled -and cheated of all that was deepest and most sacred in their earthly -affections--robbed without compunction by one who gave no return--who -watched with elated triumph the growing delusion of those whom he had -marked as victims to his own self-love, and whom he appeared to -consider all in all to his happiness, till they found out at last that -they were in reality less than nothing to him; yet the deception -admitted of no redress. He lived on in a sort of cowardly impunity; -for no young girl endowed with sensibility, and conscious of her own -injuries, could desire, after entrusting him with the whole story of -her hopes and affections, that the truth should be known; and his was -a crime against which no evidence can be brought; for who could -describe the tender nothings--the refined insinuations--the looks -which say everything and mean nothing--the wordless language of the -eyes, with which an undeclared love may be safely and yet obviously -professed? What but a smile of ridicule or of censure could attend on -such a detail of "unutterable things?" But with Louis De Crespigny -nothing was unutterable; for he could say and unsay the same things -two hundred times, and they always seemed to carry as much or as -little weight as he pleased at the moment, while he entered society as -a school-boy rushes into a garden, eagerly to pursue the brilliant -insects fluttering in the sunbeams, ready to crush and injure them all -for his momentary diversion, and yet on his guard to retreat in good -order, should there appear to be the slightest danger of annoyance or -discomfort to himself. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - - -It was impossible to pass an hour in the society of Sir Arthur Dunbar, -without seeing much to admire, and much also to love,--there was a -sturdy, resolute, old-fashioned sense of honor in all his actions, -tempered by the kindest and most considerate attention to the -feelings, as well as to the interest of all with whom he might be -associated, and his sentiments were tinctured by a generous -liberality, only limited in action by the rigid restraints consequent -on a very narrow income, which he had never been known to exceed, -though he was often heard jocularly to remark, that the surplus, after -his yearly accounts were paid, would scarcely buy him a pair of -gloves. - -Though the fire of Sir Arthur's eyes had been quenched by approaching -blindness, and his weather-beaten countenance had been scarred in -battle, and hardened by facing every tempest which had blown for half -a century, yet his aspect had an air of habitual distinction and -conscious dignity which commanded instant respect. There was an energy -in the expression of his feelings, and a straightforward pursuit of -what he thought right in all his actions, which gave him a singular -influence over the affections and the conduct of those with whom he -wished to associate, and the admirable use he made of which no one -afterwards ever had cause to regret. His early life had been one full -of action and of vigorous exertion, seeking, with old-fashioned -patriotism, the honor of his country, more than the promotion of his -own interests; but in advanced years, when no longer able publicly to -distinguish himself, he directed his time and talents to the diffusion -of happiness at home, and to a zealous, diligent, and humble -preparation for that long and quiet home to which he believed himself -rapidly approaching, and which he contemplated with the best of all -philosophy,--that of a truly devoted Christian. - -With all the blunt frankness of his sailor-like manner, Sir Arthur -could nevertheless testify an almost feminine gentleness and sympathy -towards the unfortunate. He was often discovered to have exerted -clandestinely a degree of activity and zeal in serving the needy and -desolate, which to a mind less eager and generous, would have seemed -almost incredible,--he never lacerated the feelings of those who came -to him for comfort, by attempting to convince the sufferer, as most -people begin by doing, on such occasions, that the misfortune, -whatever it be, is all his own fault,--and he was quite as ready, as -well as better pleased, to rejoice with those that rejoiced, than to -weep with those that wept, without ever, at any period of life, having -found a place for envy in his kindest of hearts, which - - "Turn'd at the touch of joy or woe, - And turning trembled too." - -With a good humored smile at his own credulity in having believed that -Louis De Crespigny could ever be serious in proposing to sacrifice a -day of his gay and busy life, to a prosing tete-a-tete on the -sea-beach with an old man like himself, Sir Arthur dismissed the -subject from his thoughts, and finally relinquished all hope of seeing -his young friend, after a short soliloquy, in which he ended, by slyly -hoping that the gay Cornet would never cause those who might feel it -more, to regret his having jilted them. - -Not many days following, the Admiral had retired at his usual early -hour to bed, and after some time passed in profound repose, he was -suddenly startled into wakefulness at the dawn of day, while the -watchman was calling the hour of "Past four o'clock," by a loud and -vehement knocking at the front-door of his house, accompanied by the -most fearful and vociferous out-cries of "murder!" It was the sharp, -shrill tone of a woman in the agony of fear, becoming more and more -vehement at every repetition of the cry, while Sir Arthur dressed with -the rapidity of a practised seaman, and hurried down stairs, where he -found his maid-of-all-work, and his man-of-all-work, already assembled -in breathless consternation round a trembling, terrified-looking -servant girl, whose eyes were gleaming with an expression of frantic -alarm, while, from her incoherent exclamations, Sir Arthur could only -gather that some act of unutterable horror had been perpetrated in an -opposite house, the windows of which were all partially closed, except -one in the upper story, which was wide open, and seemed to be much -broken and shattered. - -Without waiting another moment to investigate the business, Sir Arthur -strode across the street, hurried in at the open door, and guided by a -momentary cry of childish distress, he mounted the staircase, with an -activity beyond his years, three steps at a time, and precipitately -entered the nearest room he could find. There he paused for a moment -on finding himself in a splendidly-furnished bed-room, adorned with a -degree of taste and elegance, far excelling what was customary in so -obscure-looking a lodging, and the Admiral was about hastily to -withdraw, when he became suddenly transfixed to the spot, and his eye -seemed perfectly blasted by the spectacle which met his agitated and -astonished gaze, while several moments elapsed before he had nerve to -advance, and ascertain the reality of a scene, which filled him with -horror. - -On a magnificent couch, the rich coverlet of which was drenched in -blood, that had sprinkled the floor, and spouted to the very roof of -the room, lay the cold stiffened corpse of a young female, whose head -seemed to have been nearly severed from her body, while a violent -contusion appeared upon her forehead. The wrist of her right hand, -with which she had probably attempted to defend herself, had also been -deeply cut, and in her hand she grasped a quantity of dark hair, which -seemed to have been torn from the head of her assassin in the struggle -for life. Her teeth were clenched, and her eye-balls were starting -from their sockets with a look of agonised fear, most appalling to -behold, and her long fair hair which lay in disordered billows on her -shoulders, were matted with gore. - -A table near the bed had been overturned and broken,--a knife of very -peculiar form, bent and distorted, lay conspicuously upon the pillow, -as if placed there on purpose to attract notice, and the carpet, on -which a pool of congealed blood had gathered, was likewise strewed -with money, rings, bijouterie, trinkets, and plate. - -Nestled in a little crib, close beside the murdered woman, but plunged -in a slumber so profound, that it could not be natural, slept -undisturbed and uninjured, a lovely boy of about eight years old. His -head rested on his arm, and a clustering profusion of jetty black hair -fell over his blooming countenance, in which there was a look of -almost death-like repose. Awakened with the utmost difficulty by Sir -Arthur, the child, who appeared to be of wondrous beauty, opened for a -moment, a pair of bright blue, star-like eyes, and with a cry of -terror, called for his mother, but a moment afterwards, overcome by -irresistible drowsiness, his rosy cheek dropped upon the pillow, his -heavy eyes were closed, and he relapsed into the same strange, -mysterious insensibility as before. - -It was a fearful sight, that young mother, with her look of ghastly -agony turned towards the ruddy healthful countenance of her child in -his peaceful slumbers, and it was evident that her last thought had -been for him, as his clothes were still convulsively held in her left -hand, while a vain attempt had obviously been made to tear them -asunder,--many deep cuts being visible on the child's night-gown, -though his person had been left uninjured. - -Sir Arthur compassionately snatched the boy up in his arms, to hurry -him away from the dreadful scene, and called the watchman, who -instantly raised an alarm, and summoned the whole neighborhood to his -assistance, when before ten minutes had elapsed, the room was filled -with a crowd of agitated spectators, scared by the tremendous event, -and crowding around the bed in every attitude of astonishment, terror, -and commiseration, uttering exclamations of alarm, gazing helplessly -at the frightful spectacle, and forming a thousand conjectures -respecting the tragical event, instead of attempting to give any -rational assistance. - -"Not a moment is to be lost!" said Sir Arthur, in the steady -authoritive tone of one accustomed in great emergencies, to command, -"Where are the other servants?" asked he, turning to the girl who had -first given an alarm, "and where is your master?" - -"I have no master, Sir!" replied she in a low incoherent whisper. "I -think the lady was not married; but perhaps, Sir, she might be! A -gentleman called here last week." - -"What was he like?" asked Sir Arthur, earnestly. - -"A sort of clergyman, or gentleman, Sir! I don't know nothing about -him, but he visited sometimes at this here house. No good ever came of -it though, for my poor young mistress was always in sore distress -after he'd be gone away. Last time there be much loud talking and -argufying in the parlor, but it was none of my business to listen. I -never pays no attention to what the quality says!" - -"Here is a most disastrous business!" exclaimed Sir Arthur, in a deep -and solemn tone, while he glanced at the crowd of white, livid, ashy -faces, collected around him. "Let us remember, my friends, that every -trifle we can observe here, may be of the utmost importance in -bringing this dreadful mystery to light. Touch nothing, but have all -your eyes about you to detect what you can, and let us instantly -search the house." - -With the little boy in his arms, who had awakened, bewildered and -terrified by the sight of so many strangers, Sir Arthur, followed by -the whole troop of spectators, who huddled together with evident -symptoms of fearful apprehension, proceeded minutely to scrutinize the -whole house. - -In one apartment on the garret floor, belonging, as the terrified -housemaid declared, to a person who had been taken in, she believed -out of charity, to teach the little boy, the bed was disordered, as if -the sleeper, when hastily rising, had thrown the bed-clothes almost -upon the floor. The window-frame was broken to shivers, by some one -violently forcing his way out; but no other sign appeared of the room -having been inhabited. Not an article of clothing could be found in -the drawers; not a book or a paper; and the search was about to be -abandoned, when Sir Arthur perceived in an obscure corner of the room, -a man's glove, stained with blood, and a red silk handkerchief, from -which the initials had evidently been erased with great care, though -he hoped that some one more accustomed to such investigations might -yet be able to trace them. - -The next room which Sir Arthur attempted to enter had the door -double-locked; and though the party which accompanied him made a noise -of knocking and hammering that might have raised the dead, no answer -was returned, till at length, losing all patience, they broke it open, -and impetuously rushed forward, all gazing eagerly around, as if they -expected an immediate _denouement_ of the mystery to take place; but -some of those who were foremost shrunk back in astonishment, and -hastily made way for Sir Arthur, while the servant girl earnestly -whispered in his ear, with a look of anxiety and alarm, "This is Sarah -Davenport's room! the child's maid! Better not disturb her, Sir! She is -sometimes hardly right in her mind I think!" - -When Sir Arthur, disregarding the simple girl's warning, advanced, he -perceived with surprise a very young woman, scarcely twenty, who -started up in bed, with a look of bewildered perplexity, as he -approached, asking in accents of tremulous alarm, what had occurred to -cause this extraordinary disturbance. Her cheek was of an ashy -paleness, her very lips were blanched, and her voice sounded husky and -hollow with agitation; but all this might be attributed to so sudden -an inroad of strangers, while again and again she asked with quivering -accents, whether any accident had occurred, and why they all appeared -so alarmed. - -"At all events, my darling boy is safe!" added she, holding out her -arms to the child, who instantly recoiled from her, with looks of -unequivocal terror, and hiding his face on the shoulder of Sir Arthur, -he sobbed aloud with a degree of passionate grief and agitation which -seemed almost beyond his years. The observant eye of Sir Arthur -perceived that a dark scowl of malignity flitted for a moment across -the beautiful features of Sarah, whose brow became singularly -contracted over her flashing eyes; but making an effort instantly to -recover herself, she averted her countenance, and added in a subdued -voice of assumed tranquillity, "The child never knows me in a cap! I -forgot to take it off, but the hurry of seeing so many strangers has -confused me!" - -In an instant she snatched off her night-cap, when her shoulders and -neck became covered with a cloud of dark massy ringlets, floating down -below her waist, and shading her pallid countenance, which had assumed -an expression of livid horror, and unnatural wildness. "Let him come -to me now!" added she again, stretching out her arms with a ghastly -smile; but the boy struggled more vehemently than before, and clung to -Sir Arthur with a tenacity and confidence, which deeply touched the -old veteran's heart, who tried to soothe the terrified child by every -endearment which his kind nature could suggest, while his attention -was nevertheless enchained by observing the rigid, marble look of the -young woman's countenance; the dragged and corpse-like appearance -which stole over her features, as if she had suffered a stroke of -paralysis. - -"You have been frightened enough already, poor boy!" said Sir Arthur, -soothingly. "No one shall hurt you! With me at least you are safe! -Stay where you are, and do not be alarmed! No one shall touch you but -myself!" - -The child seemed to understand Sir Arthur's promise of protection, and -his head drooped sleepily down, while his eyes again closed in that -deep unnatural slumber, from which he had been with so much difficulty -aroused, till at length, - - "Now like a shutting flower, the senses close, - And on him lies the beauty of repose." - -"Young woman!" said Sir Arthur, bending a look of penetrating scrutiny -on Sarah Davenport, "how came you to be quietly asleep, and partly -dressed too! while your mistress was murdered in the room immediately -below! Did you hear no disturbance? Was no alarm given?" - -"My mistress!" exclaimed Sarah, clasping her hands in an attitude of -astonishment, and speaking as if every word would choke her, though -not a muscle of her face was altered from the fixed and rigid look it -had previously worn. "Oh! what will become of me!" - -"What will become of you!" exclaimed Sir Arthur sternly, fixing his -penetrating eye upon her. "Think rather of your murdered mistress! -Come, come, girl! you performed that start very well; but I know good -acting! I greatly fear you are more concerned in this horrid business -than we at first suspected, and much more than you would wish to -acknowledge. Get up instantly, and follow me!" - -There was something fearful and appalling in the silence which reigned -among the many persons who had gathered around, when Sarah, as a -prisoner, was led into the chamber of death. A look of shuddering -horror distorted for a moment her pale and haggard countenance, when -she was unwillingly drawn forward to the place where her deceased -mistress lay, and Sir Arthur, with silent solemnity, pointed to the -ghastly spectacle. His eyes were intensely and most mournfully fixed -on the prisoner's sullen and nearly livid countenance, while she -silently clung to a chair to support herself. - -Sarah appeared neither startled nor astonished after the first thrill -of horror, but with a cold stony look of almost preternatural -calmness, she muttered to herself in a low tone, which became -nevertheless distinctly audible to all the spectators, and was -evidently meant to be heard,-- - -"Why am I brought here! I know nothing, about this! The poor lady has -committed suicide! No wonder! She often wished herself dead! She had a -miserable life of it, and has got rest at last! I wish!" added Sarah -suddenly, with vehement, almost frantic energy, "O how I wish that I -could change places with her! O that I could be that cold, senseless -image, without memory or feeling, without hope or fear, shut up from -living wretchedness in everlasting sleep!" - -"Let us hope that the Almighty has in mercy received her never-dying -soul, and that in His own good time He will reveal the guilty -assassins who sent her so suddenly to judgment," said Sir Arthur -solemnly. "Unburden your own mind now, by confessing all, and be -assured it will relieve the agony you are so evidently suffering. -Murder is like fire, it cannot be smothered long." - -"I know nothing! What could I know!" replied Sarah hurriedly. "She has -destroyed herself, or thieves have broken into the house and robbed -her. Could I help that?" - -"No one has broken into this house," replied Sir Arthur, scanning the -expression of her fixed and apparently unalterable features. "But you -can perhaps tell us who escaped by that shattered window above? Not a -lock is broken--not a door is injured--not a trinket seems missing, -among the many scattered around the room. Here is money in abundance, -if gold had been the inducement! Some other motive has provoked this -crime--jealousy perhaps--or revenge----" - -At the last word an angry hectic rushed over the face, arms, and neck -of the prisoner, and her eye glittered for a moment with an unnatural -fire, which rapidly faded away, leaving her as pale and death-like as -the corpse beside which she stood, and on which her eye now rested -with a look of cold and passionless indifference. - -"It was only yesterday that she wished herself dead! this is her own -doing!" said Sarah, turning away. "Why am I brought here! This is too -dreadful! too shocking! It will drive me mad--it will! it will!" added -she, with rising agitation; and then suddenly bursting in a hideous -maniacal laugh, which rang with fearful sound through the gloomy -chamber, and caused the horror-struck spectators to fall hastily back, -"I would have saved her! I would! What woman ever sheds blood! but it -was too late! I would have saved her, as I saved the child; but it was -done--kill me! kill me! if you have any mercy, let me die! let me hide -myself in the grave for ever!" Saying these words, with a scream of -agony, she fell upon the floor in violent convulsions, from which it -was nearly an hour before she entirely recovered, when faint, weak, -and exhausted, Sir Arthur suggested that she could be carried to bed; -but before she left the room, anxious, if possible, to elucidate the -mystery, and to gain some clue for pursuing the actual murderer, he -detained Sarah during a moment, and desired that a glass of water -might be brought for her, hoping that the violent emotion she had -betrayed might lead her to a full confession. Laying his hand then -upon her arm, in tones of deep and awful solemnity, he looked at her, -and pointed once more to the corpse, saying,-- - -"By a dark and harrowing crime those lips are sealed in the silence of -death! What a tale they could disclose, if they might but once -describe all that passed in this room a few hours ago! Those very -walls have echoed this very night to her cries! You alone seem able to -throw any light upon the horrid deed. You could tell all, or I am -greatly mistaken. We shall yet know, at the day of judgment, if not -sooner, how this fearful act was done. Consider, Sarah Davenport, that -undying remorse will pursue you through life, and be the fitting -tenant of your soul, unless by timely repentance you avert the fearful -doom, and hereafter your heart will be tortured by the pangs of -eternal despair. Unfortunate woman! consider now, or during the long -period of your approaching imprisonment, whether it be better to -repent and confess at once, or to confess and suffer everlastingly." - -Not a word or look gave evidence that Sarah so much as heard Sir -Arthur speak. Her large eyes were vacantly fixed on the ground, her -hands were firmly clenched, and her teeth were set with an air of -resolute determination, when, after a silence of several minutes, -during which her very stillness was frightful, supported by some of -the strangers around, she walked with almost mechanical -unconsciousness out of the room. - -Again and again the house was searched that day--the very floors and -wainscots torn up; but not a trace could be discovered to throw light -upon the cause or circumstances of this disastrous event; and equally -remarkable was it, that no hint could be obtained of who or what the -murdered lady had been. There were books on the table in various -languages, but not one retained any name written on the boards, though -it was evident that on some a coat of arms had once been pasted, and -subsequently defaced. Not a letter or paper could be found with either -signature or direction, though one or two notes were discovered -beneath the pillow of the bed, all anonymous, but written in a similar -hand, and containing nothing that could identify the writer; and -several sketches of the child, beautifully executed in various -attitudes, were found in a portfolio, beside which were written many -simple verses, containing the most fervent expressions of tender -affection and anxious solicitude for the boy, and the most passionate -bursts of melancholy, but all conceived in general terms, which -baffled the researches of curiosity. - -"This hand is disguised, yet surely I have seen it before," said Sir -Arthur, musingly examining the anonymous notes, which related chiefly -to remittances of money. "The face of that appalling spectacle -sometimes seems also familiar to me. Have I not met with it already, -or is this only the delusion of an excited mind? These deep and -prominent eyelids--the small aquiline nose--the delicately-pencilled -eye-brows--and that month of perfect grace and beauty, which seems -still almost to speak without a tongue, in the language of -heart-broken misery, telling of deceived affections--of blighted -hopes--of unpitied and solitary tears." - -Sir Arthur seated himself on a chair beside the couch for some moments -in agitated reflection, vainly endeavoring to collect his thoughts, -and form them into some tangible remembrance. "It is a strange and -bewildering sensation, to look at the mute features of this death-like -image, and to feel as if once she had been known to me in her days of -youth and bloom. A vague harassing perplexity besets me in trying to -realize the floating and flickering remembrance, which dimly mock my -efforts to catch them. It seems like starting out on a dark night, and -trying to distinguish some busy scene, where figures and lights -appear, and vanish again before they can be identified. Where have we -met before? Surely in some dream of former days I once beheld those -fixed and glassy eyes lighted up with intelligence! but my treacherous -memory will not help me--it recalls enough to torture me with -perplexity, and not enough to be of any actual avail." - -Sir Arthur wearied himself with intense efforts to identify the -lineaments before him, but in vain. They were lovely indeed, and many -a stranger came likewise to try whether they could be recognised, but -without success. The fearful story circulated like wild-fire--the -excitement and curiosity it produced became intense; but not a gleam -of light was thrown upon the dark and mysterious event. - -Among the many who hurried to behold the murdered woman before her -remains were disturbed, two gentlemen arrived one evening after dusk, -and having ascertained that neither the Admiral nor any other stranger -was in the house, they gave Sir Arthur's servant, Martin, who was in -attendance, a handsome donation, and desiring him not to follow, -hurried up stairs, and remained in the room alone for several minutes. -Both were much muffled up, and evidently avoided any scrutiny of their -countenances; but they seemed greatly agitated on leaving the room; -and as they hastened past Martin, and threw themselves into a hackney -coach which awaited them at some distance, one of the party had -appeared so overcome, that he could not walk without support. Much -conjecture was aroused by this incident, which seemed to increase the -mystery and interest attached to the melancholy circumstances, and not -a doubt could be entertained that these untimely visitors had a more -than common connection with the affair, but of what nature, and to -what degree, could only admit of very vague conjecture. - -Nothing could exceed the active interest taken in all the proceedings -by Sir Arthur, who seemed to forget all his years and infirmities, -while keenly promoting the cause of truth and justice. Much as he had -formerly bemoaned the trouble entailed upon him by deceased friends, -many of whom had bequeathed their estates and children to his -guardianship, he felt on this occasion, a pity so intense, for the -nameless, friendless, and helpless boy, thus unexpectedly and -tragically thrown on his compassion, that he publicly pledged himself -to harbor and protect the child in the mean time, trusting that some -connections might at last be found, to whom he more naturally -belonged. "Life has had a mournful commencement for him, poor boy! His -days are dark, and his friends are few," said Sir Arthur, with a -strong emotion of pity, "but we must hope for the best hereafter, and -do the best that can be done in the mean time, trusting that a wise -Providence, who cast him on my care and kindness, will also watch over -his future welfare." - -On the night previous to that appointed by Sir Arthur for committing -to the grave the last remains of the murdered lady, he who had so -often faced death in every form, and "kiss'd the mouth of a cannon in -battle," yet felt himself awed and deeply affected in contemplating -the solemn preparations for committing to the tomb one so young, so -deeply injured, and so apparently unlamented. It was with mournful and -mysterious wonder that he stood beside the corpse, and contemplated -that mortal frame, from which the spirit had been so suddenly and so -cruelly driven; and he could not but imagine the scenes of love and -joy which those eyes had once probably looked upon--the busy thoughts -that had hurried through that lifeless head--the warm affections that -had flowed through that heart, now for ever at rest. - -While yet his mind was dwelling with painful interest on all the -thoughts which crowded through his fancy, Martin hastily entered the -room, and in an agitated voice requested Sir Arthur's immediate -presence in the entrance-hall, as some persons were there who had -orders to communicate only with himself. - -On arriving in the passage, Sir Arthur was astonished, and almost -startled, to find several porters in the passage, carrying a coffin -magnificently decorated, and covered with a velvet pall, on the summit -of which was conspicuously placed a large brass plate, with the date -of the murder engraved, and bearing no other inscription, but these -two words in German characters-- - - _My Wife._ - -"This is strange!" said Sir Arthur, turning anxiously to the men. "Who -sent you here?" - -"A gentleman left his orders with the undertaker, Sir. No questions -were to be asked; and he paid for everything at once, leaving neither -name nor direction," said the man who seemed to have charge of the -business. "We know nothing of him; but he desired us to deliver this -note into your own hands, and perhaps it may tell you more." - -Sir Arthur hastily tore open the letter offered to him, giving an -impatient glance at the handwriting, which was exactly similar to that -of the anonymous notes he had already so carefully and so vainly -scrutinized. He was astonished; and solemn as the occasion was, almost -amused to observe that his name and direction had been carefully cut -out of the newspaper paragraph which he quarrelled with some weeks -before at the Club, and that this unknown correspondent, to prevent -the possibility of his writing being detected by those who examined -the outside, had pasted these printed letters on the cover, "Sir -Arthur Dunbar, Portobello." The packet was sealed with a plain -impression on black wax; the paper bore a broad black border; and -there was an evident tremulousness in the pen which had inscribed -these words:-- - -"Enclosed is the sum of L200, for the benefit of Sir Arthur Dunbar's -adopted ward, Henry De Lancey. The same amount shall be transmitted -annually, so long as no effort is made to trace from whence it -originates; and the day he comes of age, it shall be increased to L500 -per annum. The first attempt to find out his connections will be -detected, and shall put a final period to all intercourse. The -unfortunate woman was married to one who remained ignorant, till a few -hours ago, of the circumstances attending her death. She disgraced his -name, and abandoned his house; nevertheless her child may one day, -perhaps, be acknowledged; and the whole expenses of his education -shall be liberally defrayed, till he is grown up and has chosen a -profession." - -It was a strange, cold, heartless communication from a parent, without -one expression of relenting affection, one word of solicitude for his -happiness, or one expression of gratitude to Sir Arthur for taking -upon himself so arduous a charge; but still it was to a certain extent -most satisfactory, the Admiral being relieved of a great perplexity, -by having thus ascertained in what rank of life the interesting boy -should be educated, as he felt justified now in obtaining for him the -highest cultivation, an advantage to which he attached the utmost -importance, often repeating his favorite aphorism, that "principle is -the helm, and learning the main-sail, which carries a young man -forward in life; but both would be useless, unless the wind, which -'bloweth where it listeth,' be sent from Heaven to guide and direct -him safely into harbor." - - - - -CHAPTER V. - - -The day of trial at length arrived, and the court, from the roof to -the floor, seemed one sea of faces, crowded together like the "studies -of heads" on a painter's canvass. During the legal investigation, -which was conducted with deep solemnity and anxious perseverance, the -mystery became still deeper, and more inscrutable. No appearance of a -robbery could be observed, except that the finger of the lady's hand, -on which a wedding ring had probably been worn, was much bruised and -discolored, as if, immediately after her decease, it had been -violently torn off; and a vain attempt had evidently been made to -snatch away a gold chain hung round her neck, to which was appended a -small broken miniature frame, set with brilliants, and adorned with -what seemed to represent a very antique coronet. The portrait which it -once enclosed, had been, with obvious difficulty removed, as the marks -were visible all round, of some sharp-pointed instrument having been -inserted in the frame, to which there still adhered several broken -fragments of glass. - -Sarah Davenport, who had been fully committed for trial, on suspicion -of being an accomplice, refused to give any references as to -character, and was strongly suspected of habitually concealing her -real name, and of more than once assuming those that were fictitious, -as her clothes and linen appeared to be marked with various initials, -but in not one case did they bear those that she pretended were her -own. It was evident that she labored under a powerful, but -forcibly-subdued excitement; yet, with a tone and manner externally -cold and hard as Siberian ice, she persisted in professing her own -perfect innocence, and her utter consciousness of anything that might -by possibility lead to a discovery of the perpetrators. She coldly, -and almost calmly, threw back glance for glance, on the spectators -nearest her, who were keenly watching every turn of her countenance, -while dark surmises, and fearful conjectures, were whispered in -murmurs of horror on every side; but at length her eye wandered to a -distant part of the court, when suddenly a livid paleness flashed upon -her face--an indescribable but startling lustre glittered in her -eyes--her whole frame shook, as in the coldest blast of winter, and -with a suppressed groan of agony and fear, she bowed her head upon her -hands, and sunk fainting upon the floor. At the same time, a man was -observed hastily to leave the court, and, gliding with rapid steps -through the narrow passages, disappeared, before any of those who -stood near had presence of mind to stop him, or could even identify -his appearance. - -Nothing apparently touched the feelings of Sarah Davenport, except -when a suspicion seemed to be implied that she meant to injure the -boy; and when a question to this effect was put to her by the court, -she wrung her hands and burst into tears, saying, in accents of -piercing anguish, though with a shudder as if death were upon her, -"No! oh, no! Who suspects that I would injure a hair of his head! He -once loved me! Few--few but he, ever did!--none that have not -afterwards given me reason to hate them! I am a solitary, lost, and -desolate being; but let him not forget in after years, that I saved -his life!--that I saved it at a risk you never can conceive!" - -An impulse of mournful interest and astonishment ran through the -assembled multitude, when they beheld the rare and singular beauty of -the child, after he was led into court; and it seemed as if the -spectators had ceased to breathe as soon as he began to answer some of -the questions which were skilfully put, to draw out his recollections -of past times, and especially the dark history of the last few weeks. -He was at first shy and intimidated, but gradually regained an -unexpected degree of self-possession, and spoke with a surprising -degree of intelligence and distinctness of all he remembered. - -The boy retained a faint recollection of having been awakened, on the -night of the murder, by some violent scene of strife and horror; but -his faculties had evidently been so benumbed by opiates, that no -distinct impression remained; and to his own young mind, the whole -seemed like a fearful dream, too dreadful to look back upon even yet, -except with bewildering terror. He gave a clear account, however, of -the last evening he had passed with his mother, of whom he spoke in -accents of infantine affection, evidently unable yet to conceive that -he should see her face no more. - -An old gentleman, he said, had come into the room and spoken angrily -to her; while, with astonishing precision, the boy acted over the -whole scene, recapitulated some of the language they had used, and -described how his mother had hung to him with frantic eagerness, -saying she would promise anything, if she might only retain her child; -how the stranger, who was very tall, and wore a black coat, had spoken -again with angry vehemence before he left the room; and how his -mother, when left alone, had prayed and wept over him with looks of -agonized and desolate grief, until he had been carried away to bed by -the maid, who administered some medicine to him, which she said the -doctor had ordered. - -He spoke much also of a large room, hung with pictures, in which his -earliest days had been passed, and of a small dark apartment close -beside it, into which he had often been precipitately hurried, -apparently for concealment, and where toys and sweetmeats had been -always provided to keep him quiet, while he was punished with the -utmost severity, for making the slightest noise; and he still -remembered with looks of apprehension, the gentleman dressed in black, -who most frequently visited him there, and often caused his mother to -weep bitterly. - -Sarah Davenport was then recalled, and rigidly cross-examined, -respecting the gentleman who had visited at the house; but she -doggedly asserted her entire ignorance respecting his rank in life, or -connections, and pertinaciously maintained that the lady's death had -been her own voluntary act, and that the sleeping potion had been -given to the boy by his mother's own imperative orders, as she did not -herself know even what it contained. - -During a long and anxious consultation of the jury, there was a hushed -and intense silence in the court, so still and unbroken, that the -breathing of an infant would have been audible, while every eye -perused the countenance of the prisoner, with an intensity that -brought a hectic flush, burning like fire, upon her cheek, and she -gazed around with a glance of anger that caused her beauty for the -moment to look like that of a fiend or a fury. - -At length, after arduously scrutinizing every atom of evidence that -could be gathered, the jury, though morally certain of the prisoner's -being an accomplice in the crime, felt unwillingly obliged to bring in -a verdict of "not proven," and she was immediately liberated, after -which, amidst the yells, jeers, and execrations of the populace who -were convinced of her criminality, she hurried from the court, and was -seen no more. - -Nothing is half so attractive as a mystery, and many crowded at first, -with a temporary enthusiasm, to see the beautiful boy, so strangely -bereaved, and so cruelly abandoned; but the interest and excitement of -hearing and relating his story were soon superseded by greater wonders -and fresher news. In a world where all are rushing on headlong in -pursuit of novelty, and where events, great or small, are speedily -hurried into one common oblivion, people were tired at last of -thinking or talking about young Henry and his concerns. - -Every one of the Admiral's friends hinted that he could have managed -the whole affair ten times better than Sir Arthur; all blamed him for -many things, and praised him for very few; the Admiral was wondered -at, criticised, discussed, admired, pitied, and censured, more than he -remembered to have been for many years before; and the givers of -advice were lavish of propositions and objections, all which were -borne by their venerable friend with good-humored indifference, -whether adopted or not. At length some perfectly new murders from -London came on the tapis in society; those who liked reading in the -Jack Sheppard style were satiated with studies from the life; the -Mording Post assumed a terrifying interest; and the lady of fashion -who consulted Sir Henry Halford about her appetite, because she could -no longer enjoy her murders and robberies at breakfast, would have -thought, when they were coming out hot and hot every week, that it was -a wearisome repetition to speculate another hour upon a murder nearly -a month old. - -In short, "the Portobello story" ceased to be told or listened to. -Henry had had his day. There is no such thing now as a nine days' -wonder, because nothing lasts so long. Young De Lancey had been talked -of as much as any reasonable being could expect to be talked of; and -now it was universally voted a bore whenever the subject occurred in -conversation; for, as Lady Towercliffe remarked, with a very -long-drawn yawn, when, for the last time, it was alluded to in her -presence, "It was a shocking, barbarous, and really startling affair; -but all stories should be allowed to die out like an echo, which grows -fainter and fainter at every repetition. One cannot be for ever -talking of the same thing." - -When Henry De Lancey lost one parent, he certainly gained another in -Sir Arthur, who often afterwards remarked, that in no instance could -virtue be more obviously its own parent, than in the case of any -kindness he had shown to this fascinating boy, whose gay, joyous -spirits became a source of perpetual amusement to him, while the -Admiral seemed to derive new life from watching the frolicsome gambols -of his young companion, occasionally enlivened by the gleeful vivacity -of his niece Marion, when she escaped a single day from the trammels -of school, bringing generally in her train two of her favorite -juvenile companions, Clara Granville and Caroline Smythe, both several -years older than herself. - -On many occasions the sensibility of Henry De Lancey seemed already to -have attained almost the depth and intensity of manhood, so strong -were the bursts of natural feeling with which he occasionally spoke or -acted, while it was deeply affecting to trace throughout the -extraordinary progress thus early made in his education, the careful -culture given to his remarkable abilities--the pains bestowed by his -solitary parent to strengthen his mind for future difficulties and -sorrows, the earliest and worst of which she could so little have -foreseen or apprehended. - -With considerable thoughtfulness of character, however, and natural -integrity of mind, which Sir Arthur was delighted from the first to -remark, yet, when the merry group of young friends assembled together -on the shore of Portobello, building houses of sand, or running -eagerly in search of shells, it would have been difficult to say which -was the most carelessly happy, while the Admiral seemed to borrow -their young spirits for the time, and gazed with ceaseless delight on -those joyous countenances, radiant with laughter and smiles, which -were archly turned towards their aged playmate, sometimes with a -challenge to run after them, or lighted up with smiles of affection -when they brought him a bouquet of his favorite flowers, torn roughly -from the stems, and crumpled in their little hands. - -Sir Arthur often seemed almost ashamed to betray the engrossing -interest and delight he felt in his young companion, who gained every -day a stronger hold upon his affections, and it appeared as if he were -anxious to forget that a time had ever existed when the playful and -interesting boy was unknown to his heart; but a circumstance occurred, -not long after Henry's adoption, which brought painfully to mind, with -greatly increased solicitude, the fearful mystery that hung over his -origin, proving also that danger still threatened him from some -unforeseen quarter. - -While the whole party of his young guests were noisily engaged on the -shore in a game at hide-and-seek, one day in the month of July, Sir -Arthur had seated himself on a bench within sight of them, sometimes -watching their gambols with pleasure, and frequently conning over a -newspaper, which proved by undeniable and satisfactory demonstration, -that the country was entirely ruined--that the Government was coming -to an end--that the Houses of Lords and Commons would be completely -demolished--that the ministry had not another day to exist--and, as a -grand climax, that anarchy, confusion, bankruptcy, and revolution, -were about finally to drop their extinguisher over Great Britain. Sir -Arthur had read the same thing in different words every day during -fifty years, and under twenty varied administrations; yet still the -wonder grew, how a constitution so mismanaged could so long survive, -and that when all was wrong at the head of the country, it still had a -leg to stand on. The Admiral's patriotic meditations had been several -times interrupted by repeated complaints from the little girls, that -Henry had hid himself so well, that they could not possibly find him; -but he was too much pre-occupied to give the subject much attention, -till at length Martin announced that the children's dinner had waited -some time, and that still the boy was not to be found, though his -companions had been searching for him at least half an hour. - -Upon hearing this, Sir Arthur hastily started up, making a -considerable expenditure of energetic and wondrous explanations, while -he gazed around with increasing surprise at the wide waste of sand, -like an Arabian desert, with which he was on every side encompassed, -and where it seemed to him as if a mouse could not be long concealed. - -A hasty and most anxious search was instantly commenced in the garden, -while Sir Arthur and Martin shouted the name of Henry at the full -pitch of their voices, but in vain; not a sound was heard in reply, -nor was there a spot unexamined in which he could by possibility be -lurking. - -The Admiral now became seriously alarmed at so unaccountable a -disappearance, especially when the child's gardening tools, with which -he had been last observed, were found mutilated and broken, at a great -distance, on the beach--one of his shoes had fallen off close to the -water, and his hat lay nearly buried in the tide. Sir Arthur instantly -summoned the police to his aid, but the search continued fruitless, -till at length the dreadful conjecture became more and more probable, -that Henry must have rashly ventured into the water, and been washed -away by the waves--in pursuance of which apprehension Sir Arthur -summoned more assistance, that the water might instantly be dragged. - -Martin, meantime, no less active than his master, had accidentally met -a stranger on the beach, who mentioned, on hearing of his alarm, that -on the road to Leith, half an hour before, he had observed a boy -struggling and screaming in the arms of a female, dressed like a -nursery-maid, who complained loudly that the child would not go home, -when a young man, rather strangely dressed, and of very singular -appearance, had instantly offered his assistance, and carried him -forcibly onwards. This gentleman said he had stopped the woman to -remonstrate with her on using the boy so roughly, as a cap was drawn -over his eyes, and he seemed to suffer agonies of terror, sobbing -convulsively, and trembling in every limb; but the man had answered in -reply, with a strong Irish accent, that he would see the child safe to -his friends, and let no one do the poor boy "a taste of harm." The -stranger added indifferently, that it was no affair of his, therefore -he ceased to interfere; but he thought both the man and the woman had -a very bad expression, and he would not trust either of them with his -dog for an hour, to use it kindly. - -Without wasting time in returning to communicate what he had heard, -Martin hurried forward to Leith, where, with reckless speed and -untiring diligence, he threaded all the narrow streets, and elbowed -his way among carts, carriages, parcels, and passengers, till at -length he reached the pier, to which he had been so eagerly aiming his -steps. At its farthest point stood a smoking steam-boat in full boil, -while men and women, boxes, packages, bags, and trunks were pouring -in; and at length, as he breathlessly approached within some hundred -yards, an arbitrary little bell was rung, to summon stragglers on -board, and to hurry stragglers away. - -A single plank, connecting the steam-boat with the pier, was on the -point of being withdrawn, when Martin approached; and while he paused, -in momentary hesitation whether to pursue his almost hopeless search, -the steward peremptorily desired him to hasten on board instantly, if -he were coming at all, as not a moment more could be lost. - -At this moment a cry, almost amounting to a scream of childish joy, -became audible on the deck--a young boy was seen vehemently struggling -in the arms of a female; and in an instant, pursued by a man who -vainly endeavored to overtake him, he rushed past the steward, ran -across the temporary bridge, and clasped Martin round the knees, -exclaiming, with eager incoherent exclamations of almost hysterical -delight, "Take me, Martin! take me! O let me go home to Sir Arthur! I -did not come away without leave! I did not, indeed! That naughty, -horrid woman forced me! She tied a cap over my face, and would not let -me go back! I have been so frightened and so sorry," added the child, -bursting into tears, and sobbing as if his heart would break; "I -thought Sir Arthur would be angry, and I thought, perhaps, I would -never see him again! O take me home, Martin! take me home! and let me -never see these people again!" - -The boy put his hand, with an air of happy confidence and security -into that of Martin, who snatched him up in his arms, with a thousand -expressions of joyful surprise; but a moment afterwards, when he -recollected himself, his first impulse was to secure the culprits who -had decoyed Henry away, and to deliver them up to a magistrate for -examination. With this intention, he looked hastily around, intending -to cause their immediate apprehension; but the steam-boat had sailed -off; and all the gesticulations he could make to bring them back only -caused the steward laughingly to shake his head, thinking that Martin -had merely missed his passage, as he deserved, for not showing more -alacrity in obeying his injunctions to embark. - -At Portobello, meantime, Sir Arthur had suffered agonies of grief, and -even of self-reproach, thinking he had too securely relied on the -safety of his young protege; and with a heavy heart he was still -directing his steps, and conducting his assistants to the most -probable places for finding the child's body, having already ordered -his maid to have everything in readiness, in case a chance remained of -his being restored to life, when he felt a gentle pull at the skirt of -his coat, and, on looking down, he uttered a volley of joyful -exclamations, on beholding the radiant countenance of Henry, whom he -clasped in his arms with unutterable joy. While Martin and the boy -himself gave each his own history of the strange adventure, Sir Arthur -walked up and down in a state of irrepressible irritation, clenching -his teeth, and grasping his walking-stick firmly in his hand, as if -about to wreak instant vengeance on the miscreants. At length, after -exhausting his indignation, he took Henry again in his arms, declaring -he would never for a moment lose sight of him again. - -Nothing in Henry's narrative threw the slightest gleam of light on the -plans or intentions of the strange man and woman, which seemed -destined to remain buried in impenetrable obscurity. They had -evidently been accomplices in decoying him from home; and the boy had -brought away from the steam-boat a small book which they had given -him, full of ribald songs and profane jests, but covered with -magnificent boards, and clasped with silver hinges, which seemed to -have once belonged to some ancient missal, and still retained in the -inside a collection of texts beautifully written in a very remarkable -hand, which seemed to be that of a highly-educated female. - -For some time afterwards, several suspicious-looking people were seen -lurking about Sir Arthur's premises, late at night; and one evening a -shot was fired suddenly in at the drawing-room window, which passed so -near to Henry's head, that his hair was actually disturbed; but though -an active police had been placed on the watch, not a trace could be -obtained of the authors of this outrage. - -As time wore on, and the mind of Henry rapidly expanded on all -subjects of classical learning and general science, the fearful and -melancholy events of his early years faded considerably from his mind, -while he made astonishing progress at the excellent school where Sir -Arthur placed him, exhibiting that happy, but rare combination of deep -thought, and refinement of mind, with extreme liveliness of fancy, and -enthusiasm of character. This threw a perfect witchery over his -conversation, which sparkled with vivacity, or flowed with uncommon -depth and power, as best suited the occasion, while at the same time, -during his intercourse with Sir Arthur, he became imbued with the -highest principles of honor and good-feeling; and from his master he -imbibed the most enlightened knowledge of the doctrines and duties of -Christianity, with the profoundest reverence for its precepts and -practice. - -Sir Arthur felt a dreary blank during Henry's absence at school, which -became more and more intolerable as his eyesight was at length nearly -extinct; and he had serious thoughts of engaging a person to walk out -with him during the day, and to read to him during the evening, being -of opinion that it is the highest wisdom, as well as the best -Christianity, cheerfully to meet every appointed privation, and derive -from the blessings that remain, as much enjoyment as they can afford. - -Sir Arthur often remarked to his friend, Lady Towercliffe, that it is a -misfortune to wear out a taste of any inoffensive occupation; and he -began to fear it might be possible for him to survive his enjoyment of -reading. "In my long life," he observed, "I have myself travelled all -the travels described by others, thought all the thoughts, and felt -all the feelings. If I read such a book as Robertson's America, for -instance, the question forces itself upon me, 'what the better would I -be of knowing this whole volume by heart!' The time was once, when a -romance carried me off into another existence altogether, and I seemed -to awaken as from a dream, when called back to the ordinary business -of life; but now I can anticipate from the first page, the whole -_denouement_ of every novel, and never for an instant forget my own -identity in reading the story." - -"It is a shocking symptom of advancing years," said Lady Towercliffe. -"But you must wait till I publish." - -"Yet," continued Sir Arthur, "there is one volume always new, in which -I never can tire of reading my own heart and character; and in the -Bible, the descriptions of eastern countries are so like what I have -observed myself of the scenery, customs, and manners, that they fill -me with recollections and associations that are of endless interest." - -No sooner had Sir Arthur mentioned incidentally, to Lady Towercliffe, -and several friends, that he would willingly give a handsome salary to -a person of good reading and writing abilities, than it seemed as if -all the meritorious young men in Scotland happened at that very time -to be looking out for precisely such a situation; and it made Sir -Arthur almost melancholy in examining testimonials, which ought to -have procured any one of them a bishopric, to think that so many -admirable youths, of learning and talents, were ready to sacrifice -themselves for a mere home, and a pittance of L50 per annum! - -No situation ever became vacant in the memory of man, for which Lady -Towercliffe had not some protege exactly suited; and no sooner did she -hear that Sir Arthur required a secretary and reader, than she wrote -him a note of seven pages, closely penned, in which she made it -evident that there was but one individual in the world who could suit, -or ought to suit, and that one individual was the bearer of her -despatch, who waited below for an answer. - -It appeared that, with all her zeal in the cause, Lady Towercliffe -knew very little of the young man she so vehemently recommended; but -having accidentally met him in a bookseller's shop, he had been -employed by her to copy some verses in an album, and she thought him, -without exception, one of the most civil and grateful creatures in the -world, who really deserved encouragement. - -When Sir Arthur sent for Mr. Howard up stairs, his kind heart was -almost shocked at the tone of wild energy, and the look of feverish -anxiety with which he entreated that his capabilities might be tried. -His figure, though youthful, was tall, gaunt, and meagre, while his -care-worn countenance, which bore a stern and melancholy aspect, was -lighted up by large, dark, flashing eyes, in which there gleamed an -expression of singular excitement. He appeared young and handsome, but -not prepossessing--so gloomy and determined was the expression of his -firmly-compressed mouth, that it seemed almost indicative of ferocity; -and his eye had that peculiarity invariably expressing evil--an -impossibility of looking any one steadily in the face. - -"You see me under great disadvantage, Sir Arthur; friendless, -homeless, and poverty-struck," said Mr. Howard, with a look of eager, -deprecating solicitude, which spoke at once to the generous heart of -the Admiral, and filled him with commiseration. "Fate and fortune have -hitherto frustrated my efforts, and weighed me down with life-crushing -sorrows; but only give me employment, and I would not thank the Queen -to be my cousin!" - -It was a favorite saying with Sir Arthur, that he would be more -ashamed to suspect mankind, than to be deceived by them; and if he had -a weakness in the world it was a total incapacity to give pain. -Touched by the nervous excitement in Mr. Howard's eye and manner, -which he attributed entirely to his necessitous circumstances, he -almost immediately engaged him, to the entire satisfaction of Lady -Towercliffe, who never asked or cared any more about her protege, -gratified that he had achieved "a job," and that by her interest, and -hers only, a place in the world had been filled up, which would have -been occupied by some one else, perhaps equally deserving, if she had -not interfered, and she was satisfied for the present to have been of -consequence to somebody, no matter whom. - -Mr. Howard generally spoke in a subdued, mysterious voice, as if -afraid to let himself know what he was saying; yet sometimes his words -came forth with a rushing impetuosity, full of energy and fire, like -lightning itself. His hollow, blood-shot eyes, betrayed a wild, -watchful, suspicious expression, by no means prepossessing; and there -was something inscrutable in the bland, perpetual smile he always wore -upon his countenance, and in the frozen tranquillity of his manner, -which occasionally, though seldom, gave way to bursts of tempestuous -emotion. The very pupils of his eyes seemed to have become darker, -with a fearfully wild and ferocious expression when irritated, while -the fierce fire flashed out from beneath his lowering brows, with a -blaze of inexpressible fury; yet in a moment he could command himself -again into a cold, calm, and almost haughty exterior, while the -spectral paleness of his handsome countenance made him look like -marble itself. - -Years passed on, during which Sir Arthur endured, rather than enjoyed, -Mr. Howard's attendance, whose pre-occupied air and vague manner -continually annoyed him; but his benevolent heart shrunk from -consigning the poor man to that hopeless and solitary want which he -seemed to apprehend must inevitably follow the loss of his present -situation, and from day to day he postponed the decision, till habit -grew into second nature, and he became so accustomed to hear "The -Times," column after column, spouted forth in a rather theatrical tone -by his reader, and to dictate notes and letters to his very silent and -diligent secretary, that he almost forgot at last to think of parting -with him. - -When Henry returned for the first time from school, six or seven -months after Mr. Howard had become domesticated at Portobello, the -secretary professed a vehement fancy for the boy, would fetch and -carry for him like a tame dog, and loaded him with attentions; yet, -though in general most affectionately grateful to all who showed him -even a trifling kindness, these assiduities and flatteries were -lavished upon him in vain. The boy shrunk instinctively from Mr. -Howard's notice, but could assign no other reason to himself or others -for this apparently unreasonable antipathy, except merely that the -stranger resembled somebody he had seen before, but how, when, or -where, not a trace remained in his memory. This little caprice did not -appear to be noticed or resented by the secretary, till one day, when -Henry refused some bon-bons which Mr. Howard offered him, saying, the -last he accepted had made him sick, and when the boy soon after flew -gaily out of the room, Marion was for a moment startled and surprised -to observe the malignant scowl with which the eye of Mr. Howard -followed Henry. It was a glance, fell and malignant, that feared to be -seen, while his cheek became pale as death, but whether in anger or in -sorrow, Marion thought it impossible to divine. - -As Henry grew older, his instinctive dread of Mr. Howard seemed only -to increase, but he was too considerate to disturb the tranquillity of -Sir Arthur by mentioning it, or to injure the poor man himself, by -giving way to a feeling of dislike so unaccountable, and yet so -perfectly unconquerable; but at length, after many years of such -prudent self-restraint, when nearly grown up to manhood he could not -help saying one day, in a careless tone, to the Admiral, after -witnessing a sudden outbreak of temper in Mr. Howard that morning, - -"Your secretary always reminds me, Sir Arthur, of Sinbad's Old Man of -the Sea. It seems impossible to get handsomely rid of him, and he will -never certainly make a voluntary departure!" - -"I fear not!" replied the Admiral, with something between a smile and -a sigh. "He does all I desire him, but without interest or pleasure, -and he has the most undisguised contempt for every living being, -almost amounting to hatred, yet he expresses unbounded gratitude for -being harbored in my house. What can I do? It would be cruel to kick -the man out of doors, merely because he is unhappy; but I have often -observed, Henry, that he is no favorite of yours, though that is the -only subject on which you have never been entirely open with me." - -"Because I am heartily ashamed of my feelings, Sir Arthur, and you are -the last person on earth to whom I wish to tell anything against -myself. You have told me there are people with a loathing antipathy to -cats, and somewhat similar is the shuddering sensation with which I -see your worthy secretary enter the room. A sort of shiver comes over -me, and a wish to keep him off--to avoid his very glance and touch. He -has a strange under-look certainly! His smile makes me shudder! and -yet the feeling is quite undefinable! They say dogs and children have -an instinctive liking or antipathy to those who secretly like or hate -them, and perhaps my sensation is on somewhat similar grounds. - -"There is something fearful in the eye of Mr. Howard, occasionally, -when I catch it fixed upon myself," added Henry rapidly, but in a sort -of musing, absent under-tone, while his voice acquired a deeper tinge -of thought, "I seem to have beheld him once in a dream! When he looks -at me in that strange and extraordinary manner, his eyes like the -flickering glare of light in a gloomy cavern, I feel and know that at -some period in my life I have seen such a countenance before! The time -and place have escaped me, but the remembrance is painful, and in his -presence I cannot but be convinced that I am in the presence of an -enemy. It is a feeling I can neither drive away, nor distinctly -realize!" - -"Why did you never tell me this before, Henry?" asked the Admiral, -rising with agitation. "He has been hardly dealt with by fortune, but -surely you do not think----" - -"Think!!--; I think nothing, Sir Arthur, for I know nothing, and I -ought not to have spoken as I have done,--it was wrong and rash. I -shall try to conquer this,--to conquer myself,--and, as they say, -acquired tastes are always the strongest, I may yet learn to like Mr. -Howard better than any one living; but, in the mean time, Sir Arthur, -he does occasionally look to me, very like some stray member of the -Lunatic Asylum!" - -"I sometimes think," said Sir Arthur, "that Howard has a bee in his -bonnet." - -"He has a whole hive of bees in his bonnet!" replied Henry in his -usual off-hand tone; but when he looked round, as is usual, when -people are spoken of, the individual himself, Mr. Howard, stood before -him. A mortal paleness had overspread his countenance, contending -emotions seemed flitting across his lowering brow, like shifting -clouds in a threatening sky, and his eye gleamed upon young De Lancey -with a look of maniacal fury; but the same artificial smile was on his -lips which he habitually assumed, while, in the blandest tone of -courtesy, he turned from the steady penetrating gaze of Henry to Sir -Arthur, saying, in a tone of servile cunning, but with a smile the -most ghastly that was ever seen on a human face, - -"Every fool can find fault, but my livelihood fortunately depends not -on any boyish caprice. It is derived from the generosity of a noble -mind, unbiassed by cruel and unfounded prejudices, which may, however, -yet be my ruin. A small leak sinks a great ship, and even you, my -benefactor, may hereafter be influenced by the opinion of one who -avowedly hates me, though without cause,--I should have little to -dread if he were like you, but then who is? Come what may, however, -you deserve and shall ever retain my undying gratitude and attachment. -I have met with little kindness in life, and am never likely to forget -that little, from whatever benevolent heart it comes. In this bleak, -desolate, most harsh and cruel world, you are now my only friend." - -"Those who have deserved friends, Mr. Howard, are seldom so entirely -destitute of them!" said Sir Arthur, with a certain tone of -interrogation in his voice, for he abhorred the slightest approach to -flattery, and always had an instinctive apprehension that it was -accompanied by deceit. "We are too ready often to throw the blame upon -human nature, when our own individual nature is to blame. For my own -part, I have met with little unkindness or ingratitude hitherto, and -would willingly look upon the sunny side of life, hoping all things, -and believing all things, of mankind in general, and of yourself among -the number." - -The darkened sight of Sir Arthur prevented him from perceiving that in -the countenance of Mr. Howard there flitted a quick succession of -emotions, fiery and vivid as summer lightning, but Henry observed with -astonishment the powerful though ineffectual efforts he made to -control his agitation. His hands were clenched, till the very blood -seemed ready to spring; he gnawed his nether lip with frightful -vehemence, and his eyes shot fire from beneath his dark and frowning -brow. With a glance of unspeakable malevolence at Henry, and a hurried -bow to Sir Arthur, he hastened with rapid steps out of the room, and -subsequently out of the house. - -"If there be a madman out of bedlam, Sir Arthur, that is he!" -exclaimed Henry, following with his eyes the rushing steps of Howard, -as he crossed the garden. "Before I go to college, let me hope you -will dismiss him. Give the man a trifling pension, or do anything for -him, rather than trust yourself in his hands, for I am mistaken, -indeed, if he is not a bad and dangerous man." - -"Before you return here, I may perhaps be able to find some other -situation for him; but he has done nothing yet, Henry, to forfeit my -protection, and I scarcely think he would live, if I dismissed him. He -has drank a bitter cup of wretchedness, and without principle or hope, -he has more than hinted to me, that death itself will be his resource -if I turn him adrift. It was a well-meant officiousness of Lady -Towercliffe to force him upon my good offices, and I cannot yet see -any easy way to relieve myself of the charge, without causing more -distress than I can reconcile myself to occasioning." - -"He is certainly a strange, mysterious being," replied Henry, wishing -to turn off a subject which he saw was agitating Sir Arthur with -perplexity; "but Mr. Howard is not probably the only man on earth whom -in the course of my existence I shall not be able to comprehend." - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - - -The most popular girl at Mrs. Penfold's "Seminary for Young Ladies," -near Edinburgh, was Marion Dunbar, too much loved by her companions to -be envied; admired by all, and almost idolized by each, while beneath -the gay, sparkling surface of her joyous disposition, there rolled on -a warm current of sensibility and feeling sufficient to repay, and -more than repay, all the deep tenderness and enthusiastic affection -she excited among the little circle of her young and ardent friends. - -Cast in the finest mould of classical beauty, and formed mentally as -well as personally in the very poetry of nature, the perfect grace and -symmetry of her features became enlivened frequently by a rich and -radiant smile, like a Hebe, glowing with the richest hues of health -and joy. Her splendid eyes sparkled with every passing emotion, -sometimes dimmed for a moment by tears of sensibility, but usually -glittering with smiles, while occasionally, when amused or delighted, -she burst into a comic, elfish laugh, the very essence of glee and -joyousness--a most enlivening accompaniment to what she said, while -her conversation, always fresh and unpremeditated, rushed straight -from her heart, fresh and natural as a mountain stream. - -The color of a violet was not more deeply blue than the dark, -unfathomable eyes of Marion, shaded by a fringe of eye-lashes that -might have been mistaken for black. No description could do justice to -the fascination of her smile, without one shade of affectation, while -her pure transparent complexion, fresh as a bouquet of roses, took a -richer tint from all the fleeting emotions which chased each other -through her mind. A rich profusion of nut-brown hair played around her -high arched forehead of alabaster whiteness, and a thousand laughing -dimples quivered around her delicately-formed mouth, giving her a -merry, joyous look of girlish beauty, varied occasionally by a melting -softness of expression when she looked on any countenance that she -loved. On one occasion, a celebrated sculptor asked Sir Patrick's -permission to take a cast of Marion's head, and on obtaining the -desired permission, he observed, that if those features could be -turned into marble, he would stake his whole fame on the impossibility -of any critic pointing out a single defect. But while admiration is -given by the eye of an artist merely to symmetry, expression is the -mystery of beauty; and the charm of Marion, in the estimation of her -friends, was, that her face seemed like a mirror formed to reflect -every emotion of their own hearts. - -The most stern and morose of human beings must have been conciliated -into some degree of regard by the deep tenderness of a character -"without one jarring atom form'd," which seemed made only to love and -to be loved. While her gay fancy revelled in "cheerful yesterdays and -confident to-morrows," the flowers that grew around her path, the -birds that sang as she passed, the very turf beneath her feet, and the -sky above her head, called forth her feelings. She had a tear to spare -for the sorrows of every one who claimed her sympathy, and a ready -smile for the joys of all her companions, while yet a great deal of -unoccupied love remained at her disposal, the chief portion of which -was bestowed with prodigal enthusiasm on her indulgent uncle Sir -Arthur, whose doting affection would have spoiled any other -disposition, but only rendered her more keenly to merit and to deserve -his partiality. - -In the estimation of Sir Arthur, his "little Marion" never became a -day older, and he considered her a perfect prodigy in everything she -said or did, watching all her words, and entering into all her -juvenile feelings with a versatility of mind astonishing at his -advanced age. Nothing on earth is more touching than to see the warmth -of sensibility and enthusiasm yet surviving the chill of many a year -in this disappointing and sorrowing world; but there was a degree of -mutual confidence between Sir Arthur and his young niece which can -seldom exist with a disparity of years and circumstances. Besides all -her feminine gentleness, and almost poetical gracefulness of -character, Marion yet displayed at times a power of intellect and an -energetic strength of character for which a superficial observer would -have been totally unprepared; for her mind seemed always to rise in -proportion to the occasion, while she had been born apparently to -practise without reserve that beautiful Christian rule, for each -individual always to consider himself last. Rarely are deep feelings -and intense sensibility united with that high intelligence of mind, -and that vivid gladness of spirit peculiar to Marion; but the stream -of her mind was deep as well as sparkling, while during her early -years sorrow flitted through her cheerful, laughter-loving mind, like -the shadow of a butterfly in a bright sunny flower-bed. Pleased "she -knew not why, and car'd not wherefore," there was a peculiar grace in -all she did, and an infectious merriment in all she said, which -attracted a joyous group of companions continually around her, on whom -the light of her own buoyant vivacity seemed to be continually and -brightly reflected. - -Nothing could be more pleasing and characteristic than to observe the -refined ingenuity with which, from the earliest age, Marion tried to -evade receiving the multitude of little presents with which it was Sir -Arthur's delight to surprise her. Trinkets and toys would have -multiplied around her, if she had not frequently made an ostentation -of possessing more than it was possible for her to use; and when Sir -Arthur allowed her a choice in any gift he was about to force on her -acceptance, she invariably selected that which seemed least expensive; -and her uncle afterwards told, that when, on the twelfth anniversary -of her birthday, he clasped a beautiful Maltese chain round her neck, -she said to him, with a deepening color and faltering voice, "I would -like better to love you for nothing, uncle Arthur! My drawers up -stairs are like a jeweler's shop already. You know I inherited half -dear mamma's ornaments, and Patrick says you bring Rundell and Bridge -in your pocket every time I have a holiday; but I would be quite as -happy to see you all for yourself." - -The merry-eyed Marion seemed to "wear her heart upon her sleeve," and -to see only what was best in all those with whom she associated. With -her small means, it was truly astonishing how frequently and -ingeniously she invented some unobtrusive way of conferring a favor on -her companions, as if she were receiving rather than bestowing one; -and it certainly appeared as if she scarcely knew the difference. -There was not an individual among her numerous young contemporaries -who did not often relate traits of goodness in one whom they always -found ready to answer the largest drafts that could be drawn upon her -good offices, while the cheerfulness of her mind reflected itself on -all. - -If one of her young friends rushed joyously forward to announce some -unexpected success, Marion's features seemed as if they had been put -together only for smiles and laughter, while her bright eye glittered -with instant gladness, and a glow of color mounted to her dimpling -cheek, as she felt and expressed with spontaneous warmth all that -kindness could dictate, and more; but if some unforeseen affliction -visited the hearts of her juvenile associates, there seemed no limits -to the patience with which she listened to their complaints, or to the -eager assiduity with which she endeavored to alleviate their sorrow. -The most trifling attentions she never overlooked, were it merely the -tying of a string, or the picking up of a handkerchief, which she did -with a good-humored grace all her own, and the trifling actions of -life are those by which the character can generally be most justly -appreciated. Great achievements are a conspicuous embroidery laid on -the surface often for effect, but the ground-work and material are -formed of what is most unobtrusive and often scarcely noticed. With -Marion, every kind and generous feeling was as natural as perfume to -the violet, and equally inseparable from her daily existence; her -ideas were fresh and vivid, while her manner was thoroughly -fascinating and thoroughly feminine, at the same time that all the -grace of look and expression added a surpassing charm to her lively -and intelligent conversation, every word of which sprang from the -spontaneous impulse of a heart full of natural emotion and -straightforward sentiments. - -Many a difficult exercise she had secretly assisted to write for her -young contemporaries, many an unintelligible drawing she had touched -up, many a dress she had privately mended, many a little debt she had -clandestinely paid for her juvenile friends, and far from wishing to -be thanked, she shrunk with modest sensibility from letting her -services be over-estimated, even by those whom she had most exerted -herself to oblige. Whenever a kindness had been privately done at -school, the author of which could not be guessed at nor discovered, -few hesitated to declare that it must have proceeded from Marion -Dunbar, and none were ever mistaken in saying so. - -It was indeed wonderful that the lovely and gay young school-girl -found time for a tenth part of her kind and tender affections, at Mrs. -Penfold's first-rate seminary for what Sir Arthur called -"fiddle-faddle education." There no taste was inculcated for quiet -pursuits or domestic intercourse, and it was one of Mrs. Penfold's -favorite axioms, that nature is always vulgar; but in her zeal for the -honor of her establishment she seemed resolute to make every pupil an -Admirable Chrichton,--or more,--not in studying the experience of past -ages, and reading the thoughts and feelings which have been recorded -for their instruction by millions of the best and wisest of their -predecessors in life, but in all the frivolities of existence; and to -this end the pupils were stinted in sleep and food, while they pursued -a course of application more incessant, though not so profound, as -that of students for a double first class at Oxford. The most eminent -masters were in hourly attendance to cultivate every thing but the -heart or understanding. The various arts of killing or of wasting time -were taught in perfection, by the best, or at least by the most -fashionable teachers; and, as the Admiral disapprovingly remarked to -her brother, "little Marion was surrounded by professors of every -thing on earth,--by professors of trumpery in all its branches, but by -no professors of common sense!" - -With Mrs. Penfold each pupil was a favorite in exact proportion as she -appeared likely to acquire a talent for the difficult art of rising in -the world, by which she might reflect credit and celebrity on the -theatre of her education; and it seemed, therefore, by no means -intended as an expression of kindness, when the lady was heard one day -impatiently to exclaim in accents of reproach, "Marion Dunbar is all -heart, and no head! Some girls do nothing, but she does less than -nothing; and though she gets on in years, she gets on in no other -thing!" - -Wearily busied in being taught, Marion yet felt that there was no -incitement, and one only, which made every effort a pleasure, while it -gave life to the dull routine of her heartless labors, and that -incitement was her fervent, incessant desire to please, not the -dictate of vanity, but of spontaneous sensibility; and while, with her -bright and beaming looks, she was by no means a prodigy, Marion very -much under-rated her own powers, believing, in the simplicity of her -heart, that she really was the most hopeless dunce on many subjects, -only able to recommend herself by diligence and by alacrity to oblige. - -Even Mrs. Penfold was disarmed of half her severity, by the eagerness -with which Marion, buoyant with youth, and joyous as a bird on wing, -undertook any task, or suffered any penance to compensate for such -little _etourderies_ as had caused her to be in temporary disgrace; and -the stern schoolmistress herself could not but smile sometimes in the -midst of her gravest lecture, to observe the look of extreme anxiety -and self-reproach with which Marion listened to the catalogue of her -small indiscretions, and the grateful joy with which she heard that -there were any terms on which she might yet be restored to favor. -Caroline Smythe, her most frolicsome companion, frequently amused -herself by inventing imaginary scrapes into which Marion was supposed -to have fallen, and by sending her express to Mrs. Penfold for a -reprimand, while the lively girl watched, in laughing ambuscade, for -the bright beaming smile which flashed into the supposed culprit's -countenance, the instant she unexpectedly found herself honorably -acquitted. - -Thus the foundation of Marion's mind was laid, and these were the -light breezes that ruffled the smooth current of her life; but -enchanted by the slightest pleasures, few ever bore the burden of her -annoyances so lightly, while a brilliant painted curtain hung over the -future, filled with images of anticipated joy, to be realized in all -their brightness and beauty, as soon as she became emancipated from -the dreary thralldom of Mrs. Penfold's manufactory of young ladies. - -Meantime, Marion's mind grew and flourished, like some rare and -beautiful plant injudiciously cultivated, yet glowing in almost -unprecedented luxuriance. Plunged in this inextricable labyrinth of -educational troubles, she had to undergo lessons from sunrise till -sunset, while all the varied arts, sciences, and languages were piled -promiscuously on her brain, like an ill-grown coppice, distorted and -stunted for want of more judicious thinning and training. She could -name things in every language, but was told nothing of their nature -and properties; while, as Sir Arthur complained, "poor little Marion -was taught plenty of sound, but no sound sense, except what she had -inherited by nature, without paying L100 a-year for it." - -In music Marion displayed great taste and expression, while her -flexible, richly-toned voice poured out sometimes a flood of harmony -most exquisite to hear, as the pathos of her full round intonations -drew forth the feeling and sympathy of all her auditors. Expression in -music is like expression of countenance, not to be taught or acquired, -but the spontaneous result of natural emotion, and with Marion music -was almost a passion, for her whole spirit seemed instinct with -melody, while her lark-like voice trilled its liquid notes with joyful -hilarity. - -Signors and Signoras, who might have fitted their pupils to become -chorus-singers at the opera, were multiplied around the young ladies -at Mrs. Penfold's "College of Frivolity," followed in ceaseless -succession by Messieurs and Mesdames, who taught the young ladies to -maltreat pianofortes, by playing on them at the rate of 100 miles an -hour, or to speak foreign languages better than the natives, and to -write them better than they could write their own;-- - - While hands, lips, and eyes were put to school, - And each instructed feature had its rule. - -On Sunday evenings, for the sake of effect, the girls were regularly -assembled to prayers, which were conducted like those of Frederick the -Great's soldiers, being performed simultaneously at the word of -command as a part of their exercise, without a semblance of reverence, -and within a very limited number of minutes, while they were hastily -slurred over by Mrs. Penfold herself, with scarcely an external aspect -of solemnity or interest. Sunday had long been considered by all the -pupils at Mrs. Penfold's as a privileged day for writing letters, -wearing best bonnets, peeping from behind a red silk curtain at the -congregation, criticising the clergyman's manner, dress, and -appearance, discussing, in suppressed whispers, who it would be -possible or impossible for them to think of marrying, and enjoying -rather a longer walk than common in strolling to church and returning -again. - -Any knowledge of the Bible inculcated at Mrs. Penfold's was like all -the other acquirements taught in that establishment, more for show -than use. Each young pupil could repeat by heart, without hesitation -or mistake, the whole history of Jacob, Abraham, and any of the -patriarchs, prophets, or apostles, and enumerate all the kings who -ever reigned over Israel, but they remained utterly uninstructed -respecting the influence which the Divine revelation should obtain -over their own life and character, nor were they ever taught to -inquire what was their own nature, why they were placed upon the -earth, and whither they were likely to go after this perishable world -had passed from their sight. Summer flowers alone were implanted in -their minds, but no thoughts, hopes, or affections, such as may last -for winter wear. To them their birth seemed merely to have been the -commencement of an existence, given entirely for their own individual -pleasure or advantage, which was finally to terminate at their death. - -Before Marion had been long at school, however, she formed an intimacy -which produced a permanent and most happy effect on all her subsequent -life and feelings. Clara Granville, several years older than herself, -had been nurtured, like her brother, in holiness, and in every -domestic excellence, while she lived only for the dictates of a -chastened and sanctified heart. Delicate in health, and fragile in -extreme to appearance, there was something almost seraphic in the -delicate purity of her lovely countenance, and in the tranquil -composure of her graceful manner. During a long and tedious illness, -with which Clara was seized, a short time before leaving school, she -testified a tender and almost exclusive affection for Marion, who -spent all her leisure hours--or rather moments, for hours were scarce -at Mrs. Penfold's--in the most assiduous attention to the beloved -invalid, and in imbibing those elements of good, those feelings and -principles of religion which were to be guides of all her future life, -and thus she became, before long, an enlightened, well informed, and -deeply pious Christian, not shrinking from the society of one who -excelled herself, but humbly and gratefully seeking, on all occasions, -her advice and instruction, while both had their hearts filled with a -fervent desire, steadily and consistently to pursue their own best -interests, and an anxious wish also to succor and benefit others, in -all the troubles and sorrows of life, though Marion was apt to feel -like the poet,-- - - Ready to aid all beings, I would go - The world around to succor human woe, - Yet am so largely happy, that it seems, - There are no woes, and sorrows are but dreams. - -Marion's health and spirits were refreshed and invigorated by frequent -excursions to visit Sir Arthur, who endeared himself to his eager -young auditors, Henry and Marion, by expatiating with all the -freshness of youth, to their wondering ears, on the times long past, -when holidays, romping, sight-seeing, birth-days, and festivals, were -still in fashion, but these were the days of his own boyhood, before -children were too wise and busy to have time for natural enjoyment. -The Admiral was thought, by Mrs. Penfold, a sad marplot, having -already, as she knew, done all in his power to dissuade Sir Patrick -from placing the "little fairy," as he called his favorite, in such a -tread-mill as her school-room, where he said the only knowledge to be -acquired was, that knowledge of the world which ruins the heart, and -where fascination was to be taught as one of the fine arts, but all -his representations, whether in jest or in earnest, were in vain. Sir -Patrick, being the guardian of both his sisters, had determined to -expend a considerable part of the provision bequeathed by their father -in training them up as carefully, for the course of fashionable life, -as he would have trained a promising race-horse which was expected to -win the St. Leger, confidently anticipating a short and brilliant -career of admiration and success, ending with a splendid trousseau, a -chariot and four, and a profusion of wedding favors. - -Even the gay, frolicsome Caroline Smythe, many years older than -Marion, and the most seditious and unruly of pupils, became speedily -tamed down to mechanical obedience at school, where, losing her -naturally intense enjoyment of mere existence, she seemed at best -almost a habitual drudge in the usual routine of labor. There was a -mystery never apparently to be fathomed about this lively girl, which -excited the most intense curiosity among her companions, but though -she was gifted with an extraordinary degree of volubility, which -astonished and diverted the whole school, talking in a rapid and -irregular manner of all events, past, present, or to come, with a -brilliant confusion of drollery and humor, still she never dropped a -hint which threw the most transient light on her own situation and -affairs. No one knew whence she came or who she was, but though -defying all the powers of all the masters to render her accomplished, -yet Mrs. Penfold evidently treated her with extraordinary -consideration, and almost with respect. - -Many were the restrictions and directions given respecting her to the -scholars and teachers, which seemed to them most unaccountable, and -several of which were voted by the juvenile community to be so -peculiarly barbarous and oppressive, that though the young lady -herself seemed neither surprised nor annoyed by the rigid watchfulness -exercised over all her motions, it excited among her companions an -indignant pity, and a keen spirit of partizanship. She was never on -any occasion known to walk with the governesses and the other girls -beyond the narrow limits of the high garden walls, and on Sundays, -instead of attending the parish church, it was observed that one of -the teachers invariably remained at home to read prayers with her. No -general invitations sent for all the pupils by the friends of other -girls, were ever accepted for Caroline, who had special permission to -visit with Marion at Sir Arthur Dunbar's, but at no other house in the -visible world. - -She never spoke of home,--received no letters, and once only had a -visitor, an object of keen and eager scrutiny to the little gossiping -community of Dartmore House, who discovered nothing more, however, -than that Caroline's aunt, Mrs. Smythe, was a gay, fantastic-looking, -showily-dressed little woman of no certain age, for whom her niece -seemed to care very little, as the whole flood of her affections was -concentrated on her companions at school. Money she had in the most -lavish abundance, while she squandered it with a degree of reckless, -and almost contemptuous profusion, perfectly startling to those who -scarcely received as much in a year as she seemed able to spend in a -day on presents for those she loved, which was the chief use to which -her large funds were devoted. - -Marion, the companion and pet of her two elder companions, Clara and -Caroline, tried with all her powers to extend her affection also to -Mrs. Penfold, but her feelings found nothing to feed upon in the cold, -formal, rigid manner, and stern upright appearance of the -schoolmistress, who repelled all intercourse with her pupils, -considering them necessary grievances to be endured in her house, as a -source of existence to herself, but not of pleasure. Towards these -little slaves of education, driven from task to task with ceaseless -pertinacity, no confidence was shown, and between them conversation -became systematically discouraged. A governess was appointed to sleep -in each room to secure silence among the pupils, few of whom had that -glow of heart and imagination peculiar to Marion, and it was -fortunate, perhaps, that her large stock of sympathy was not more -frequently in requisition, as the most astounding confidences were -sometimes imparted to her wondering ears. - -One young lady, in a high fever of romance, described to Marion at -great length, in the strictest confidence, an elopement which took -place from the school where she had last been educated, on which -occasion the young narrator had accompanied the bride part of her way, -and returned home without detection, by climbing in at an open window. -Another of the pupils asked if she did not think Monsieur D'Ambereau, -the Italian master, wore singularly handsome mustachios, adding that -it was a very common custom now for noblemen to go about in disguise, -teaching at boarding-schools, in order to see the young ladies; and a -third of Marion's young friends pointed out to her notice that many a -ringlet appeared to be more carefully curled than usual, and many a -dress to be put on with unwonted solicitude, when Monsieur Frescati, -the singing-master, was expected. - -Girls in a boarding school are as unnaturally situated as nuns in a -convent, where the feelings and emotions, being checked in their -spontaneous course, are thrust into channels for which they never were -originally intended. Marion had a sufficient object in view, every -time she entered a room, from the desire she felt to please all with -whom she associated, which gave a vent to the warmth of her affections -in seeking the reciprocal attachment of her companions; but many of -the other pupils, shut out from nature with her sunshine and flowers, -her feelings and emotions, and wearied by a monotonous, uneventful -life of dictionaries and grammars, snatched at every legitimate or -illegitimate source of novelty or excitement, and their conversation -became as frivolous as a toy-shop, while the hopeless vacancy of their -thoughts obtained relief if even a blind fiddler or a hand-organ -appeared beneath their windows. It was an object of romantic interest -for the day, to most of the girls, if an officer in uniform passed -along the high-road within sight; an equestrian in plain clothes, if -tolerably mounted, furnished them with a subject of exclamations -during the following half-hour, and even the very Doctor, a mere -country pill-box, who prescribed for Mrs. Penfold's pupils, being -well-dressed, and not much above forty, would himself have been -astonished could he possibly have guessed the interest excited by his -visits, and the keen discussion that ensued after his exit, respecting -his slightly grey hair, and brilliant yellow gloves. - -Each young lady at school had a large assortment of romantic stories -to relate, in a confidential under-tone, to her listening companions, -of lovers who had committed suicide, gone mad, or been, at the very -least, rendered miserable for life, in consequence of a disappointed -attachment; while the whole party impatiently anticipated the time, -not perhaps far distant, when their own turn would come to be -idolized, admired, courted, and finally married to some "perfect -love," with title, fortune, and establishment all pre-eminently -superlative. Pure as the swan that passes through the darkest and most -turbid stream, with plumage unsoiled, Marion's mind, in the meantime, -remained untainted by the atmosphere of evil and frivolity around her. -She caught at all that seemed good, avoided what was evil, and -rejected every thought that might injure the unsophisticated -excellence of her artless mind. - -There arose, however, in time, one source of individual anxiety to -Marion, known only to herself and Mrs. Penfold; but it increased in -weight and urgency every year, throwing occasionally a shadow of care -over that bright young countenance, in general so beaming with joy, -though with true philosophy Marion tried often to forget what it had -proved impossible for her to remedy. Once a quarter, or at least -during every successive "half," the mortifying fact forced itself upon -her observation, that no bills were so irregularly paid as her own; -for while their amount rapidly accumulated, Sir Patrick's agent -forwarded annually the very smallest instalments, with a thousand -apologies, and many promises of a final satisfactory settlement at -some future period, which period never seemed any nearer; and Mrs. -Penfold often dryly remarked, in the hearing of Marion, that "short -accounts make long friends." - -An appeal to Sir Arthur for his interference often occasionally -suggested itself to the mind of Marion; but she knew that his -influence was less than nothing, and she greatly feared lest his -vehement partiality to herself might lead him to overlook the very -limited nature of his income, and to volunteer some generous -sacrifice, such as she would rather suffer any privations than -occasion. The pension and half-pay of Sir Arthur very barely sufficed, -she knew, to defray his extensive charities, and to furnish sometimes -the hospitable table, and the bottle of first-rate claret, round which -it was his delight to gather a frequent circle of old brother -admirals; but his purse was little calculated to stand the shock of -such a draft as Sir Patrick would unhesitatingly have drawn upon it, -had the idea occurred to him that Sir Arthur might perhaps be induced -to take Marion's school bills upon himself. - -In no instance was it more obvious than in that of Sir Patrick Dunbar, -how precisely in society men are generally estimated at their own -valuation. He was, like his sisters, pre-eminently handsome, while the -hauteur of his demeanor, bordering on a sort of well-bred contempt for -others, rendered his slightest notice an event of considerable -magnitude even to many whom the world might have deemed his superiors -in rank, fortune, and talents. There were a few exclusives, however, -among his own exclusive set, whom he admitted to the most unbounded -familiarity and good fellowship, inviting them to entertainments, -given much more as an ostentatious display of wealth and taste, than -from any feeling that might be dignified with the name of friendship; -and thus, by a reckless and unbounded profusion in dress, equipage, -and hospitality, unchecked by one sentiment of justice or of prudence, -the young Baronet obtained universal celebrity for his generosity and -good humor,--anecdotes of which were circulated with delighted -approbation in every house. - -He was known to have tossed a sovereign one day to an old woman at a -cottage door, for merely reaching him a glass of water; he paid the -post-boys double always when travelling; he gave ten pounds at a -ladies' bazaar, for a paper card-case, which he presented the next -moment to Clara Granville; and he sent Marion a magnificent rosewood -box, filled with crystal perfume bottles, and gold tops, which cost -twenty pounds, when at that very time she had scarcely a frock to put -on, and was in agonies of vexation under an unpaid shoemaker's bill. - -Sir Patrick's grooms and footmen always roundly estimated his income -at L20,000 a year; and his rent-roll certainly exceeded that of all -the parents united who paid Mrs. Penfold regularly for cramming their -children's understandings; but while Sir Patrick made it a matter of -accurate calculation to train Marion with skill and sagacity in the -way most likely to take her speedily off his hands, yet it was no part -of his calculation to pay for anything in money if he could do so in -words; and while he rattled off whole estates in a dice-box, and raced -himself into difficulties, entering horses for every cup, and dogs for -every coursing-match, he privately resolved that Marion and her -embarrassments should always remain both out of sight and out of mind. - -Mrs. Penfold's grave and dry expression of countenance became graver -and drier every time she contemplated the rapidly-increasing amount of -Marion's bill, while she urgently impressed on her pupil's mind the -absolute necessity of entreating more zealously than ever for the -speedy payment of such very old scores. - -Observing Sir Patrick so exceedingly profuse in his expenditure, -however, Mrs. Penfold believed there could be no cause to apprehend -any defalcation at last, being convinced that he might at any time -defray her demands with ease, though the only thing he never found it -convenient to command was ready money; and Marion soon discovered that -it made him frantic with ill-humor to be asked for any. Of this -peculiarity she had once an early instance, never afterwards to be -forgotten. Having received from Sir Arthur, on her fifteenth -birth-day, the first five sovereigns which it had ever been her good -fortune to possess, she accidentally heard Sir Arthur laughingly -complain during her mid-summer holidays at home, to Mr. De Crespigny, -that he had arrived at the bank that morning too late to present a -draft for money, and having given his last shilling to a beggar, he -was, according to his own expression, "completely cleaned out," not -having enough even to pay for being admitted to the exhibition of -pictures, and actually put to some temporary inconvenience by his -penniless condition for that day. - -In all the pride of exhaustless wealth, Marion soon after stole up to -her brother's side, and displayed her glittering treasure; but afraid -to be suspected of conferring a favor, with intuitive delicacy she -asked Sir Patrick to take charge of it until the following Saturday, -that she might consider what to purchase on that day. Scarcely -conscious of what she said or did, the young Baronet mechanically -dropped the sovereigns into his pocket, where sovereigns in general -had a very short reign, and soon after sauntered away to the club. - -Day after day elapsed, week after week, and every time Sir Patrick -entered the room, or drew out his pocket handkerchief, Marion thought -she was on the eve of being paid; but at length her holidays came to a -close, and still not a syllable transpired respecting her funds. -Rendered desperate at last by anxiety to re-enter school, laden with -presents to her favorite companions, Marion, who valued money only as -a means of being kind to others, ventured one day, with glowing -cheeks, and faltering voice, to remind Sir Patrick, for the first -time, of their little pecuniary transactions, which was so very -trifling that he had probably forgotten it. - -"You tiresome little dear! am I never to hear the last of those -sovereigns!" exclaimed he angrily, throwing down his newspaper. "You -deserve not to be paid till Christmas! But here they are! No! I have -no change, I see, at present. Well! I shall remember it some other -time!" - -That "other time" never came, however, and Marion returned penniless -to school, sympathizing more fully than she had ever done before, in -Mrs. Penfold's lamentations respecting Sir Patrick's carelessness -about money,--a subject which supplied that lady with a ready-made -excuse, whenever she was out of humor at any rate, for venting it all -on her unoffending pupil, whose sensitive heart became so imbued at -last with vexation and anxiety, that on attaining the age of sixteen, -she ventured to pen an earnest appeal to Sir Patrick, begging with all -the eloquence of natural feeling, that if the expenses of her -education were inconvenient, she might return home, where she would -willingly shew all the benefit derived from the advantages he had -already afforded her, by continuing her studies alone, and by devoting -herself entirely to his comfort, amusement, and happiness. - -This letter, which cost Marion agonies of thought, and a shower of -tears, received no answer whatever; and with a sigh of unwonted -depression, she dismissed the subject from her thoughts, and trying to -hope the best, quietly resumed the course of her occupations, -comforted by the consolatory reflection, that in two years she would -have nothing more to learn--the whole range of human acquirement being -supposed to attain its completion by each of Mrs. Penfold's pupils at -the age of eighteen. - -Clara Granville, and Caroline Smythe, having attained the highest acme -of perfection under the finishing hand of Mrs. Penfold, were about to -be emancipated in a few months from the thralldom of school, and to -astonish society by their brilliant acquirements; respecting the most -advantageous mode of displaying which, great pains had been taken to -instruct them, though the inclination seemed wanting in both girls, -being already surfeited with admiration and panegyric among their -masters and governesses, who vied with each other in praising their -two most advanced pupils, by whose influence they hoped hereafter to -obtain recommendations and employment. - -Marion had strolled one evening with Caroline, farther than Miss -Smythe had ever been known to venture before; and the two young -friends were seated in an arbor at the extreme verge of the bounds -prescribed by Mrs. Penfold, in earnest conversation, while watching -with delight the declining sun, which superbly illuminated a heavy -mass of clouds in the western horizon. Time flew on, and darkness -nearly closed around them while they discussed with lively, careless -humor, all the petty annoyances of their daily life, and compared the -little hopes and fears they entertained for the future. As the hour -became later, Marion felt that the high exhilarating key in which -Caroline spoke, and her gay, well-rung-out laugh, made her almost -nervous in the obscure and solitary retreat to which they had -withdrawn; but ashamed of her own timidity, she determined to conquer -or conceal it. - -Marion was flattered when a companion like Caroline, some years older -than herself, thus treated her with familiarity; though certainly, -neither on this occasion, nor on any other, was it with confidence, as -no living being seemed entirely in the confidence of Miss Smythe, who, -while she appeared gayly and heedlessly to rattle on in conversation, -yet kept a cautious silence respecting all that concerned herself. - -Many very reserved persons pass for being perfectly open, by means of -a frank, free manner, and by speaking in a confidential tone -concerning the most private affairs of those with whom they converse; -and this Caroline did to excess, asking Marion, with every appearance -of kindness, a hundred questions, which in her own case she either -could not, or would not have answered, and testifying the most -cordial, unfeigned interest in all that related to the prospects or -feelings of her companion, who never attempted to conceal a wish or a -thought, and often forgot that the trust was not mutual. - -Caroline was talking eagerly with great animation, and telling Marion -that the only injury she never would forgive, was, if any of those she -loved had a sorrow that did not allow her to share with them; and -especially if they permitted themselves to suffer from any pecuniary -difficulties which it was within her power to relieve, when suddenly -Marion laid a hand on her arm, making a hurried signal for silence, -while she whispered in a low undertone, - -"I have scarcely heard you for the last five minutes. Did you observe -that strange-looking man, very much muffled up, who scrambled several -minutes ago to the top of the garden-wall? He was staring wildly about -him for some time, then gliding noiselessly down, and has suddenly -disappeared?" - -"Where? where?" whispered Caroline, grasping Marion's hand with a look -of wild alarm, and speaking in a low, hoarse tone of extreme terror. -"For your life, Marion, do not stir! Tell me which way he went! He -must not see us. O how on earth has he traced me out!" - -"Who?" asked Marion, bewildered and terrified, when she beheld a -degree of frantic alarm depicted on the countenance of her companion, -which seemed almost unaccountable. "Dear Caroline! whom do you fear?" - -"A madman!" replied Miss Smythe, in accents of mingled anger and -disgust. "He has haunted me for years! He threatens either to murder -or to marry me; and you may guess which I think the worst! He has even -adopted my name! Did you never hear, Marion, that he actually put his -marriage to me last year in the newspapers! He besets my -footsteps--besieges my dwelling-place, persecutes me with letters, -sends me his picture, follows me to church, throws stones at my -windows in the night, and frightens my very life out, yet the law -leaves me unprotected, because he commits no actual breach of the -peace. It was to avoid him that I begged my aunt to let me live here! -How did he discover my retreat?" - -Caroline seemed to have lost all command of herself in the agony of -her fear, and poured out a flood of words in the rapid and subdued -accents of extreme terror, while she retreated into the darkest corner -of the arbor to screen herself from observation, hastily dragging -Marion along with her, and whispering an eager request, if they were -discovered, that she would endeavor herself to get off, and fly -towards the house for assistance. "Meantime I shall engage his -attention; but if he once sees me, all hope of escape on my part would -be vain, while the very endeavor might irritate him! Everything -depends on you, Marion! Be resolute, and lose not a moment, or you may -be too late." - -In agonized suspense and apprehension the two friends remained during -several minutes, cowering behind the overhanging branches, and -scarcely venturing to breathe, while Caroline bent her head eagerly -forward to catch the slightest sound, and grasped Marion's arm almost -convulsively, as if to secure her being perfectly immovable; at -length, after some time, she heaved a deep sigh, expressive of relief, -and looked up, saying - -"He is surely gone! he must be gone! I never eluded his eye -before!--his sight is almost supernatural; but he must be gone at -last! Let us hurry home!" - -"Stop!" whispered Marion, in an under tone, "I heard a rustling close -behind us, among the leaves and branches. Some one certainly -approaches!" - -"Fly, then, Marion! all is over, and I must face the danger!" said -Caroline, with sudden energy, while rising and drawing herself up to -her full height, with resolute countenance, though her limbs evidently -trembled beneath her, she walked towards the door, saying, in a loud, -commanding accent, to a tall man, much muffled up in a loose -great-coat, who had now appeared at the door, "Who goes there? -Ernest!!" added she, in tones of remonstrance. "How dare you enter my -presence again! How dare you intrude here!" - -"Be true to yourself and me!" replied the stranger, in a voice which -sounded harsh and excited, while the deep, full tones appeared to -Marion as if she had heard them before; but the darkness prevented her -from seeing him distinctly, even if his dress had not been sufficient -to disguise him from the most penetrating eye. "Say what you will, I -know you are glad to meet me," added he, in accents of increasing -wildness. "All that you do is dictated by others; but Caroline, in her -secret heart, loves me! I know that! By your looks, by your voice, by -your manner, it was revealed to me years ago! Yes, you love me, and -cannot deny it! Speak but the word, and we may both be happy,--happier -than the wildest dreams of fancy! No impediment can prevent it! Let -your aunt conceal you where she will, she cannot hide you from me. In -the farthest corner of the earth--in the deepest dungeon that was ever -dug, I shall find you out, and still free you from persecution. She -may do her worst, but love laughs at locksmiths, and I can still -enable you to elude her vigilance. I come now prepared, if you will -but consent to fly with me!--now,--this moment. If not,----" - -The madman's voice, which had been loud and vehement, here dropped -into a low, stern, inaudible murmur, and his hand plunged into the -breast of his coat, seemed as if it grasped some weapon there, while -Marion, taking advantage of his pre-occupied attention, darted off -with the speed of thought, and almost as noiselessly fled towards the -house. A loud, angry cry to stop her, mingled with curses and -imprecations, from the madman, while he waved his singularly long arms -menacingly above his head, only accelerated her pace, while he -followed some steps in pursuit; but terror gave wings to her feet, and -rushing into the entrance-hall, she instantly rang the large dinner -bell, and raised an alarm, which assembled the whole household, all of -whom gazed with looks of panic-struck astonishment at Marion's pale -and ghastly countenance. - -Not a moment required to be lost in explanation, for Mrs. Penfold -seemed at once to guess the whole nature and extent of Caroline's -danger, the instant her name was mentioned; therefore Marion had but -to point out the direction in which she might be found, when Mrs. -Penfold hastened forward, preceded by several of the more active -servants. - -When Marion had rapidly executed some orders committed to her she -quickly returned towards the arbor, but not a trace remained there of -any one. The little table had been upset, several branches torn down -that surrounded the entrance, and the grass beneath was much trampled -and disfigured; but all was silent and deserted. After one hurried -glance of alarm and perplexity, Marion hastened forward to the garden -gate, which she found had been violently burst open, and on emerging -into the high road beyond, she there found Mrs. Penfold and her -servants all crowding round Caroline, who remained in a dead faint on -the ground for nearly half an hour. - -A carriage was rapidly disappearing at full speed in the distance, but -already almost too far off to be distinguished; and Marion perceived -the figure of a man lurking behind the hedge close beside her; but -when she made it evident that he was observed, he rushed close up to -her side, saying, in a threatening tone, between his clenched teeth, -"You have provoked a madman!" - -Scarcely had Marion time to utter an exclamation of sudden affright, -before he sprung over the hedge, and was seen running across the -neighboring fields, until his figure mingled with the surrounding -gloom, and vanished out of sight. - -Mrs. Penfold's chief care, after Caroline's recovery from her alarming -swoon, was earnestly to enjoin that the circumstances of this -adventure should never be mentioned, or so much as remembered by those -who had witnessed them; a story so extraordinary and alarming, being -likely to injure her establishment, besides causing much unnecessary -gossip among the younger pupils; but had Marion ever been disposed to -consign, as desired, the whole adventure to oblivion, she could not -but be continually reminded of it for several weeks afterwards, by the -startled and agitated manner of Caroline, whose frolicsome spirits had -entirely deserted her, while she seemed for some time to be in -imminent danger of a nervous fever. If any one appeared suddenly in -the room, she almost screamed with the start it occasioned her; she -could not bear for a moment to be left alone, and seemed as if -continually listening, even when safe in the house, for the sound of -steps in pursuit of her. Gradually, however, her mind became more -composed, and she ventured one day to take a stroll with Marion in -some of the nearer parts of the garden, though even there she scarcely -spoke above her breath, and turning hastily round several times, as if -apprehensive that some one approached. - -Had the far-famed Upas tree grown over the arbor, Caroline could -scarcely have shunned more fearfully the slightest approach in that -direction, and with equal care did she avoid any allusion to what had -occurred there, not a hint of which ever transpired in her most -confidential moments. The very sound of her own feet on the gravel -seemed to startle her, and as she walked beneath the shade of some -tall forest trees which overhung the garden-wall, Marion observed that -Caroline trod more cautiously; and though she dropped not a word -respecting her feelings or fears, it was evident that her nerves were -strung to an agony of sensitiveness, for the fluttering of a bird in -the hedge, or the fall of a leaf, made her start, and she seemed about -at last to give up the point in despair, and hurry homewards, when -suddenly a loud shrill whistle arose amidst the branches of an -ash-tree, almost directly over their heads, and before Marion had time -to look round, a small packet had dropped at the feet of Caroline. - -With a half-suppressed cry of alarm, the terrified girl fled, while -Marion, scarcely less frightened, instinctively picked up the parcel, -and followed, while again she was pursued by a volley of oaths and -imprecations, which ended in a laugh so wild, so maniacal, and so -fearful, that for months afterwards it rung in her ears, causing her a -shudder of horror and alarm. - -When Mrs. Penfold tore open an innumerable multitude of seals which -closed the packet addressed to Caroline, she discovered within only a -long incoherent letter of several sheets, filled with the most -extravagant professions of ardent love, and the most vehement -declarations, that nothing on earth could impede or discourage him in -his resolution to carry her off, which he seemed still persuaded, with -the self-delusion peculiar to madness, must be a welcome assurance to -Caroline, whose words and actions he perseveringly attributed to the -arbitrary influence of others. Accompanying this farrago of most -intolerable nonsense, was a black shade in a wooden frame, -representing the profile of a young man, certainly handsome, and which -seemed to Marion like features she had known elsewhere, but being -frequently addicted to observing resemblances, she felt at once -persuaded that this must be some such vague and unaccountable likeness -as she had frequently found or fancied before. - -Time wore on, and still Caroline lingered at school, unwilling -apparently to forsake the comparative quietness of Mrs. Penfold's, -where, though her age exceeded by some years that of the other pupils, -and though her cotemporary Clara had been already introduced into -society, she still seemed anxious to forget herself and her affairs in -the multitude of her masters and studies, so completely was she -engrossed by which, that she evidently grudged every moment and every -thought which interrupted her progress. At length, on the evening -previous to that fixed on for her final departure from school, when -Mrs. Smythe was expected to convey her home, Mrs. Penfold was -bestowing on Caroline some of her last advice, of the most approved -mode of "getting on" in society, and especially on the manners and -conversation most attractive to gentlemen, when a note was brought -into the room, which had arrived by express, bringing the melancholy -intelligence that Mrs. Smythe's carriage had been upset a few miles -off, causing so severe a blow on the head, that a concussion of the -brain had taken place, and she continued insensible, at a village some -miles off, where little hope remained of her recovery. The Doctor who -wrote these hurried particulars had obligingly sent his own carriage -and servant to accompany Miss Smythe to the spot, that she might take -a last leave of her dying relative, and he recommended that she should -not lose an instant, or it might be too late to find the sufferer in -life. - -Struck with grief and consternation by this most unexpected and -calamitous intelligence, Caroline, though she had never before seemed -much to love her aunt, yet now became overwhelmed with the shock, and -lost not an instant in hastily preparing to obey the melancholy -summons, by throwing on her coat and bonnet, while she rushed into the -arms of Marion, and burst into an agony of tears in bidding her -farewell. - -The French governess who had been summoned to escort Caroline in the -carriage, was one of those nervous persons, who became perfectly -frantic when hurried, and she flew about the room, uttering a volley -of incoherent exclamations, expressive of her wonder and perplexity at -so sudden a call on her activity, while her preparations seemed to -make no visible progress. There is a secret, mysterious pleasure in -being waited for, which every living mortal seems to enjoy when they -have the opportunity; and without a thought of Caroline's impatience, -her anxiety, and her sorrow, Madame D'Aubert expressed the most eager -and vehement solicitude about her own dress, and a resolution not to -stir till equipped to her entire satisfaction, for so rare and almost -unprecedented an event, as leaving the boundaries of Dartmore House. - -Every thing that has a limit, however, must come to an end, and Madame -D'Aubert's toilette being at last completed she leisurely advanced, -talking to herself and to everybody else, arranging her shawl, and -giving a last finish to the contour of her bonnet, before she threw -herself with dignified deliberation into the chariot. - -Marion had affectionately insisted on conveying her weeping friend to -the carriage, while, with all the little arts of affection, she tried -to console and encourage her, till at length they exchanged a final -embrace, and parted. Scarcely, however, had Miss Smythe placed her -foot upon the steps, while the man-servant who accompanied the -carriage carefully assisted her in, before Marion suddenly sprung -forward with an exclamation of terror, seized hold of Caroline's -dress, and before she could speak, dragged her forcibly into the -house, exclaiming in accents almost inarticulate from alarm, - -"Come back, Caroline! come back! This is some mistake! some dreadful -trick! Caroline! dear Caroline! come back! That servant wears the very -dress of the person who attacked you in the garden! I cannot see his -face, but I am certain it is he!" - -Before Marion could finish her sentence, the supposed servant had -violently seized Miss Smythe by the arms, and was about forcibly to -drag her towards the carriage, when the loud cries of Marion brought -assistance. The almost fainting girl was rescued, and the post-chaise -secured; but not a trace could be seen of the madman, who instantly -vanished; and the post-boy could give no intelligence respecting him, -except that he had been ordered out at an inn close by, in urgent -haste, that evening, with a promise of double payment if he implicitly -obeyed the gentleman, who seemed highly irritable, and swore at him in -a most fearful manner, if he made the slightest delay, or so much as -asked a direction which way to turn. - -The most diligent search was made, but made in vain, by the officers -of police, to find out the lunatic's retreat, which eluded their -utmost research; and as Caroline Smythe was privately removed soon -afterwards from school, where the subject was forbidden ever to be -mentioned, the whole story seemed almost buried in oblivion, and -Marion herself felt at last as if the entire adventure had been an -agitating dream, remembered by no one but herself. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - - -Marion's sister, Agnes, five years older than herself, after being -distinguished as the best musician, best sketcher, best linguist, best -everything, at Mrs. Penfold's, had left school with no real knowledge, -except of the most frivolous kind, accidentally gathered in -conversation, and repeated again in society like a parrot. Formed to -excite the most rapturous admiration, by the gorgeous magnificence of -her almost regal beauty, art had acted the part of the Fairy Bountiful -in forming Agnes, while nature had showered her choicest gifts on -Marion. - -Agnes was brilliant without being interesting, and dazzling without -being attractive, for her mind seemed irremediably and incorrigibly -vulgar, selfish, and vain. A good actress, an inimitable mimic, and -incomparable in a tableau, she assumed generally a queen-like dignity -of manner, "stalking through life," as Sir Arthur said, "with an -assured and stately step, as if practising for her appearance as a -Duchess at the next coronation." - -Admiration seemed to Agnes the only pleasure of life, and amusement -its only business; while, if ever she had possessed any sensibility, -it was frittered away on the fictitious sorrows of the Adelines and -Julias in the volumes which she read with surpassing diligence from a -circulating library; though, in all other respects, Agnes wasted her -time amidst such listless idleness, that she might have let her nails -grow, like those of a Chinese mandarin, to testify how literally she -did nothing. - -No one, certainly, could excel Agnes in turning up her hands and eyes -at the faults of others; but those who trace nothing except evil in -their companions, have seldom much good in themselves. Marion found it -one of the most important and pleasing studies in the world, to -comprehend the character and temper of her friends and connexions, -besides her own, with a wish to render herself suitable to them, as -her mind, pliable without weakness, was bent on constantly yielding -her own wishes to those she loved; but this unobtrusive generosity was -only a subject of satirical remark to her sister, who could neither -understand nor believe in Marion's utter singleness of heart and -disinterestedness; her own sole aim being selfish indulgence, and her -sole rule to obtain it in the easiest possible way. - -Self-love was the ruling passion of Agnes; love of others the -quickening principle, or rather impulse with Marion, who would have -zealously planted flowers for even strangers to enjoy; but Agnes would -have plucked all those of her friends, and scarcely taken the trouble -to rear any even for her own use. Agnes, cold, vain, heartless, and -self-sufficient, thought she was made only for this world, and this -world for her, and for such as herself, young, gay, rich, and lovely, -while all others were mere intruders on the creation. But Marion, on -the contrary, followed the dictates of her own heart, in wishing to do -good of every kind to every person, while still she had learned to aim -above nature, to that high standard of Christian perfection, so -exalted, that those who have gained the most elevated human attainment -in virtue and excellence, must still consider the structure of their -minds, however beautifully decorated with generous sympathies and kind -emotions, as being only begun, while they perseveringly aspire -upwards, even to the measurement of that Divine Being who left us an -example that we should follow his steps. - -Agnes had now been, for three seasons, the reigning beauty of -Edinburgh! There it is the privilege of every tolerable-looking girl -to be considered in her own set pre-eminent, during the first winter -after she is introduced; but though the public eye usually grows weary -of the same features, however perfect, during a second campaign, Agnes -had apparently taken out a diploma of beauty, the reputation for which -seemed confirmed to others by her own thorough conviction of being -completely unrivalled, and by the exulting consciousness she displayed -of her own supreme loveliness. Three seasons of tumultuous joy, -triumph, and conquest, had already succeeded each other, during which -Agnes was, to use her own expression, "fiercely gay," yet still no -younger rival had appeared to eclipse the dazzling array of her -charms; and not a whisper was heard that the freshness of her -Raphael-like beauty was at all impaired; nor were any ladies ever -heard to "wonder" what gentlemen could possibly see to admire in Agnes -Dunbar, as not a dissenting voice had yet ventured to make itself -audible on that subject. - -Agnes began life with that perfect confidence in her own knowledge of -the world, universally felt by young ladies under twenty, especially -when they have seen very little of it, and with a thousand schemes and -projects of perfect happiness. Though one after another her castles of -cards fell to the ground, still, in the exercise of persevering -energy, she rebuilt the edifice again with new materials, and on what -she imagined a better construction, but still in every instance, to -her own unutterable astonishment, she found that most unaccountably, -"hope told a flattering tale!" - -Considering every officer she danced with as a hero, and every -gentleman who paid her a compliment as a lover, Agnes wasted her first -season, as most young ladies do, in flirting with scarlet uniforms, -the inhabitants of which were generally so much alike in ideas and -conversation, that if blindfolded, she might have found it difficult -or impossible to distinguish which of her countless red and gold -admirers happened at the moment to be "doing the agreeable." - -All her military victims were dying to know what Agnes thought of their -brother officers; whether she intended to adorn the next ball by her -presence, or the next concert; how she liked their military band; if -she proposed patronising their night at the theatre; whether she -preferred a _galope_ fast or slow; how she thought the colonel's -daughter looked on horseback; whether she did not think it barbarously -tyrannical of the commander-in-chief to insist on their all wearing -uniforms; how she liked the new regulation jacket; and above all, -whether she thought the order for their wearing mustachios an -improvement or not! - -To all these subjects, and many more of similar import, Agnes lent her -very profound attention, not only during the discussion, but in many a -solitary hour, while her whole head, heart, and understanding were -crowded with the recollection of epaulettes, mustachios, spurs, and -gold lace, and she privately believed that the supreme felicity of -earth,--all the most refined sensibilities of life, and all its -brightest joys, were to be found at Piershill Barracks. - -Sir Patrick laughingly alleged that Agnes had rehearsed a set of -prepared conversations suited to every different occasion,--a musical -conversation for amateurs, full of crotchets and quavers--a hunting -conversation about foxes, dogs, and steeple-chases,--a Court of -Session conversation for the lawyers,--and a dragoon conversation, -discussing at great length whether officers should dance with spurs or -without them, and in which she had been known to enumerate correctly, -the facings of every regiment in Her Majesty's service. - -Her brother often and loudly declared that nothing is more perfectly -hopeless, than for any young lady to expect a serious attachment from -an officer actually quartered with his regiment, as it was against all -rule, and contrary to all nature or custom, for Cupid to attack the -army. The mess-table, he assured her, invariably sets its face against -matrimony, and the mess-table conversation was an ordeal, through -which he protested that few young ladies could wish their names to -pass; but nevertheless, Agnes, full of groundless expectations and -lively vanity, continued to endure a succession of heart-rending and -unaccountable disappointments, from very promising military admirers, -who had stolen her bouquets, listened to her music, and drunk Sir -Patrick's claret month after month; but no sooner did marching -orders come for Dublin, Leeds, or Canada, than these interesting -affairs came to an untimely end with a P.P.C. card, or a sort of -never-expect-to-meet-again bow, and Agnes was left with the army-list -in her hand, wondering what regiment would come next, and whether -there were many unmarried officers in it. - -"How amusing it is," said Agnes, in a confidential mood, one day to -Clara and Caroline, "when I walk about with Captain De Crespigny at -the promenades or balls, and see all the other beaux looking angry or -disappointed!" - -"Nothing on earth is so charming, I suppose, as to be a beauty!" -exclaimed Caroline, with a good-humored sigh, and a look of comic -humility, "I would sacrifice ten years of my life to be admired for -one! To hear people saying, 'Have you seen the lovely Miss Smythe? Is -Miss Smythe to show herself at Lady Towercliffe's party?' and then, -like you, Agnes, to have all the beaux dying for me!" - -"I would rather be married for any attraction in the world, than mere -beauty," said Clara, earnestly; "even money is a more tolerable -motive. How insufferable it would be to live with a person whose -affection depended on whether your hair were well dressed, or your -shoes well made!" - -"That is the very thing I should like!" exclaimed Agnes, "to see it -considered of the greatest consequence whether I wore pink or blue, -and whether it were one of my well-looking days or not!" - -"But then, Agnes, your well-looking days would occur seldomer and -seldomer, while during the very periods of illness and depression, -when attention and kindness are most needed, a fastidious husband -would feel injured if your complexion were not at its best," replied -Clara, laughing. "No! no! give me the happiness that will, as my -milliner says, 'wash and wear well!'--good fire-side domestic -comfort." - -"Comfort! I hate comfort!" said Agnes, indignantly, "a stupid, -detestable word, as opposite to real happiness as night is to day! I -shall be satisfied with nothing short of felicity." - -"But felicity can last only a day, while peace and comfort may be -enjoyed for life," replied Clara. "In talking of marriage, you seem to -think of nothing beyond the honey-moon, and to forget the hours, days, -and years of actual life that must follow!" - -"It is absolute nonsense looking so far out to sea as you do, Clara," -said Agnes, impatiently. "How I shall enjoy, next winter, perhaps, -chaperoning you both to parties if I can find any fascinating victim, -tall, thin, and handsome enough to please me." - -"But surely you would not, for any consideration, marry yet!" -exclaimed Caroline. "Lady Towercliffe says that the holiday of a -girl's life is from the time she leaves school till the day she -marries, and you should enjoy ten years at least, Agnes, before you -are tempted to begin the cares of life." - -"Cares!" exclaimed Agnes, with a contemptuous laugh, "I do not mean -ever to take any cares upon myself! but, as Captain De Crespigny very -sensibly observed yesterday, the husband worthy of me should be made -on purpose. In the first place, he must be rich, for I have a scruple -of conscience in ever witnessing a poor marriage, where, after the -wedding-cake has been eaten, there is nothing else left. In -everything,--even in the mere choice of a ribbon,--I am fastidious, -and would rather not have a thing at all, than dispense with getting -precisely what I like. My intended, then, must have been educated at -Eton, for I do think the ugliest bit of human nature on earth is a -Scotch school-boy of about fourteen. He must have such a foot! so -small! oh! no foot at all. He must employ Buckmaster the tailor, get -his shoes from Paris, and never wear the same gloves twice. He -must----" - -"My dear Agnes! this should be all put into the contract!" said Clara, -laughing. "It perfectly ruins me to hear you talk so extravagantly; -and, besides, pray be warned in time of your own probable fate, that -the beauty of a family, or the beauty of a winter, is said always to -make a poor marriage. I never could understand the reason of that; but -Lady Towercliffe says, men are perverse beings, who like to criticise -and undervalue a professed beauty, while, in the mean time, they are -taken by surprise, and fall in love unexpectedly with some obscure -girl, whose charms they discover, or fancy for themselves, and whom, -probably, not another man living ever thought tolerable." - -"For my part," said Caroline, "I shall wait till a person can be found -as handsome as Sir Patrick, as agreeable as you tell me Captain De -Crespigny is, as clever as Mr. Granville, as merry as young De -Lancey----" - -"And as rich as Lord Doncaster!" interrupted Agnes. - -"No! no!--, a hundred times no!" replied Caroline, coloring, speaking -in a singular tone of asperity, "I hate and abhor money as a -consideration in marrying! I wish money had never been invented! It -becomes a misery for those who have too much, as well as for those who -have too little." - -"Well! give me money," said Agnes, laughing. "And let me tell you, -Caroline, that even if you have eight or ten thousand pounds, which is -probably the utmost, you will find it no great inconvenience during -the long run of life. Money has its merits, and I should be afraid to -marry any man, even the most romantic of my lovers, if it involved the -necessity for his sacrificing one of his usual comforts;--if it -obliged him to drink his bottle of sherry instead of claret every day, -I am not quite sure that he would never begin to grumble! They tell me -it should be considered a man does not wish himself twice every day -unmarried again. No, no money, is no bad thing, and if you have any to -spare, pray let me have the surplus." - -"Who, and what are Mrs. and Miss Smythe?" was a frequent question of -Agnes to herself, never apparently to obtain a satisfactory answer. On -Caroline leaving school, her aunt had taken a villa at Portobello, -where the two English strangers excited extreme attention, more from -their evident desire to avoid it, than from any thing very remarkable -in their appearance or manner, though Mrs. Smythe was certainly of that -_genus_ old maid so common in England, with a handsome independence, a -suite of servants, a pony-carriage, most splendid dress, and some -pretensions still to youth and beauty, as any fragment of good looks -that yet remained she most liberally displayed; while her manner had a -flirting tone of coquetry most unsuitable to her apparent age, forming -a singular contrast to the quaker-like simplicity of Caroline's dress. - -There was a singular contrast between the gravity of costume affected -by Miss Smythe, and the keen festivity of spirit with which she -entered into every scheme of amusement, or even, it might be said, of -mischief. Her vivacity was occasionally almost overpowering, her fancy -lively beyond example, while with her brilliant, yet interesting -animation, there was mingled a rare acuteness of mind, a swift -comprehension, and an innate passion for all that was amiable and -beautiful, which gave liveliness and vigor to what she said, though -the rapidity of her mind sometimes led Caroline to a false estimate of -persons and circumstances, as she always judged or acted from -instantaneous impulse; yet there was a generous frankness in her -disposition, which captivated those who knew her, and a graceful -simplicity in all she did, which gave it interest; for, without -intention, there was something in all her thoughts and actions -striking and peculiar. - -Her features, though irregular, attracted and enchained the eye, from -the magical variety of their expression, and though an amateur of mere -beauty might have been surprised and perplexed to divine why her light -grey eyes, pale cheeks, and chestnut hair could beguile his attention -away from the more perfect contour of others, the amateur of -physiognomy was delighted to find there an ever-varying source of -interest in watching the bright emanations of thought, feeling, and -vivacity, which glittered or sparkled in her eye, or played about her -mouth. - -When Mrs. Smythe first settled at Portobello, scarcely a week of -gossiping, wonder, and conjecture had elapsed, in the little community -around, when she requested to have an interview with Sir Arthur alone, -which took place immediately, and must have excited much interest in -his mind, as the Admiral remained silent and abstracted during the -whole subsequent evening, while he strolled slowly up and down the -drawing-room, "pacing the quarter-deck," as he called it, for a length -of time; and, after being closeted some hours the following day with -Mrs. Smythe and his confidential agent, they proceeded to a -magistrate's house together, with whom they requested a private -conference, the purport of which did not transpire. - -From that day, an intimacy, amounting to friendship, was established -between Sir Arthur and the two ladies, who seemed on all occasions to -look to him for advice and protection, and in whose house they spent a -part of every day, to the unspeakable delight of Henry De Lancey, who -was charmed, on his return from college, to find so agreeable an -addition to the small circle at Seabeach Cottage. - -"Years rush by us like the wind;" and how rapid seems the transition -from boyhood to mature years! Henry had early attained an -extraordinary development of mind and appearance, a strength of -intellect and a decision of purpose which seemed to Sir Arthur almost -precocious, while every day discovered some new talent, or enlarged -those he already possessed, for his mind seemed ever on the wing and -full of energy. "Either he is nobly born, or nature has a nobility of -her own," thought the Admiral, when viewing the character of his young -protege, as it gradually arose to personal and intellectual supremacy. -His mind was ardent, courageous, and deeply contemplative, full of -generous impulses, but apt to view all that happened to himself -through an exaggerated medium. His mysterious history, and the -fascination of his manner and appearance cast a spell over the -interest and affections of all who beheld his countenance, or heard -the sound of his harmonious voice. With a strikingly handsome person, -he had already acquired a decided air of fashion and refinement, while -a bright vein of almost chivalrous romance which enlivened his mind -was subdued by a poetical temperament, inclining him to dwell much on -melancholy musings, relating to the strange circumstances of his own -early history. Keenly sensitive to kindness or neglect, his love and -gratitude to Sir Arthur were without bounds, and his brotherly -affection for Marion was tinged with the natural enthusiasm of his -disposition, but before long the warmest and deepest feelings of his -nature were secretly concentrated on the gay, giddy, and fascinating -Caroline Smythe. Every scrap of paper that came in his way became -covered with sketches of her buoyant figure and graceful profile, in a -variety of animated attitudes; or, on other occasions, verses in Latin -or English, little better certainly than the nonsense verses at -school, immortalised her charms. - -Young as he was, however, Henry's spirit recoiled already from the -danger of loving too well, or being beloved by any, when he was -taught, in hours of solitary reflection, to remember that principle -and honor must forbid him to seek a mutual attachment, while his name -and station remained unknown, and, perhaps, disgraceful. There was a -bewildering power in Caroline's society, which chained him to her side -wherever they met, while, contrary to his resolutions and wishes, his -every look, smile, word, and action became steeped in love. Often and -severely did he upbraid himself for this vain and dangerous -indulgence, but he seemed spell-bound and unable to remember, in her -presence, any thing but the delight of listening to her gay sallies -and her delicious laugh; though the mirth of her young eyes became -veiled often by a look of care as sudden as it was to him -unaccountable, being so foreign to the sparkling, almost mischievous -gaiety of her nature. - -Henry's devoted, and nearly boyish attachment, raised in his heart -many a high aspiration after future distinction, many a bright hope of -honor, promotion, and usefulness. The model for his imitation in every -thing noble and distinguished was Sir Arthur, and he resolved to -sacrifice love itself, till he had attained, like him, a name and a -station for himself. The very sound of Sir Arthur's step, the very -tones of his voice, were dear to him; and, casting aside every softer -emotion connected with his romantic reveries respecting Caroline, he -became impatient to face the bitter blasts of the world's trials, -taking his beloved benefactor for his example, and the Holy Scriptures -as his guide. - -"Perhaps," thought he, allowing his young mind to wander away from the -dull inexorable realities of life, while a rapturous smile of -anticipated joy lighted up his countenance. "Perhaps, when honor and -distinction have at last crowned my efforts, I may yet be acknowledged -in the face of the world, by those connexions who have now so -mysteriously cast me off. Perhaps Caroline herself may at last be -proud to return that fervent attachment, of which she has not yet even -a suspicion! The old proverb says, 'all men know what they are, but -none know what they shall be!' I know neither the one nor the other; -but I must not be satisfied with vaguely coveting learning, honor, or -usefulness hereafter, contemplating like a mere child the end without -the way, but seek them energetically. Nothing is impossible to those -who persevere! This may and must be a rough world of difficulty to me, -but amidst a thousand buffetings and humiliations to come, I feel an -undying hope of success, while even in this scene of hard and trying -discipline, my best comfort and encouragement shall ever be drawn from -the august truths of religion, in all their awfulness and solemn -obligations." - -Knowledge is power, and knowledge of character is the greatest power -of all; but Henry, in general very penetrating, was perplexed by the -flirting, light-headed manner of Mrs. Smythe, whenever she was in the -society of gentlemen her own contemporaries in age, and the grave, -deferential manner she adopted towards her young companion, whom she -seemed to treat almost inadvertently as her superior, though the -slightest indication of her doing so usually brought the color of -Caroline in vivid flashes to her cheek, and caused an appearance of -mutual embarrassment between the aunt and niece, which surprised and -puzzled him. Their extraordinary munificence to the poor and public -charities also astonished him, as that appeared so widely -disproportioned to their visible means and usual expenditure, though -it seemed only to please without surprising Sir Arthur, who was -accustomed to give so liberally himself, that Henry sometimes feared -he encouraged his newly-found friends in a degree of lavish -extravagance inconsistent with the ordinary means of single ladies; -yet all was given with a graceful negligent indifference to the vulgar -subject of pounds, shillings, and pence, quite unprecedented. -Subscriptions to church extension, missionaries, schools, Bibles, -blankets, food, clothing, coals, money, and medicine, were scattered -around them with unsparing profusion, though it appeared to Henry, -that, in the case of Mrs. Smythe herself, whose name always appeared -ostensibly on the list as the larger contributor, there was less -alacrity in giving, than in Caroline, who seemed to be purse-bearer -for both, and always defrayed the whole amount. - -Among the many things which surprised Henry in Mrs. and Miss Smythe, -nothing had that effect more than the keen, intense, and rather -satirical interest with which both ladies gathered up every particular -relating to the manners, flirtations and adventures of Captain De -Crespigny, though it was evident, that while both ladies could relate -every particular of his former history and character, neither knew him -by sight. Mrs. Smythe mentioned rather contemptuously some vague -recollections of him formerly, as a pert, awkward school-boy, while, -to Henry's increasing perplexity, the young lady's color visibly rose -to carnation whenever he was unexpectedly named, and her eyes usually -glittered with a suppressed smile, if any anecdote or description in -Sir Arthur's conversation related to him, till at length the curiosity -which had so long been evidently fermenting in the minds of Mrs. and -Miss Smythe, exploded one day in the form of an eager request, that -Sir Arthur would invite Captain De Crespigny to meet them at dinner. - -Marion and Henry were amused at the laughing alacrity with which Sir -Arthur at once consented, and they observed, after the note was -despatched, that many a whispered consultation took place, and many a -lively jest passed among the lively trio, to which they were not made -a party; while the two ladies appeared evidently in extacies of -amusement at their anticipated introduction. Marion would have given -worlds to witness the scene; but her furlough from Mrs. Penfold's had -expired on the very day of Sir Arthur's party, and she was most -unwillingly deposited in a carriage with her baggage, at the moment -when Captain De Crespigny alighted, in full huzzar uniform, out of the -minibus which had conveyed him from Piershill. - -The Admiral's party was exceedingly small and select; but the guests -appeared all in gay, buoyant spirits; while Captain De Crespigny, -seeing but one young lady in the room, looked upon himself as her -natural property, and handed her to dinner, though no formal -presentation had taken place. - -With Caroline he was, before long, flirting to the top of his bent, -while she assumed a charming look of consciousness when he addressed -her, receiving the whole artillery of his small talk and civilities -with the most interesting expression of naivete, though once Henry -observed in her smile so odd a mixture of mirth and malice, while, at -the same time, a look of covert humor lurked in her eye, and quivered -on her lip, that he could not but wonder at the grave, demure look -which she affected. - -Nothing was ever more enchanting to Captain De Crespigny than the -blushing, averted looks with which Caroline listened to all his -insinuated admiration; while now and then she nodded and smiled with -the prettiest air of incredulity imaginable, if he professed it more -openly. Occasionally, however, Captain De Crespigny was almost put -out of countenance by her unexpected replies, or very mal-apropos -questions, which gradually led him on, he scarcely knew how, into -flirting perfectly _a'loutrance_, while opportunities seemed purposely -afforded him with a degree of tact perfectly incredible in one so -young, and apparently unsophisticated, to say even more than he ever -said before. With a gay, laughing animation, almost amounting to -silliness, the young lady archly doubted his sincerity, admired his -wit, and slyly misunderstood all his compliments, till he was obliged -to repeat his meaning and explain his insinuations, making his -professions and speeches all so exceedingly plain and undisguised, -that, to his own astonishment, he found himself positively making love, -on a very few hours' acquaintance, with a degree of explicitness which -had never occurred to him in the whole course of his practice before. - -In the evening, Caroline was, after many entreaties, prevailed on to -favor Captain De Crespigny with a song; and never had he been so -completely perplexed as by those with which the young lady, preserving -a look of most imperturbable gravity, proceeded to favor him. She -seemed to have a dozen different voices, and half-a-dozen different -styles of performance, but had evidently been well taught, and -displayed occasionally some beautiful notes. At first her tones were -clear and sharp, accompanied by the strangest flourishes and cadences -that Captain De Crespigny had ever heard or imagined. In the next -song, her voice was low and husky, while her eyes were most -sentimentally elevated to the ceiling, with a sort of St. Cecilia -expression, rather partaking, however, of the ludicrous, and in her -voice another like a mouse in a cupboard. At one time her tone -reminded him of a well-known singer at Vauxhall; at another, he felt -persuaded she was taking off Clara Novello; occasionally there was so -considerable a tinge of the brogue, that he became convinced she must -be Irish, and she ended by singing "The Dog's Meat Man," in a tone -out-screaming a peacock, but adopting the air and attitude of a -Catalani, and concluded with looking exultingly round in expectation -of rapturous applause, which Sir Arthur bestowed in abundance, and -Captain De Crespigny in comparative moderation, being, for the first -time in his life, at a loss to know whether he were treated on this -occasion in jest or in earnest. - -Repeated subsequent visits at Seabeach Cottage continued the intimacy -which Captain De Crespigny had so oddly begun, and his curiosity -became more and more piqued by the singularity of Miss Smythe's manner -and conversation. She displayed, along with a most extravagant love of -amusement, a genius for satire and mimicry quite unprecedented, and in -which she most freely indulged. Many a scene was acted over by her, -and supported by Henry, with astonishing talent and vivacity; for both -seemed to have a similar propensity, being able, after an hour's -intercourse with any individual, to imitate his whole peculiarities -with almost magical precision--to follow, in an imaginary -conversation, the very train of his ideas, and to represent every -little trick or habitual expression, every turn of the head, and every -tone of the voice, with a gay look of mockery which would have made -their fortunes on the stage. - -One evening, Sir Arthur having delivered up to his young friends the -key of an old chest, filled with velvet coats and brocaded silk -dresses, formerly worn by his bye-gone ancestors, Caroline, Henry, and -Captain De Crespigny amused themselves by grouping some beautiful -tableaux, and by acting charades. At one time, both the gentlemen -appeared in similar costumes, as Shakespeare's two Dominos in the -Comedy of Errors, when Sir Arthur suddenly exclaimed, as if he had -made some great discovery, "How very strange that I never before -observed the likeness between you two good-looking young fellows! I -declare it is quite remarkable! If you were brothers in reality as -well as in pretence, it could scarcely be more striking! Do pray -Captain De Crespigny, turn your profile more towards Mrs. Smythe, that -she may see what I mean!" - -Henry laughingly received these remarks as an undoubted compliment, -and bowed with good-humored grace to Sir Arthur, who observed with -astonishment that Captain De Crespigny's color rushed to his very -temples, and receded again, leaving his countenance pale and almost -ghastly, while he suddenly broke off the entertainment, and strode up -to the fire-place, where for some minutes he stood, with his back to -the company, in evident agitation, while a dead silence ensued. - -"Well!" whispered Sir Arthur to Caroline, "I have often been told that -people are never pleased with a likeness, but certainly Louis De -Crespigny is the most conceited of men to feel so intolerably angry at -being compared to my young friend here. There are certainly -worse-looking people in the world than Henry!" added the Admiral, with -a look of partial affection. "And it was no such insult as De -Crespigny seems to think, when I paid him the compliment, to say that -he resembled my boy, who is in every respect the pride of my heart." - -"I wish the Captain may never meet with a greater mortification," -replied Caroline, laughing; "and I am sure he would be much the better -of a few pretty severe ones to keep him in his senses!" - -Henry meantime had observed with good-humored surprise, and no small -degree of perplexity, the excitement, so disproportioned to the -occasion, into which Captain De Crespigny had been thrown by Sir -Arthur's remark, but with boyish frankness he instantly went up to -him, saying, in a lively and rallying tone, - -"I am sure Sir Arthur did not mean anything personal, Captain De -Crespigny; but his remark only proves my uncommon skill in assuming a -likeness to any one I please. My success in disguising myself at -college, was often beyond my intentions or utmost hopes. You would not -know me yourself, if I represented an old man, or a French -hair-dresser, as I have sometimes done!" - -"Indeed!" replied Captain De Crespigny, trying to recover himself, "I -should think there was not the dress upon earth in which I would not -know you again!" - -"Well! some day perhaps, as a beggar, I may, with your leave, beguile -you of half-a-crown." - -"It would be a clever beggar who succeeded in that! but I defy you -there. Half-a-crown! why! I have only as much as that to keep me till -midsummer! You have my free leave to try me at any time, or in any way -you please, and my pardon for all your success!" - -"I can only say," interposed Sir Arthur, "that the impudent rascal -brought real tears into my eyes, not long ago, by a story he trumped -up at my door, which would have deceived the whole Medicity Society. -He can make himself appear as old as myself,--and I declare one day he -looked not very unlike your uncle, Lord Doncaster!" - -A vivid flush passed over the whole forehead and features of Captain -De Crespigny at these words; but assuming a sudden tone of liveliness -and vivacity, he summoned Henry to continue their entertainments for -the evening, which were to be concluded by acting a proverb of which -Sir Arthur and his guests were to discover the design. Miss Smythe, -dressed in cottage costume, seated herself pensively on a stool, after -which Captain De Crespigny, equipped with a bow in his hand, and -carrying on his back a quiver filled with all the old pens in the -house, to represent arrows, entered in the character of Love, and was -about to aim his darts at the peasant girl, when Henry, disguised in a -tattered old cloak, to personate Poverty, limped slowly into the room. -On seeing this beggarly apparition, Cupid, pushing his hair up till it -stood on end, assumed an expression of comic horror, and with a shriek -of dismay, rushed to the window, as if about to jump out. - -The whole party laughed heartily, and declared that the _denouement_ of -this piece contained a most salutary lesson against a mere love-match; -and Sir Arthur said, for his own part he would attend to the -warning,--that all portionless young ladies might consider the case -hopeless with him, and he trusted every one present intended to be -equally prudent! - -"Yes! most assuredly!" exclaimed Captain De Crespigny, "I am almost -tempted how to take my uncle's advice, and propose to my cousin, Miss -Howard, the heiress, though love flies out of the window whenever I -think of her. She was a little, pert, red-fingered, flaxen-haired -child, when we parted last! The memory of that girl often haunts me -like a night-mare since; for my poor mother, on her death-bed, got a -promise made about our being married, or something of that kind. I -never heard the particulars; but I believe we were to be made -acquainted, and refuse one another, before either of us could accept -any one else; but I should think there could be little chance of -anything that depended on my being refused." - -Captain De Crespigny was bowing himself off late in the evening, and -taking a very particular leave of Miss Smythe, having called up all -his most fascinating graces for the occasion, while he felt inwardly -gratified by the pleasing conviction that another had been added to -the list of young ladies whom he had made miserable for life, when he -was surprised to observe her mouth perfectly quivering with suppressed -laughter, and an arch, satirical gleam in her eye for which he could -not account, though it made him feel somewhat uncomfortable and -dissatisfied. If it were possible that any one could be laughing at -him, she certainly was! A world of most intolerable ridicule appeared -in her expression--an air almost of contempt! and he turned to leave -the room with a feeling of mortification and anger which he was -ashamed to allow even to himself. - -When Captain De Crespigny hurriedly opened the drawing-room door, near -which he and Caroline had been standing, he was surprised to see a -person lurking close behind it, who darted instantly away, and -disappeared; but before the intruder was out of sight, an exclamation -of terror and dismay escaped from the lips of Caroline, who rushed -towards Sir Arthur, exclaiming, in accents of almost frantic alarm, -"He is there! he is there! Oh! save me, Sir Arthur! he is there! That -horrid, dreadful man! he is there! Stop him! stop him!" - -Captain De Crespigny instinctively ran in pursuit of the retreating -figure, and eagerly attempted to seize him; but the fugitive -instantaneously opened the house door, and escaped in the darkness, -while, apparently to intimidate his pursuer, he fired a pistol in the -air, and waved another above his head with frantic gestures of rage -and violence. - -"It is beyond all measure extraordinary how he got into the house!" -exclaimed Sir Arthur, in discussing the event with an aspect of grave -perplexity. "My doors are most systematically locked after dusk, and -not a window is unbarred, yet the locks are unbroken and the bars -untouched!" - -"There is something next to supernatural in the way he invariably -finds us out, and gets access everywhere," said Mrs. Smythe, in almost -breathless agitation. "One would imagine he had some unearthly -accomplice to discover where we are concealed, and to assist him in -escaping the vigilance of the police. Night and day we have been -liable to his incursions. In town or country--in the drawing-room, or -beside our carriage--in church, or going to a party--there he is, -lurking secretly near us, or terrifying Caroline by his sudden -disappearance, and gliding away like a shadow. He baffles every -attempt to overtake or arrest him, but seems for ever on the watch! -Sometimes he used to make his presence known by throwing a stone at -our windows; often at midnight, by singing hoarsely beneath them, and -even occasionally by firing a pistol in the air; but I did hope in -this remote corner we might have enjoyed peace and safety. How are we -ever to venture home?" - -"I shall escort you with the whole party in close phalanx," replied -Sir Arthur, trying to assume a rallying tone. "Old Martin and myself -are quite invulnerable, and I only wish my secretary were here also, -as he would be a host in himself; but he is absent on a month's leave, -and for the first time in my life I miss him." - -The night being impenetrably dark, and not a sound to be heard but the -echo of their footsteps on the gravel, when Mrs. Smythe alighted from -the carriage to walk across the garden leading towards her house. Sir -Arthur immediately desired the servants to bring out lights, when one -of the candles having flared up suddenly near Caroline, she thought -she perceived the madman close beside her, lurking behind the stem of -a large tree. The dark shadows concealed all but his face, in which -there gleamed a look of maniacal triumph and malignity, while rushing -close up to Captain De Crespigny, he said, in a threatening tone, low -and distinct, "He who crosses my path shall die!" and instantly -disappeared through the hedge. When Miss Smythe, on hearing his voice, -with a stifled scream of terror fled into the house, again that loud -and fiendish laugh, which she had already heard once, arose behind -her, and rung through the night air in tones of high delirium, causing -a cold shudder to thrill through the hearts of even the boldest among -her companions, while they hastily followed her, and having placed the -trembling girl in apparent safety, soon after took leave, charging the -servants to chain and double-lock the door. - -It was some hours before Caroline could sufficiently compose her mind -to retire; but after the house was sufficiently quiet, and the -servants in bed, she sat up reading, with the hope that her nerves -might become less painfully agitated. The slightest noise caused her -heart to beat almost audibly, and she was conscious that a mouse -rattling in the wainscot would have caused her to faint. Mrs. Smythe -could scarcely be prevailed upon to leave her alone; but as they both -slept on the drawing-room floor, only divided by a thin partition, -Caroline induced her, at a late hour, to withdraw, while not a sound -now disturbed the deep repose of nature, but "the wailing sorrows of -some midnight bird." - -The moon had arisen, shining with softened radiance into her -apartment, when Miss Smythe arose from her devotions, and she could -not but think at the moment what a bright emblem of her divine Saviour -that glorious luminary presented to the mind, not glowing, like the -sun, with a radiance which no human eye can gaze upon, but reflecting -upon the darkened earth a mild, subdued refulgence, perfectly suited -for the steady contemplation of those whom it had arisen to benefit -and cheer. - - Nature was hush'd, as if her works ador'd - The night-felt presence of creation's Lord. - -Pleased with such thoughts, a gradual composure stole over her senses, -and Caroline, at length, seeing her candle nearly burned out, -consequently determined to retire for the night. Not a sound was to be -heard in the house, but her own light step, as she moved about the -room,--the very opening of a drawer, or the shutting of her book, -sounded unnaturally loud, jarring upon her nerves with a startling -effect,--the shadows in the more distant part of the room looked -darker than usual, and the least moan of the wind increased the -painful tension of her nerves to agony. Scarcely had she begun to -undress, when a sudden noise not far off caused her to start with -convulsive terror; her heart became chilled with apprehension, the -candlestick which she carried in her hand fell to the ground, the -light was extinguished, and she stood trembling and alone in total, -impenetrable darkness. - -Caroline tried to persuade herself that the sound must have been -produced by her own fancy,--she looked around, and all was quiet,--she -listened, and all was perfectly still,--she reasoned with herself, and -became resolute to try whether sleep might not plunge her into -forgetfulness and peace, when her attention was accidentally attracted -towards one of the windows, where the bright moonbeams rested on an -object which seemed to blast her eyes with horror, and paralyzed her -at once in a speechless agony of fear. The top of a ladder rested on -the window-sill, upon the summit of which stood the dark figure of a -man, his face plastered so close upon the glass, that his nose was -perfectly flattened against it, and his hands raised in a menacing -attitude towards her. The instant he saw, by Caroline's look of -frantic alarm, that she had seen him, he dashed in the window-frame by -a single stroke of his powerful arm, and seemed about to make a -forcible entrance, when Miss Smythe, with the energy of despair, threw -open the door, and fled, calling aloud, in the sharp, shrill accents -of desperation, for help. - -The servants were speedily assembled around her, and the instant she -felt herself in comparative safety, nature could sustain no more, but, -convulsed in every nerve, and throwing herself into the arms of Mrs. -Smythe, with a cry of thankfulness and agitation, she fainted. - -An instant alarm was given in the neighborhood, a diligent search was -made, and the police for several days exerted their utmost activity to -detect the miscreant, but in vain. Not a trace remained to convince -Caroline that the whole had not been a hideous dream, except that the -ladder had been left standing at her window, and turned out to have -been stolen from a neighboring garden. The window-frame exhibited a -frightful picture of devastation, being literally broken to fragments, -and at some distance in the garden a loaded pistol was discovered, -perfectly new, which it was hoped might lead to a discovery, by the -police tracing out the maker and purchaser, seeing that it had been so -recently obtained. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - - -Several meetings now took place at Sir Arthur's for the purpose of -considering what plans would be best adapted to secure the safety of -Mrs. and Miss Smythe, till the dangerous madman who persecuted them -could be secured and confined, on all which occasions Captain De -Crespigny attended, as he rather enjoyed the excitement and interest -with which the story filled up his vacant hours, and, careless of the -impression he believed himself to be making on the affections of Miss -Smythe, he felt some solicitude respecting her safety, while he -expressed ten times more than he felt, and observed, in his usual -off-handed style, that this was not the only man whose head she would -probably turn; but in his own case, though she had almost put him out -of his senses already, yet he would rather make an end of himself than -of her. - -Caroline drily thanked him for his obliging intentions on her behalf, -and after a lively dialogue, in which the gay huzzar actually excelled -himself, in his fervent expressions of admiration and regard, he took -leave, rather wondering to think how he had been led on in professing -so much, and giving himself a lecture as he rode home, on the -propriety of beginning to "back out," seeing that he was getting -rather beyond his depth. Still there were several of the reasons for -meeting next day, usual with those who have a natural desire to -improve an agreeable intimacy, a song to be practised, a drawing to be -admired; and Miss Smythe having made a sort of promise to let Captain -De Crespigny sit to her for his picture in the character of Dromio, as -she was an admirable artist, the offer became irresistible. He had -never yet entered their own house, as meetings were always hitherto -arranged at Sir Arthur's; and a slight feeling of curiosity likewise -helped him to the agreeable conclusion, that he must for once, and -only once, call on the "Smythes," were it only to ascertain what sort -of establishment they had. - -Punctual to the appointed hour, Captain De Crespigny's groom rang a -consequential peal for his master at the gate of Rosemount Villa, such -as had not been heard there since bells were invented, and after a -considerable delay, the door was opened by a shabby awkward-looking -Irish girl, speaking with a powerful brogue, who curtsied with an -appearance of most preposterous respect to Captain De Crespigny as he -alighted, and pointed up stairs, begging him to walk in, but without -having an idea apparently that she ought herself to usher him into the -drawing-room. - -Being always pretty confident of making himself welcome, Captain De -Crespigny advanced, and in his usual gay, humorous tone, announced his -own name at the drawing-room door, while he threw it open and entered. -To his surprise, he now found himself in a small, not very splendidly -furnished apartment, stretched on the only sofa belonging to which, -there lounged, in solitary indolence, with a quite-at-home look, a -young man whom he had never seen before. His aspect and dress were -equally singular, presenting that happy mixture of the ruffian and -gentleman, not very uncommon in Ireland. Attired in a military -great-coat, he wore a most preposterous pair of whiskers and -mustachios, long, coarse, and dirty, which looked as if they had been -curled over knitting wires. Taking the last remnant of a cigar out of -his mouth when the visitor entered, and showing not the smallest -surprise, with a smile which betrayed a set of dingy, decayed teeth, -and a very disfiguring squint, he watched the approaching step of -Captain De Crespigny with a _degag_ look of indifference, saying, in a -tone of easy familiarity, - -"Och! sure! I always knew a milithary man, for he enters with his lift -foot first! Many deserters who would may-be have escaped, but the -thrick betrayed 'em. A curious fact! Will ye be pleased to sit on your -four quarthers, Captain?" - -A smile of contempt and ridicule curled on the haughty lip of Captain -De Crespigny, while he proudly drew back, saying, in a tone of great -reserve, and with the very slightest possible _soupcon_ of a bow, -"Excuse me, sir, I must have mistaken the house!" - -"Arrah! not at all! not in the very laste. Sure! I'm here for the -purpose!" exclaimed the stranger, starting up from his recumbent -position with astonishing agility, and closing the door. "Isn't it -relations we shall be before long, and why should we meet as -strangers?" - -"Relations! what do you mean, sir? Here is some ridiculous blunder!" -replied Captain De Crespigny, turning contemptuously on his heel. -"Allow me to pass! Good morning!" - -"Well! relations or connexions, it's all one," continued the Irishman, -with a look of easy good humor. "My aunt, Mrs. Smythe, dropped me a -line to say I would be wanted about the settlement, though, for the -matter of that, there is not much, I fancy, on either of your parts to -settle. More gold on the outside of the pocket than the inside, -Captain! Hey! excuse me! but as my aunt says, in the matther of money, -we take the will for the deed!" - -"You must be slightly deranged, sir," interrupted Captain De -Crespigny, in a tone of angry perplexity; "I have heard that a madman -is loose about this neighborhood, and I need not go far, I see, to -find him." - -"What! Hey! Sure you're not going to forswear all, or say thing you -have said to my pretty cousin, Caroline. We do make short work of our -courtships in Dublin, sure enough; but when my aunt told me this -morning how soon you had come to the point with Caroline, and nothing -left but to fix the day, I laughed ready to kill myself, and says I, -'you beat all Ireland to sticks!'" - -"No more of this folly, sir!" exclaimed Captain De Crespigny, with -rising irritation, and in his most peremptory tone. "Detain me here -one moment longer, and I shall send you a shorter way down stairs than -you ever tried before!" - -"Och, murder! you'll excuse me, sir, but I've not been dipped in the -Shannon for nothing! This must all be settled as gintlemen usually -settle these affairs in our counthry! Sure you met my cousin at Sir -Arthur's many a time, and you'll not be afther denying that she -convarsed with you every day for a matther of four hours!" - -"Perhaps she had that honor, but what then?" - -"Why thin, sir! such things as you said, from such a gintleman, are -not easily to be forgotten!" - -"You are pleased to be complimentary!" replied Captain De Crespigny, -turning round his magnificent head with an air of bitter contempt; -"but what of that?" - -"I heartily wish," continued the Irishman, with a still stronger -brogue than before, "that every young lady who meets with a gintleman -such as you, had a cousin like Paddy Smythe to take up her cause, and -I am as little to be thrifled with as any man in Ireland! The tongue -that deceives me or mine shall never spake again. I have exchanged -shots before now on a slighter occasion!" - -A momentary pause ensued, during which Captain De Crespigny frowned -and bit his lip, in angry embarrassment, while, with a look of -unutterable contempt and disgust, he eyed his companion, who thrust -his hands into his ample pockets, and paced up and down the room with -rapid strides and determined emphasis. At length, stopping opposite to -his irritated companion, he eyed him for some moments with a look of -stern reproach, saying, in a stronger Irish brogue than ever, and with -a torrent of indignation, which gave almost the dignity of eloquence -to what he uttered, - -"You think there are no feelings in the world to be consulted but your -own! perhaps we may prove this a slight mistake! I have married seven -of my cousins already to officers quarthered in our neighborhood at -Limerick, and Caroline is the last! Captain Mortimer was introduced to -Mary at the top of a country dance, and engaged her for life before he -reached the bottom. Lieutenant Murray gave his arm to Bessy for the -first time going down to dinner at Mrs. Fitz-Patrick's, and offered -her his hand before the fish was off the table! We understand these -things very soon in Ireland! and I would shed every drop of my blood -before Caroline shall be disappointed!" - -Captain De Crespigny began now to feel seriously annoyed at his own -position! Not having lately been quartered in Ireland, he had -forgotten how such affairs are managed there, but at this moment a -thousand recollections crowded upon him, of warnings he had received -from his brother officers respecting the prudence and circumspection -to be exercised beside the Shannon, though most of what they said, had -been listened to with the same incredulous attention usually bestowed -upon stories of ghosts and witchcraft. Here he was, however, snared -like a fly in a spider's web, though without a single doubt of his own -powers to escape, and with no stronger objection to call out this -insolent ruffian beside him, than the publicity and ridicule he must -inevitably incur, if involved in a vulgar every-day duel with a -hot-headed Irishman. - -Seeing that the affair was likely to take a graver turn than he had -imagined, Captain De Crespigny now slowly and resolutely strode -towards the hearth-rug, and turning his back to the fire, in that -attitude peculiar to Englishmen, calmly and sternly looked in the face -of his insolent companion, whose lip became compressed with an air of -fierce determination, while his dark eye glittered with a triumphant -smile, and in an attitude of perfect _nonchalance_, he returned -Captain De Crespigny gaze for gaze, while leisurely resuming his -lounging attitude on the sofa. Neither gentleman seemed at all -inclined to recommence the discussion immediately, and both looked -equally angry, till the Irishman at length opened a pocket-book, to -which, he frequently afterwards referred, with a business-like air, -and in a tone of conscious triumph, saying, - -"Will you be afther denying all you said to my cousin only last -night?" - -"I deny nothing, Sir, except the right you or any human being can -have, with what I choose to say, five minutes after it has been -uttered!" replied Captain De Crespigny, almost delirious with rage, -and drawing in his breath between his clenched teeth, while the -Irishman eyed him with provoking coolness, and merely muttered in -reply, while still referring to the pocket-book, - -"That is not our way in Limerick! Scarcely one of my cousins had a -case like this! Breach of promise! Sure it would fetch a verdict -to-morrow; but the shortest way is the best! Why, Sir! you told my -cousin, poor girl! that you wished there were not another man on the -earth, in case she might prefer him to you!" - -"But luckily there are many, or she would have little chance of a -husband!" replied Captain De Crespigny, almost beside himself with -rage. "I have said the same thing a thousand times, to a thousand -different young ladies, without expecting them ever to think of it -more!" - -The Irishman looked away for a moment, as if some irresistible feeling -had come over him, which he could scarcely suppress, and with a slight -quiver in his voice, as if on the very eve of laughter, though Captain -De Crespigny was too angry to notice it, he sang, while looking out of -the window, these words, with a very marked emphasis,-- - -"Erin, oh! Erin's the land of delight, Where the women all love, and -the men they all fight." - -At length, Captain De Crespigny, losing all patience, followed his -antagonist to the window, and said, in a tone of angry command, - -"Let there be a truce to this most contemptible farce! If you are a -gentleman, which I very much doubt, send any respectable friend--a man -of honor, if you happen by chance to know such a person--to my -barracks, and before to-morrow I shall find, if possible, some -blundering Irishman who can understand you, to settle this absurd -affair." - -"That may soon be done," replied Mr. Smythe, "if I am not satisfied -with your intentions." - -"Intentions!" re-echoed Captain De Crespigny, in a frenzy of contempt. -"My intentions were merely to amuse myself for an hour or two with a -rather pleasing young lady, and----" - -"Rather pleasing!! you may be proud of your gallantry!" replied the -Irishman, with more real indignation in his voice, than it had yet -exhibited. "Perhaps, Sir, being the lady's cousin----" - -"It is no matter who you are! I am not here to be questioned like a -member before his constituents. I did not know the young lady had a -relation on earth." - -"The more shame to you, Sir, for meaning to deceive her!" replied the -Irishman in a tone of stern reproach. "If I were to get all Ireland -for holding my tongue, you should hear the truth. But maybe you would -be after giving me satisfaction in another way. I'm not such a wild -beast as to thirst for blood, it can be done with pen and ink!" - -Captain De Crespigny fixed his eyes with stern contempt upon his free -and easy companion, who passed his fingers through his long bushy wig, -stretched his legs upon the sofa, and spoke with a yawning voice, -while he added in a careless off-hand way, "If my cousin could only be -persuaded you meant nothing from first to last, there's an ensign in -the 42d, with very good prospects, she might have for the asking! Here -is a paper. I prepared it in case you might object to the match; and -if you'll only sign this assurance that you meant nothing, for the -lady's own satisfaction, you are a free man. It will save us both a -deal of bother and fighting. A man who has fought a dozen times like -me, may go out once too often; and my pistols are all at Dublin!" - -Captain De Crespigny paused a moment, irresolute what to do. It was a -condescension quite intolerable to have another moment's intercourse -with such a man, and to sign any paper at his request, seemed almost a -degradation; but then he saw before him a long vista of vulgar -annoyance from this forward Irishman. He was aware that hundreds of -gentlemen would laugh if the story got any publicity, and that dozens -of young ladies would feel themselves aggrieved if it became -circulated that his attentions had been so very marked to an obscure -Miss Smythe. - -The tea-tables, the newspapers, the club, and the mess, were all to be -dreaded; and seeing that the Irishman had, with an air of perfect -_nonchalance_, buried himself behind a double number of the "Times," -which he seemed to be attentively reading, Captain De Crespigny glanced -his eye over the paper, and finding that it contained only a short and -simple declaration that he never had intended to marry the young lady -introduced to him by Sir Charles Dunbar, he hastily signed his name, -tossed the paper contemptuously across the table, and with infinite -dignity, strode out of the house. - -Great was his surprise, when descending the staircase, to hear, in the -room he had so recently left a simultaneous burst of smothered -laughter from several persons. He could not be mistaken! It seemed -even as if there were female voices in the number; but almost -bewildered with anger, and happy also to escape, he hastened onwards, -threw himself on horseback, and galloped for three hours before he had -regained any portion of his usual equanimity. - -Had Captain De Crespigny followed his first impulse, on hearing the -laughter behind him, it would have been to retrace his steps and -re-enter the drawing-room of Mrs. Smythe, when his astonishment would -certainly not have been small to see Henry De Lancey laughingly -disencumbering himself of his whiskers, wig, and mustachios, while -Mrs. Smith exclaimed, in accents of almost convulsive risibility, - -"Well done, my adopted nephew! You deserve to be my heir! I have often -heard that my old aversion Louis De Crespigny's exploits were -inimitable in his line; but we needed such a specimen as this. I -bestow the fright upon him with all the pleasure in life!" - -"I only hope, if we ever, in the course of years, meet again, that my -cousin will not recognise me," added Caroline, smiling. "It was not -particularly flattering to see Louis in so much alarm! Yesterday, -however, when he saw me last, I was certainly looking my very worst." - -"Your worst is better than the best of anybody else," exclaimed Henry, -in a tone so exactly resembling that of Captain De Crespigny, that -Mrs. Smythe started, and looked round with alarm; while Caroline and -young De Lancey burst into a simultaneous laugh of frolicsome glee, -and continued the dialogue during several minutes, with great spirit -and vivacity, till Henry suddenly became conscious, that in imagining -the words of another, he was gradually betrayed into expressing his -own real feelings, and that, too, with a depth and fervor which -sincerity alone could have dictated. - -Checking himself in a moment, while the color rushed to his face, -dyeing it red to the very roots of his hair, and instantly receded -again, he took a hurried leave of Mrs. Smythe, and turning to Caroline -with a quivering lip, he said, in a voice which none but herself could -hear, "I must not say in jest what I feel in earnest! Farewell! There -are wishes known only to my own heart, and never to be realized, which -I must try to forget. You go to-morrow, and we shall probably meet no -more! Forgive me, then, if I say, that so long as I live you shall be -first in my most respectful and devoted affections; and death only can -ever make me forget you." - -Before Henry left the ante-room, being in search of his hat, he found -it laid beside an open portfolio on the table, which, having, in his -haste, accidentally thrown down, he began hastily collecting its -contents, when his surprise was great, on turning up one sheet of the -drawing paper, to find there a finely-executed sketch, done with all -the skill and spirit of an accomplished artist, representing the -venerable head of Sir Arthur; and on the same paper--could it be -possible!--an almost living representation of himself. The likeness -very much flattered, he thought--exceedingly flattered; but still it -could be no other; and the picture dropped from his hand in the -transport of his delight. - -Henry again returned to the portfolio, hurriedly turning the leaves -over; and amidst a variety of superbly-finished miniatures, he found -his own countenance over and over again grouped in animated contrast -with that of Sir Arthur. His heart throbbed with joy, when, after -hastily turning to the title-page, he discovered, according to his -hopes and wishes, the name of Caroline Smythe; and he leaned his head -on his hand, contemplating that name in silent ecstacy, while -indulging for one moment the pleasing, but perhaps presumptuous hope, -that he had been remembered with unacknowledged partiality, and that -the secret was here portrayed with her own pencil. - -He was about then to withdraw, when suddenly the raised and irritated -tones of Mrs. Smythe became unavoidably audible to him, from the room -he had so recently left, saying, in accents of angry remonstrance, - -"That look of girlish joy when he comes, and the sadness of your eye -when he departs, might betray it to any one less interested than -myself; but he has met few ladies hitherto, and on his part it is a -mere boyish fancy, which, if properly discouraged, will of itself wear -out." - -Henry had fled to avoid hearing what was not intended for him, before -Caroline replied, in a low, agitated voice, - -"I think and hope you are mistaken; but his constancy and -disinterestedness shall be tried and proved. I would rather any man -should cut my throat for money, than marry me for it. A girl of -fortune, like Midas, turns all who look on her into gold; and I am not -a gem to attract many lovers, without a very brilliant setting. I have -a romantic desire to be chosen for myself alone--a vain dream perhaps -never to be realized, unless young De Lancey prove constant. If not, I -mean to declare war upon all mankind--to be a perfect Captain De -Crespigny for flirtations!--to talk to gentlemen, ridicule, mortify, -and humble them!--to do everything, in short, but love or marry any -one of them!" - -Though Caroline spoke these words in a tone of lively _badinage_, -there was a tremulous bitterness in her manner, as she turned away, -and contemptuously threw upon the table a massive gold chain which she -usually wore, saying, "Lovers! I'll get fifty, and break the heart of -every one of them!" - -When Captain De Crespigny next visited Portobello, during a review -of his regiment, he was surprised to see the well-remembered windows -of Rosemount Villa closed, and a ticket suspended over the door, -intimating that it was "to be sold or let, furnished or unfurnished; -entrance immediately; rent moderate!" and with a feeling of relief he -dismissed the whole affair from his thoughts, and the whole family of -Smythes from his memory for ever, while humming one of his favorite -airs, - - "It is good to be merry and wise, - It is good to be honest and true; - It is good to be off with the old love, - Before you be on with the new." - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - - -Among the companions of Agnes and Marion Dunbar, none was more -calculated to excite a feeling of enthusiastic tenderness and regard -than Clara Granville, whom all approached with a feeling of nearly -romantic interest, occasioned by the etherealized delicacy of her -lovely countenance and fragile form. Sir Patrick, from her earliest -childhood, had always mentioned Clara in terms of such exaggerated -enthusiasm, that Agnes, imagining his taste to be very different, -believed him to be more than half in jest, though his language and -manner seemed daily to become more in earnest, while in terms of -rapture he admired her eloquent and intelligent conversation, so -different from the flippant nonsense of most girls, and the light -gracefulness of her step, saying she looked like some beautiful -apparition, less encumbered with body, and more endowed with spirit, -than any one who ever before stepped upon the earth. Her pale golden -hair, falling like a halo round her fair bright countenance, and the -rare beauty of her large downcast eyes, which were generally veiled -with a look of deep thought and sensibility, gave a charm so peculiar -to her aspect, that the eye loved to dwell upon it as upon some lovely -twilight scene, over which the light of heaven was casting its pure -and peaceful, yet fading refulgence. None looked at Clara without -fearing that she could not be long intended for this world, as the -fervor of her mind and feelings appeared so little in proportion to -the extreme delicacy of her complexion, which was tinted like a -rose-leaf on her transparent cheek, the color flitting with every -passing emotion. It did indeed seem as if the sword within must -quickly wear out the scabbard; yet Clara enjoyed society beyond -measure, and mingled in it with a zest which caused Sir Patrick often -to say she must be stronger certainly than she looked, and there was -nothing, he thought, more odious in a woman than rude health--a sort -of rudeness never certainly attributable to Miss Granville. - -Agnes's favorite aversion had always been Clara, formerly her -cotemporary and rival at school, though the rivalship was only felt on -one side, as Miss Granville would have remained unconscious of its -very existence, but for the bitter taunts occasionally levelled at -her, and the tone of evident irritability in which Agnes took it -always for granted that the jealousy was mutual, attributing thoughts -and motives perpetually to her gentle companion, of which so amiable -and well-regulated a disposition was incapable. It may generally be -observed, that many more quarrels arise from people wilfully taking -offence, than from people wilfully giving it; and there is quite as -much ill-temper in the one case as in the other. Clara had suffered -much on account of her every inadvertent word or action being -purposely misconstrued; but she very properly viewed the annoyance as -a salutary lesson in circumspection, before entering the great arena -of society, and mildly avoided all collision of interests or opinions -with Agnes, though her whole powers of conciliation on the part of Sir -Patrick gave his sister reason to apprehend that his affections might -by possibility be engaged to her. Nothing could be more painfully -irritating than the tone of contempt with which Agnes "spoke at" Clara -respecting the art and cunning with which some manoeuvring misses -endeavored to push their fortune in the matrimonial world, by making -advances to gentlemen, which she would despise herself for -condescending to, and that lookers on see more of the game than is -intended. All this was said in such an accidental tone, and in such -general terms, that no decided notice could be taken of it by Clara, -who nevertheless felt so painful a consciousness of what was meant and -insinuated, that she ceased almost entirely to visit Agnes, or to -associate with her. - -About the time when Mrs. Smythe left Portobello, Sir Patrick returned -from spending a month at Lady Towercliffe's in Fife, evidently -laboring under a depression of spirits very unusual with him; and when -Agnes, perplexed by observing that he did not attempt to throw off the -cloud of melancholy, tinged very strongly with ill-humor, which had so -suddenly come over him, tried to guess or discover the cause, she -found it for some time impossible to gain a glimpse of the truth, -though she asked as many questions as might have filled a volume of -Pinnock's Catechisms. - -At length, after some miscellaneous conversation one day, Agnes -inquired for the twentieth time whether the party in Fife had been -agreeable, when Sir Patrick shortly and drily replied, - -"Clara Granville was there!" - -"But had you any new beauties?" - -"Clara Granville!" - -"Pshaw! Well, then! were there any agreeable people?" - -"Clara Granville!" - -"You are beyond all bearing absurd and tormenting, Pat!" continued -Agnes, with a contemptuous toss of her head; "but I may at least -venture with impunity to ask, were any of the ladies well dressed?" - -"Clara Granville!" - -"That ends my curiosity on the subject of your visit," replied Agnes, -angrily affecting to yawn. "Never try to persuade me you care for -Clara. She is the most unflirtable girl in the world! As cold as a -statue of ice in an east wind! She has the most tiresome style of -prettiness that can be conceived, with that alabaster paleness, that -petrifying calmness of manner, and a heart like a cucumber! The very -style of her dress is wearying, with not a color that one could give a -name to; and then her long undertoned tete-a-tete conversations about -nobody knows what, as dull and monotonous as a dinner-bell, never -enlivened with a bit of gossip, nor spiced with any scandal! There is -a whole "Society for the suppression of vice" in her eye every time -she looks at one! She would evidently be terrified for the echo of her -own voice, and never yet committed the indiscretion of a laugh!" - -"Are you done?" asked Sir Patrick, in a tone of concentrated anger, -which would have silenced any one but Agnes. - -"Done! I could speak for two hours without telling you half how little -I think of Clara Granville!" said she, in a paroxysm of eloquence. -"One comfort is, however, she will never take!" - -"But Clara has already 'taken,' as you elegantly express yourself," -exclaimed Sir Patrick, who had been walking vehemently up and down the -room during this tirade from Agnes, and now stood opposite to her, -with a look of angry defiance. "Clara is surpassingly lovely! Her -portrait should be the frontispiece to Finden's next Book of Beauty! -She has the loveliness of a seraph!" - -"Certainly, if you mean that she looks as if the first breath of wind -would blow her down! like an overgrown geranium, that should be tied -up to a stick!" - -"Clara is delicate and graceful as the first frail blossoms of -spring," interrupted Sir Patrick. "She has but one fault in the world, -and that is, being faultless! Clara is worth a whole creation of -ordinary girls! That look of mild serenity, and those deep, thoughtful -eyes, looking as serene as the blue firmament above. Her every -attitude is what a Guido might have delighted to paint. Agnes, there -is music and rapture in every tone of her voice! At Lady Towercliffe's -no one was looked at, nor spoken to, but Miss Granville! She stole -into all hearts, without any man guessing his danger till too late! -Everybody admired, or, I should rather, say, loved her!" - -"You are 'everybody,' then, I suppose, for I never heard of any one -else, who for half a moment thought her tolerable. All this nonsense -is merely to tease me, Pat. Do confess it at once, and be serious!" - -"That I never am when I can help it!" - -"Well, then, let it always be a jest and I have no objection to call -up a laugh, if it be your humor; but I would engage to walk out of the -world at once, whenever Clara has a serious, downright proposal from -any presentable-looking man, such as one would not be ashamed to sit -in a room with!" - -"What do you think of me, Agnes?" asked Sir Patrick, walking straight -up to her and looking his sister full in the face, with a momentary -attempt to be facetious, while his countenance betrayed considerable -agitation. "Would you be much astonished if I had made her an offer?" - -"Nonsense, Pat! I would disown you for a brother! Now, do not look -like an ogre at me! You will say any absurdity in jest!" - -"You know, Agnes, I have been a month in the house lately with Clara!" -replied Sir Patrick, in a voice which sounded by no means like jest; -"and that month was more than a lifetime in showing me the worth of a -real and heartfelt attachment. Even I, mercenary as I am, could value -it more than gold! I date the beginning of my existence from the hour -I first knew her. There is a depth of mind and heart in the character -of Clara Granville, utterly incomprehensible to ordinary observers. -She does everything well, and says everything with a grace peculiarly -her own. Her manner is the very essence of fascination. Every other -person seems coarse and vulgar in comparison; and I even feel so -myself! I know you will treat me to a cannonade of abuse against -Clara; but that is no matter now," added Sir Patrick, in a tone of -deep dejection; "perhaps it may do me good!" - -"Wonders occur every hour of every day, but this is the greatest of -all!" observed Agnes, drily. "I never thought you would commit such a -piece of disinterested nonsense, as to fall in love, gratis, with any -penniless girl, and least of all with Clara. If you were to choose -among all the young ladies I know, blindfold, you could scarcely -choose one more unsuitable! If this indeed be true, Clara may be proud -of her conquest!" - -"She ought!" replied Sir Patrick, glancing at his own magnificent head -in a mirror; "but being in many respects peculiar, she by no means -appreciated the honor as you expect!" - -"You are possessed by the very genius of nonsense to-day, Pat! but if -such a catch as you were to fall in Clara Granville's way, I should -like to see her and all her family, not more than happy on the -occasion!" - -"Well, then! open your ears of astonishment, Agnes! She has actually -rather refused me than otherwise! I am positively more in love with -Clara, than language can express! I could pursue her to the very ends -of the earth! I must, and shall marry her! I would shoot myself -to-morrow, if I thought there could be doubt of it," exclaimed Sir -Patrick, vehemently, while Agnes became gradually as grave as night. -"Clara at first actually accepted me! She was your sister-in-law -elect, for three long and happy weeks, and I did not think life could -have given me so much to live for; but she afterwards most perversely -and unaccountably revoked! What do you think was the reason, Agnes, of -all reasons in the world!" - -"I am bad at guessing absurdities," replied Agnes, who would have -hurled a more angry answer at her brother, had she dared. "Whatever -might be the cause, it was very lucky for you, who may, if you know -your own value, make the first match in the kingdom!" - -"Well, then! actually that she thought my religious principles not -sufficiently serious! That her brother disapproved of my morals and -conduct! I offered her any terms! To attend chapel with her once every -Sunday; to refrain from Sunday dinners, and Sunday travelling! Not even -to ride out on horseback that day; and, in short, to pass Sir Andrew's -whole Sunday bill in my house; but it did not satisfy her! What would -they have!" continued Sir Patrick, gnawing his lip with vexation. "I -gave her a _carte blanche_ to put my name down as a subscriber to as -many tract, missionary, and slave-abolition societies, as she pleased, -and asked her how many distressed families she wished me to maintain." - -"How excessively handsome!" said Agnes, satirically. "All I need say -is, it was very genteel!" - -"Yet Clara persevered in giving me a plump decline! No wonder you look -incredulous! I can scarcely yet believe it myself! This shall not -last, however! I felt piqued at first, and left her. I am always too -soon, or too late, in all I do; but it must be tried again and again! -I would rather live without the sun and stars, than without Clara -Granville! The very repetition of her name is a pleasure! Agnes, what -can you do to assist me!" - -"Assist! I shall do everything in the world to bring you back your -senses, Pat! Rather than see that grave, priggish, matter-of-fact, -Clara, my sister-in-law, I would----" - -Agnes could not, at the moment, think of any illustration sufficiently -strong to exemplify her abhorrence of such a catastrophe, and twisted -her ringlets over her finger for some moments, in dignified and -portentous silence. At length she said, with an air of supreme -contempt, "You know, Pat! Clara Granville has not a shilling in the -wide world!--never had! At school she used to be like a bale of cotton -from the manufactories; cotton stockings, pink gingham frocks, and -horrid grey beaver gloves! She once had a silk dress, and it was -turned, I think, three times!" - -"Fiddlesticks and nonsense! So much the better! She will be an -excellent wife for a poor man; and poor enough I shall soon be! You -need not argue with a milestone, but put a good face on the matter in -time, Agnes; for during all the four thousand years that men have been -falling in love, and marrying, I believe no one ever did so merely to -please his sister, and I am not the man to begin! In most respects, I -may, perhaps, be sordidly anxious for money, but in the matter of love -I have taken the whim of being disinterested. If Clara had the Bank of -England for her portion, I could not love her more. As for heiresses, -I hear the only one worth a thought, Miss Howard Smytheson, with her -million a-year, is bespoke to order for De Crespigny." - -"Perhaps he has taken the whim of being disinterested also!" replied -Agnes, arranging a favorite curl with great complacency at a mirror. -"His uncle is very arbitrary; and like all uncles, continues for ever -to think his nephew a perfect boy. He threatened lately to marry -himself, if Captain De Crespigny declined! That old dot has some -spirit! He seems not to be aware that there is such a thing in the -world for himself as a refusal; and certainly, Pat, I can scarcely -fancy the woman in existence who could refuse you. I hardly know -whether to wonder most that Clara had the opportunity, or that she had -the inclination!" - -"The whim will soon wear off! She loves me, that is certain; but if -even she hated me, it would make no difference in my attachment. I like -her the better for showing some spirit, and great disinterestedness. -Clara's conduct was like herself, beautiful. Her affections are mine! -I see it, and no earthly power can tear her from me! I would follow -her to the very grave." - -Sir Patrick did not by any means find Clara's resolutions, which were -formed upon principle, of such very malleable materials as he had -prophesied. His own feelings were, on all occasions, like a whirlwind; -and his eagerness, excited to excess by opposition, became unbounded -to meet Clara, or to catch the most distant glimpse of her -shadow,--but in vain. Day after day he contrived to pass beneath her -window, but she had adopted invisibility; and evening after evening, -he obliged Agnes, greatly against her inclination, to send the very -kindest notes of invitation, which he dictated himself, asking her to -the house; but the polite apology which invariably returned, might -almost have been lithographed, it became so frequently necessary; yet -still Sir Patrick persevered and hoped, saying one day, in a voice of -irritability and depression, to Agnes, "It seems as if we were -destined never to see Clara again!" - -"That would be too much happiness," exclaimed Agnes peevishly; -twisting Clara's last reply into a thousand shapes and tossing it into -the fire. "This is all so like you, Pat! You invent a thousand reasons -for wishing something till it is obtained, and then you care for it no -more! If Clara Granville consented, you would be, like Sir Peter -Teazle, 'the most miserable man alive before people were done wishing -you joy!' Men are all so changeable and selfish!" - -"Whether are men or women most selfish, I should like to know?" - -"Men, decidedly! From six years old, till sixty, they seem born and -brought up to think of no one's comfort but their own, and they always -marry to please themselves!" - -"Of course! and very right they should!" - -Agnes had now got upon a favorite subject of declamation, the -selfishness of mankind,--for those who are selfish or ill-tempered -themselves, live always under the delusion that they are the only -persons living entirely exempt from such faults,--but her eloquence -now soon left her "in possession of the house," as Sir Patrick made a -rapid retreat, followed by that very effective slamming of the door, -so infallible a receipt for obtaining the last word in an argument, -and for asserting in undoubted terms, a very decided view of the -subject in question. - -Though Sir Patrick Dunbar had long been known as a Tattersall and -Doncaster man, yet Clara Granville had little suspected that his name -was implicated in transactions of rather an equivocal complection, -while the good-natured half of the world persevered in calling it -scandal, being unwilling very severely to censure the peccadilloes of -the handsomest and most agreeable man in their circle of society, -living only for the enjoyment of the senses and the happiness of the -present hour, while he thought it too long a look-out to anticipate -what might happen the day after to-morrow. In respect to Sir Patrick's -reputation, a vague understanding seemed to prevail that all was not -right, yet no explicit explanation seemed ever to be obtained. - - Some thing there was--what, none presumed to say, - Clouds lightly passing as the summer day. - -There are not only faults in the very best characters, but redeeming -qualities also in the very worst, and with much selfishness, the -result of a perverted education, the handsome and fascinating Sir -Patrick had naturally a good temper and excitable affections, though -these were wound up occasionally to the wildest excess, while his -fortune was not more recklessly squandered than his attachment in the -momentary impulse of an hour. - -As, therefore, no man is so thoroughly excellent as to be without -errors, neither is any living mortal so depraved as to be without -virtues, and the utmost extreme, in one respect or the other, will -only be perfected in an eternal world. It often seems to an observer, -as if two opposite beings had been kneaded into one, since qualities -so contradictory may be traced in the same individual. - -Though Sir Patrick Dunbar was eager and rapacious in acquiring money, -and would incur any meanness to avoid paying it, he seemed, -nevertheless, lavish, and what some people mis-called generous, in -squandering what he called his own. Though cold and selfish in -general, some fine impulses had been in his nature, which proved him -capable of vehement, persevering, and passionate attachment, where his -affections, or rather his fancy, had been once engaged; while, at the -same time, he was more ashamed to testify any feeling than he would -have been to commit a crime, and endeavored to blind people towards -that sensibility which was in reality the redeeming point in his -character, by talking often with the utmost contempt and even ridicule -of all those for whom he might have been supposed to feel the weakness -of a real attachment. - -Sir Patrick had indeed been, what his companions called, "fairly -caught," by Clara; and his heart, till now hermetically sealed against -all real confidence and friendship, was now for the first time -unclosed, in its inmost recesses, while even his hackneyed mind seemed -to catch a ray of light and warmth from the sunny freshness and purity -of Clara's intellectual mind. Her intelligent conversation, enlivened -by a vein of sly pleasing humor, had completely taken him by surprise, -being as fresh and gentle as a summer breeze, while her appearance, so -young, timid, and lovely, caused the eye to rest on her with a -sentiment of almost melancholy interest. Clara had only emerged from -school, finally, a few days before Sir Patrick met her at Lady -Towercliffe's, and her extreme naivete was her first attraction, -though that was superseded before long by still greater admiration, -while he became hourly more fascinated by her melancholy songs and -thoughtful conversation. - -To Clara, Sir Patrick had only hitherto been known as a school -companion of her brother's, but so conscientiously did Richard -Granville invariably abstain from evil-speaking, that, even where -justice might have warranted the severest censure, he merely became -silent. It is observable that, in the wisdom of Providence, nothing is -made in vain. Even the very weeds that encumber our path have, when -under proper restraint, their important uses, and in the mind of man, -the tendency implanted by nature, to discuss and criticize the conduct -of others, has, when properly exercised, its own advantages, by acting -as a salutary restraint on the conduct of those who would otherwise do -evil with impunity, and by also giving a timely warning, and hanging -out a beacon-light to those who would otherwise trust their interest -and happiness where such confidence was unmerited, and where all -contact is dangerous. - -Captain De Crespigny's jilting propensities were the less dangerous, -from their being so generally discussed in society, as few were -willing that the unwary should suffer, rather than his faults be -exposed to censure; but Mr. Granville, by not giving his sister timely -warning against the dissipated extravagance and almost infidel -principles of his old school-companion, had now, unfortunately exposed -her to a danger he had not anticipated, as it never occurred to his -imagination, in its wildest fancies, that the reckless, dissolute Sir -Patrick, who had long sneered at marriage, and even broken that holy -tie for others, might find a charm in the pure, calm, high-minded -Clara, which raised him above his ordinary self, and made him appear -all she could most like or admire. During their earlier intercourse, -she saw nothing in his conversation to disapprove, because Sir Patrick -most unintentionally deceived her into a belief of his being very -different from what he really was, owing to the respect with which he -treated all her opinions; and only when he talked to others, did she -become startled occasionally by the tone of careless defiance with -which he spoke of all those persons and things which she was most -accustomed to reverence and esteem. Before long, his attachment had -become so unbounded, that, conscious he could not obtain Clara's hand -if she knew his real character, he assumed all that seemed most likely -to secure her confidence, and, for the pleasure of being with her, -attended church regularly on Sunday at the village. Clara was -astonished at his evident ignorance of the forms of devotion; yet -knowing his education had been finished by a clergyman, she supposed -he must have imbibed a due respect for the ordinances; while Lady -Towercliffe, indulging her usual jobbing propensities, was enchanted -to make up a match of any kind in her own house, and praised Sir -Patrick as the most immaculate and perfect of men. - -Clara's intimacy with Sir Patrick had been continually increasing for -some time, before his attention became so very obvious as to excite -her peculiar interest, or to make her conscious of a necessity for -inquiring into the state of her own heart; but, upon doing so, she -became instantly aware of the deep hold he had acquired over her -thoughts and affections. His frank, off-hand, good-humored manner had -pleased her, his amusing conversation had enlivened her, and at length -his ardent professions of attachment interested her deeply, being -expressed with all the eloquence of natural feeling. - -Clara, in the gloomy recesses of Mrs. Penfold's school-room, had -learned nothing of the world, and her heart at once, therefore, -endowed Sir Patrick with all those amiable qualities which he assumed, -while she yielded herself to the most pleasing of all earthly dreams, -that of loving and being beloved by one who seemed to deserve and to -return her attachment; while her sole hesitation in accepting the -offer he soon after made of his hand, arose from her doubts, whether, -in the chief essential to mutual happiness, in religious faith, hope, -and morality, they were so far of similar mind as to afford a -well-grounded prospect of happiness. - -In almost undoubting confidence of a satisfactory answer, Clara wrote -to consult her brother, then studying for holy orders at Oxford, -in whose opinion, on all occasions, she implicitly relied; and it -was with grief and astonishment, which no words could describe, that -she received a reply, in which Mr. Granville, with affectionate -earnestness, reproached himself for not having explicitly laid open to -her the character of his former companion and _ci-devant_ friend, who -was, he grieved to say, a ruined gamester--a bankrupt in fame, as much -as in fortune, dreaded by the most respectable among women, and shunned -by the most respectable among men, even by his kind, indulgent, but -high-minded uncle, Sir Arthur,--an open scoffer frequently at the -decencies of life, and still more at its most sacred duties and hopes. -"Sir Patrick makes no secret of his profligacy," continued Mr. -Granville, "showing the most flagrant dishonesty in the only way a -gentleman can be tempted to do so, by not paying his debts, while many -poor tradesmen have already been ruined by his extravagance; and he has -openly entered into a perfect crusade against religion and morality. In -short, my dear Clara, Sir Patrick is by no means to be trusted with the -happiness of another, and least of all with yours, being a confirmed -roue, still pursuing the very wildest career of unprincipled -dissipation. Many have already had reason to mourn they ever trusted -him or knew him, for he is the very reverse of all you believe and -wish. It would be extravagant to waste a hope upon the reformation of a -reckless libertine, who thus outrages every law of God and man; and -often have you and I agreed, that it was a thing not to be conceived, a -woman who rightly valued her immortal soul placing herself under the -authority and influence of a husband who did not! The risk is too -great; and how much better to suffer now the sorrow of a separation, -than to endure the long agony of an unsuitable union, for which your -own heart and conscience would continually upbraid you. If the -tenderest affection of a brother can in any degree compensate for the -sacrifice, you need not be told, my dear Clara, that I shall bestow it -upon you more lavishly than ever; and it will be my first earthly wish, -as well as my sacred duty, to render you happier than you could ever be -with a man of principles--, or rather of no principles,--like Sir -Patrick!" - -Had the grave opened at Clara's feet, she could scarcely have been -more startled and astonished than by the contents of this most -unforeseen letter, the first unwelcome line ever received from -Richard. She could have borne anything but to find her lover -unprincipled or unworthy; and a wintry chill seemed to gather round -her heart, while, with a stifled groan which struggled for utterance, -she covered her face with her hand, and sank back upon a sofa. By a -powerful effort, Clara preserved herself from fainting--she was -resolved not to faint, and she did not--but in the secret chamber of -her heart all was darkness, loneliness, and grief. Visions of earthly -happiness had glittered for a time, in brightest coloring, before her -mind; but now they must be blotted out by her tears. They all lay -prostrate and disfigured at her feet, scorched and blasted as if by -lightning; and her heart, bewildered by a multitude of thoughts and -emotions, seemed full almost to bursting. - -Clara wept many bitter tears over her letter, and she not only wept -but acted. Without delay, Clara prepared to return to the relation -with whom, during her brother's absence, she usually found a home; and -before her departure, not only wrote to Sir Patrick, stating in terms -of touching grief, all her reasons for so suddenly and unwillingly -withdrawing from her engagement to him; but she had a long and most -afflicting interview with him, vainly endeavoring to convince her -lover, that their total incompatibility of sentiment raised a barrier -between them, which forbade the possibility of their union. - -Sir Patrick became nearly frantic with vexation, while he could not -but admire the beautiful grace of her manner, and the sorrowful -modulations of her voice when she spoke, yet unconscious how -completely the gentle Clara was ruled by principle as with a sceptre -of iron, he seemed utterly unable to comprehend why his talking -carelessly, or even contemptuously of religion, should in any degree -affect the preference which she had once confessed for him, and which -he felt assured she still entertained. With passionate vehemence he -urged the depth of his attachment, and his total indifference to -everything in life but herself, while he warmly protested that she, -and she only, could complete the reformation which her own influence -had already begun. - -"You love me, Clara, and would cast me off for ever! Impossible! Let -us forget all my early indiscretions--my vices, then, if it must be -so--but why should every leaf of my past life be turned over now! -Since we met I have been an altered being! I am astonished even at -myself! If I have deceived you, it is because I deceived myself, but -now I am entirely in your power. Use it then kindly, and forget all -but my attachment; I have staked my whole happiness in life on the -hope of your accepting me. The wish to deserve you shall be a -sufficient motive to fit me for all the duties of life. Without you I -shall have no object, no hope, not even a home, for never more shall I -have one unless you share it. Clara, let me throw myself on your -compassion, if not on your love." - -"Oh no!" said Clara, hurriedly, yet with a look of pale and tearful -distress, "I dare not hesitate! All must be as I have said. It will be -most for the happiness of both!" - -"Happiness! speak not to me of happiness without you! It is a mockery! -Every tie to peace or virtue would then be ruptured." - -"There are better ties to virtue and stronger," whispered Clara, in a -faltering voice, while she gasped for utterance, and a glow-like -sunset was on her cheek. - -"No! no! not for me! There may be amusement, frivolity, gaiety, and -dissipation; but I never understood the real meaning of happiness till -we met. My whole thoughts, feelings, and character have been -revolutionized to please you, Clara, but your influence alone could -snatch me from evil--from myself--from all on which I have hitherto -wasted my existence. For your sake, and for yours alone, I could be -all, and more than you wish. Years spent in your society shall prove -the extent of your influence." - -"By trusting to such a hope, many, like me, have wrecked their whole -peace both now and hereafter," said Clara, trying to speak with -firmness, but her voice became almost inaudible. "If it were the same -thing to will as to do, I have not a doubt of your sincerity; but the -mere resolution to change established habits, unless the power be -derived from above, is only an air-built castle to which I dare not -trust. It would be easy still to indulge myself in romantic schemes of -domestic happiness, such as I have lately anticipated, but these hopes -could only be blossoms without root or durability, unless they arise -from firm principles of religion. Without such a cement happiness has -neither worth nor durability." - -"Clara! you have never loved as I do!" exclaimed Sir Patrick -reproachfully. "I never did, and never can express half what I feel; -but you do not yet know the heart you so cruelly undervalue! It seems -now as if you would rather cut off your hand than bestow it on me!" - -"Perhaps in future years--" stammered Clara. "We are both young; and -if, for your own sake, you alter in some respects, we might yet look -forward to--to----" - -"Speak not of delay! that is worse than death! I never in my life -could endure suspense! No! it must--it shall be now, or never!" - -"Never, then," replied Clara, in a low, husky, indistinct voice, -while, in spite of herself, tears rolled over her face. "It ought -indeed to be never! Forget me, as if I were already dead! I must only -consent to pass my life with a confirmed and consistent Christian, -completely master of himself and of his actions. If we lived for each -other, I should have a thousand anxieties, regrets, and sorrows, which -you could neither foresee nor understand! Oh no! I must only love on -earth one whom I may hope to love hereafter for ever!" - -"Must it be my misfortune, Clara, to have known you?" exclaimed Sir -Patrick, with agitated energy. "Do you not see that with me, to know -excellence is to love it, and that if we were constantly together, I -should always be like you. The loss of honor, fortune, or reputation, -I might endure; but your loss I cannot, and will not. Tell me, then, -are my whole affections to be buried in darkness, never to see a -dawn?" - -"If my happiness in this world only were at hazard, I would venture -all for your sake?" replied Clara, in a low, gentle, tremulous voice. -"I feel grateful for your attachment--more than grateful; but marriage -is so very awful and sacred a tie! to devote every early thought, -every feeling, every hope, every hour of my life to one! I could not -and dare not enter on such a duty, without a perfect and unalterable -confidence. I feel that to be united in love and duty where I did not -esteem is a misfortune I could not survive--which I could scarcely -even wish to survive. In giving you my heart, as I have already done, -I ventured my all of worldly happiness on that one stake, and have -lost it; but there are better hopes and higher duties, which bind me -to follow them, even though death were the consequence." - -Sir Patrick clenched his hands vehemently together, while his -countenance burned, and muttering a curse between his teeth, which -chilled the blood of Clara in her veins, he walked about the room with -rapidly-increasing excitement, till at length stopping before her, he -said, in accents of angry reproach, "You have spoken my doom, Clara, -and only from your own lips would I have believed it." - -Clara buried her face in her hands, and feeling that her high-wrought -fortitude was giving way, she hurried towards the door; but as she -tremblingly endeavored to open it, Sir Patrick again seized her hand, -saying, "You are mine, Clara; you are bound by a promise that must not -be broken!" - -"I shall never give myself to another," said she, still hastening -away. "Be happy in making others happy. May you yet find one who loves -you as I have done, and who shall not hereafter find the same reasons -for giving you up. I shall pray for you, and rejoice in all the good I -hear. Farewell." - -No words could do justice to the silent agony of Clara's young heart, -when, in solitary grief, she retraced her whole intimacy with Sir -Patrick, and reflected that she had bid a last adieu to one whom she -must not esteem, and yet could not but love. All that this world could -offer she had rejected for conscience sake. A cold frost seemed to -gather around her spirit, while, trembling and depressed, she viewed -the desolation of all her lately cherished hopes; and amidst the -ruined fabric of her happiness, she now seemed like some solitary -pillar, surrounded by the broken fragments of what once supported and -adorned it; yet summoning to her aid that Christian firmness, which in -her amounted to heroism, she gazed on the shattered wreck without a -wish to restore it at the sacrifice of principle, determined, as far -as her sensitive nature would admit, to adopt the rule of an aged and -experienced Christian, "Hope nothing, fear nothing, expect anything, -and be prepared for everything!" - - - - -CHAPTER X. - - -Years having thus rolled on, bringing joy to some, and laying sorrow -more or less on all, Marion Dunbar, fresh in the spring-tide of -youthful bloom, had nearly completed her seventeenth year, and was -hurrying on still in a whirlpool of education at Mrs. Penfold's, -exerting herself more zealously for the credit of her teachers than -she ever would have done for her own. - -One evening about this time a message reached Marion, desiring that -she would instantly hasten to Mrs. Penfold's private sitting-room, -which was, on all extraordinary occasions, that lady's hall of -audience, and a solemn summons to which was usually of ominous import. -Marion, however, conscious that her own recent diligence had been -quite pre-eminent, and her success most distinguished, heard the word -of command with a flutter of pleasing anticipation, for to her the -future was always full of hope. Too old now for medals and ribbons, -she yet indulged in the gay recollection of her former triumphs, and -remembered with a smile, as she hurried up stairs, how often Sir -Arthur had formerly declared, while pretending to frown upon her, that -"he hated to see girls flouncing about with medals, and defying the -world!" yet how silly, when she one day entered his drawing-room, with -deepening color and a look of modest consciousness, half concealing -and half displaying her honors, he had advanced to meet her, wearing -his own Grand Cross of the Bath, to prove, as he said, that he was -indeed fit company for so meritorious a young lady. - -Humming a favorite air, with a buoyant, joyful step, and radiant -smile, Marion hastened to the door of Mrs. Penfold's apartment, where, -after trying to compose her features into a suitable expression of -sober respect, with dimpling cheek, and still almost laughing eyes, -she entered, making, as she had been taught, the usual respectful -courtesy exacted by Mrs. Penfold, such as might have been suitable for -an introduction at Court, or for a public performer receiving the -plaudits of a numerous audience, and then, with a bright, speaking -look, full of hope and vivacity, she paused, to ascertain the object -of her unexpected summons. - -To Marion's astonishment and dismay, Mrs. Penfold was pacing about the -room, evidently in a state of furious irritation; while in her hand -she carried that endless bill, the growth of many years, for board, -education, masters, and sundries, which had so often already greeted -the unwilling eyes of her young pupil, whose whole inward spirit -recoiled with shame and apprehension, while she silently measured the -length and breadth of its contents, every item of which she already -knew by heart, and could almost have recapitulated without a prompter. - -Had Marion herself been a ruined gamester or a spendthrift, she could -scarcely have felt more guilty and ashamed than now; but after -standing an entire minute without being observed, and perceiving Mrs. -Penfold unable to speak, from the effort it cost to restrain her anger -within decent bounds, Marion, with the frankness natural to her candid -disposition, came at once to the point, saying, with heightened color, -and scarcely articulate voice, while her beautiful deep intelligent -eyes were fixed with an earnest gaze on Mrs. Penfold. - -"I fear no satisfactory answer has come this term from my brother?" - -"No! nor there never will be!" thundered Mrs. Penfold, in a voice -that made the gentle Marion absolutely cower before her. "There, -Miss Dunbar! look at that bill!" added she, flinging it furiously -into the lap of Marion, who had sunk upon a seat. "How much will a -shilling in the pound be for that? Four hundred guineas absolutely -lost--wasted--squandered upon you!" - -Unable to speak from consternation, though such scenes were already -but too familiar to her memory, Marion fixed her eyes on the unwelcome -bill, apparently examining its contents, while her thoughts were in -the mean time painfully occupied in devising what would be right for -her to say or do in this unexpected crisis. A long pause ensued, -during which Mrs. Penfold seemed resolute not to speak; therefore -Marion, with a strenuous effort, endeavored to new-string her nerves, -and say something, while the large heavy tears forced themselves into -her eyes. - -"Mrs. Penfold," replied she earnestly, "you know how ready I would be -to send my brother another letter of remonstrance, if that could be of -any avail, but now he never so much as answers me. I seem indeed to be -quite forgotten by both Patrick and Agnes!" - -Marion paused to recover her voice, and to choke back her tears, after -which she continued in a firmer tone, while Mrs. Penfold listened, -with a dry, harsh, unmoved expression of countenance. - -"You are justly dissatisfied about my brother's payment, but if there -be the least cause to doubt your being ultimately remunerated, send me -immediately home. I dare not go of myself, but you have power to -dismiss me, and let it be done. The sorrow and mortification must all -be mine, but whatever falls on myself alone, I shall always be able to -bear." - -"Miss Dunbar! you have anticipated exactly what I am obliged to do, -and what it would have been well for me if I had done sooner!" replied -Mrs. Penfold, angrily flouncing into a chair, and pirouetting it -almost round, so as to look Marion full in the face. "I am sorry for -you certainly, because, though your music is not yet exactly such as -to do me much credit, and your Italian is sometimes far from -grammatical, yet on the whole there cannot be a better-disposed girl, -nor one who has testified a more constant desire to please me." - -Marion's heart was melted by even this very slight expression of -regard, and nothing could exceed the troubled beauty of her eyes, when -she raised them gratefully to Mrs. Penfold, but conscious that her -presence was not exactly the place for a scene, as that lady had long -been considered incapable of a tear or a smile, she averted her face, -and struggled for composure. - -"I have learned for the first time to-day." resumed Mrs. Penfold, her -voice becoming more stern as she proceeded, "that before your father's -death, Sir Patrick twice, in the most profligate manner, paid off his -creditors with a shilling in the pound! In consequence of great losses -now at the Doncaster races, and having paid what he calls his debts of -honor to a ruinous amount, Sir Patrick has yesterday fled to the -sanctuary at Holyrood House for refuge, and the creditors have already -seized everything. No wonder indeed! it was full time! He is all -promise and no performance,--for ever feeding us with empty spoons!" - -Mrs. Penfold angrily changed her position, and with another indignant -glance at Marion, continued, - -"Even Sir Patrick's large rent-roll would scarcely suffice in a -life-time to pay the half of us off. Good worthy Sir Arthur too, his -own uncle, he has cheated, and the property being entailed, we have -only Sir Patrick's life to depend upon for what he owes us! This is a -very heavy blow to me, and extremely hard to bear!" - -While thus bemoaning herself. Mrs. Penfold forgot, like most selfish -people, that any one had to suffer besides, though the parted lips, -the tearful eyes, and the pallid cheek of Marion testified in a -language not to be mistaken, the depth and intensity of her grief, -while with astonishment and dismay, she heard this short summary of -Sir Patrick's history and circumstances. - -Long after Mrs. Penfold had ceased to speak, Marion gazed in her face, -as if expecting more, while her every nerve continued quivering with -agitation, till at length she closed her eyes in speechless agony, -bewildered by the sudden transition from joyful anticipation to blank -despair. Formerly she had heard of difficulties and bankruptcies, as -she had heard of the plague or the bow-string at Constantinople--things -dreadful to those who might be affected by them, but quite foreign -to herself, and now, like a clap of thunder, all had suddenly burst -over the heads of those who were nearest and dearest to her, with -apparently destructive effect. She yet felt as if the whole were some -hideous dream from which it might be possible to awaken,--the voice of -Mrs. Penfold rang painfully on her ears,--every surrounding object -faded from her vision,--her thoughts became confused,--a vague sense -of burning misery was at her heart,--and one only wish remained -distinctly prominent on her mind--the wish to be alone. - -"Indeed, Miss Dunbar," continued Mrs. Penfold, in a monotonous -complaining voice, "no wonder you are shocked that I who have labored -so hard to realize a small independence, should be swindled out of it -in this way by your brother. Lady Towercliffe tells me that among his -intimate friends he is known by the nick-name of "Sixpenny Dunbar!" on -account of his having so often already played a similar game, but once -catch him beyond the bounds of Holyrood now, and he'll never be at -liberty to try such manoeuvres again. We are to offer a reward of -L500 for his apprehension!" - -"My poor uncle and Agnes!" exclaimed Marion, in a voice of anguish, -while hot tears fell like rain over her cheek, and a confused -apprehension of ruin, bankruptcy, and disgrace hovered darkly through -her mind, though she scarcely yet knew what to think or to fear. "I -must go home, if I yet have a home! Wherever they are, let me find -them! I must see my uncle.--Patrick cannot be all you say! oh no! It -is some dreadful mistake! Whatever happens, I trust and hope, Mrs. -Penfold, you will be repaid. It shall be my first earthly wish--my -duty sooner or later, to see it done! Now let me go instantly home!" - -Mrs. Penfold most heartily seconded her pupil's desire to depart, while -one of the heaviest pangs which Marion had to endure on this occasion, -sprang from the stern angry coldness with which her _ci-devant_ -preceptress appeared about to bid her a last farewell. - -A tumult of gossiping wonder and curiosity arose among the pupils, -when it became whispered that Marion was to "leave" on an hour's -notice. Many questions were asked, much astonishment was expressed, -and even a great deal of real sympathy excited, but Marion shrank from -the clamorous exclamations of her young companions, who could not so -much as guess the measure and depth of her misfortunes. Often had she -shared their sorrows, and willingly would she have accepted any -consolation they could offer, but the worst of her trials could not be -spoken to mortal ears, and in lamenting for her brother's disgrace, -she could only bear her wound, like a stricken deer, into solitude and -silence. - -There are insects that live a life-time in an hour, and it seemed to -Marion as if she had really done so, since the time when sparkling -with gladness, she flew to Mrs. Penfold's presence. Now, heavy with -sorrow and anxiety, she slowly retraced her steps, and on reaching her -room, sank upon her bed in a paroxysm of tears, delivering herself up -to many painful thoughts, or rather to her feelings, for she could not -think amidst the tumult of an agitated mind, when suffering thus under -the most painful of all transitions, from hope to despair. - -It was during the unoccupied half-hour after dinner, when Mrs. Penfold -allowed her pupils a gasp of rest from their labors during the day, -that they gathered in groups at every window, to criticise a -hackney-coach and very tired broken-down looking horses in waiting, -while the pupils all watched for Marion's departure, anxious to catch -a last glimpse of their favorite companion. She had been shut up -alone, ever since her interview with Mrs. Penfold, and tried to occupy -herself in packing up her few possessions, while endeavoring to -compose her mind, both of which tasks occupied more time than she -wished or expected. But all now over, and trying to assume an aspect -of serenity, with pale cheeks and swollen eyes, she entered the -school-room, carrying in her hand a large and very heavy-looking -casket. - -The young community crowded round to say a thousand affectionate -farewells, when, for a moment, Marion looked at them all with her own -beautiful smile, but unable to control her emotion, she turned away -her head, and burst into an agony of tears. - -"Miss Dunbar, my dear! the sooner this is all over the better!" said -Mrs. Penfold, hastily advancing, with a look of irritable vexation. -"No wonder you are sorrow to leave us; but what can't be cured must be -endured. Remember to be diligent in practising your music, as the -success of my establishment depends on the conduct of all my young -ladies. The only recompense I am ever likely to receive for my care, -will proceed from your attention not to do me any discredit. Now, -farewell, my dear, and try bear up the best way you can!" - -"Mrs. Penfold!" faltered Marion, while a flash of bright intelligence -lighted up her eyes; "allow me, for a single moment, to see you -alone!" - -"No! no! my dear! I hate scenes; therefore let us now take leave. -I wish you well!" added Mrs. Penfold, in a tone that sounded -marvellously sincere. "I really do! Whatever has happened is your -misfortune, not your fault!" - -"One single word, if you please," whispered Marion, coloring the -deepest carnation, and leading the way to an inner room, while Mrs. -Penfold followed, with an air of royal condescension. "The fault is -indeed, as you kindly remark, not my own; but for my sake, Mrs. -Penfold, spare my brother's name in all you say. It gives me pleasure -to think that I can do something towards settling our account myself, -and I would think no sacrifice worth a thought, that enabled me to do -so. My mother's trinkets were divided between Agnes and me; besides -which my dear kind uncle has been lavish in his gifts. This gold -repeater cost a great sum, and that locket is set in diamonds." - -"Well, my dear!" interrupted Mrs. Penfold, relaxing into a look of -graciousness, "such honorable sentiments show that you have not been -under my care in vain; and though these pretty trifles are not -equivalent to what you owe, yet half a loaf is better than no bread!" - -"All that I ever possessed, the gifts or legacies of friends and -relations, I leave in pledge with you, Mrs. Penfold, as an assurance, -that if brighter days ever come, I would redeem them at twenty times -their value. Keep these till then. Whatever ornaments I might ever -wear, would be a reproach till you are paid. Some debts never can be -sufficiently discharged, and among these is what I owe to your care -during many past years." - -The bright eyes of Marion were dimmed with tears of sincerity and -emotion when she concluded; and, placing the casket in Mrs. Penfold's -astonished hands, she hastened out of the room. Giving a last, long -look at those inanimate objects to which she had been accustomed, and -feeling that even to these she could not without regret bid a final -adieu, Marion threw herself into the carriage, and drove off, so -overpowered with anguish and anxiety respecting her brother, that she -scarcely noticed the phalanx of white pocket handkerchiefs, waved to -her as a last farewell from those beloved companions, among whom so -large a share of her young affections had hitherto been lavished; and -thus she took a final farewell of Mrs. Penfold's finishing seminary -for young ladies, where she was never destined to be finished! - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - - -Marion Dunbar being by no means an arrant novel reader, knew nothing -of those artificial feelings which too often obliterated the reality. -Simple as a field-flower, her natural sensibility remained perfectly -fresh and unimpaired, while now, for the first time, experiencing the -withering disappointments, and blighting anxieties of life. - -As she drove slowly along towards the sanctuary where Sir Patrick had -taken refuge, the most prominent apprehension on her mind, was that -of finding him on the eve of imprisonment; but she in some degree -consoled herself by imagining the services that in such circumstances -she might perhaps be able to do him, and the privations she could -endure for his sake. The more proud, overbearing, and arbitrary, he -had hitherto been, the more touching it appeared to her affectionate -spirit, that one seemed born to command, should now be humbled; and -impatiently did she long to prove, that, however all things might -alter, yet, in prosperity or adversity, in sickness or in health, she -was unchangeably the same; while her young heart glowed with the -paramount hope of at last becoming useful to her brother, and -therefore welcome. - -As she proceeded, visions of deep distress and difficulty floated -dimly through the mind of Marion, who could not entirely close her -eyes against the iron truths, and stern realities of life, while -considering how totally unsuited her brother was, to endure the -privation of a single luxury, and now he could scarcely have enough -to command the most ordinary necessaries. - -In the mind of Marion, immediate starvation, and going out as a -governess, were the two ideas that most prominently connected -themselves with the consciousness of being ruined; for her conception -of bankruptcy was of the most terrifying description. - -In the few novels she had ever seen, the heroines could always support -themselves by selling their drawings; but Marion did not hope to gain -an independent livelihood by her slanting castles, and top-heavy -trees, though taking in plain work, or teaching music, suggested -themselves as possible resources. Marion thought of arrests, bailiffs, -writs, and of the world come to an end. The sunny hours of her life -seemed suddenly darkened, and she had grown old in a day! In the -simplicity of her heart, she imagined that a ruined man of rank and -fashion, was like a ruined man in earnest; obliged actually to reduce -his establishment! to dismiss his servants! to dispose of his -equipages! to make an auction of his furniture! to part with his -plate! and really to live as if he were in downright matter-of-fact -earnest, poor! "to exist," as Sir Patrick once contemptuously said of -Richard Granville, "on twopence a year, paid quarterly!" - -The slow-moving hackney-coach stopped at last before the gate of Sir -Patrick's new residence, St. John's Lodge, a gloomy antique villa near -Holyrood House, with gabled windows, stone balconies, richly carved -balustrades, and pointed roof, surrounded by dusty beech-trees, and -formal yew hedges, clipped into fifty unimaginable shapes. Marion -was surprised, on hastily alighting, to perceive the whole house -glittering with lights, and would have supposed she had made some -mistake, had not the bell been instantly answered by Sir Patrick's own -man, followed by the usual three yellow-plush footmen. - -"Faithful creatures!" thought she, having often heard of old servants -who insisted on being retained for nothing; "amidst all Patrick's -distress, this must indeed be gratifying!" - -In a tumult of emotion, Marion, throwing off her bonnet, rushed up a -broad well-lighted flight of stairs, while, wound up to a pitch of -heroism and romantic self-devotion, she thought only of her brother, -impatiently longing to fly into his arms, and to express the whole -fulness of her affection, and the whole depth of her sympathy. While -her heart sprang forward to meet him, she eagerly threw open a door -next the staircase, and entered with a hurried and tremulous step; but -suddenly her eyes were dazzled and bewildered by the sight which met -her agitated glance, while for a moment she became rooted to the -floor, like one who had been stunned by a sudden blow. Marion gazed -without seeing, and heard without knowing what was said, so unexpected -and surprising was the scene to which she had thus suddenly introduced -herself! - -A murmur of noise and gayety rang in her ears, while the whole -apartment was brilliantly illuminated, and the first object which -became distinct to her vision was Sir Patrick, seated at the head of a -superbly-decorated dinner-table, in a perfect uproar of merriment and -hilarity. Around him were placed five or six of his gayest associates, -dressed in their scarlet hunting-coats, and evidently in joyous -spirit, like school-boys during vacation, while the whole party -presented a most convivial aspect, laughing in merry chorus, and with -claret circulating at full speed round the hospitable board. - -Marion felt as if her feet had lost all power of motion, while, -grasping the handle of the door with one hand, and shading her eyes -with the other, she became transfixed to the spot. It was a shock of -unexpected joy, and while standing in the deep embrasure of the door, -her large eyes dilated, and her lips parted, with an expression of -speechless amazement, she looked like a breathing portrait, which an -artist might have shown as his master-piece--young, bright, and -graceful, as the first crescent of the moon, or like the fabled houri -of an eastern tale. - -The gentlemen all instinctively stood up with one accord the moment -she appeared, giving her looks of embarrassed astonishment and -admiration, while Marion hastily retreating, in an agony of confusion, -heard her own voice inadvertently exclaim, "Patrick!" - -"Marion!" cried her brother, in a frenzy of astonishment more than -equal to her own, while the flowing bumper which had been raised to -his lips remained suspended there, and in an instant afterwards, his -tone of surprise became changed into angry imperative remonstrance. -"Marion! what brought you here, child?" - -Before she had quite retreated, suspecting the real state of the case, -and not wishing for any public explanation, Sir Patrick added, in an -accent of careless good humor, "Agnes is up stairs dressing for the -ball, so make yourself scarce, and find her if possible. The house is -not large enough to puzzle any one long, but I suppose you mistook -this room for hers!" - -"Patrick is not ruined after all!" thought the delighted Marion, -vanishing in a transport of joy, while her brother's jovial companions -became vehemently energetic in expressing their admiration of the -beautiful apparition. - -"Can that be the darling cherub Marion, who used to call herself my -little wife? I wish she may do so in earnest now! She is undoubtedly -the loveliest creature that my sight ever looked upon, her eyes -glittering like stars beneath that rich cloud of hair! Let us drink -a bumper to her health!" exclaimed Captain De Crespigny, in a -spontaneous impulse of enthusiasm, filling his glass, and singing in a -fine, full-toned tenor, the favorite ballad, - - "I saw her but a moment, - And methinks I see her yet, - With the wreath of summer flow'rs - Beneath her curls of jet." - -"That must mean Agnes, for Marion's hair is brown," interrupted Sir -Patrick, in a rallying tone, yet his manner betrayed the excited -and exaggerated vivacity of one who evidently forced his spirits, -endeavoring to banish care by ceasing to think. "Be constant for one -entire week, and I shall then think Agnes has achieved a wonder -indeed." - -"You do me injustice, Dunbar! I must be allowed to beg your pardon! I -have not been what is called 'in love' above nine times in my life! -Well! you may laugh--anybody can laugh, but I consider that smile of -yours exceedingly malicious!" - -"When a man is on the ice, you know his best safety is to keep -moving," replied Sir Patrick, drily. "People talk of two strings to -their bow, De Crespigny, but you are never satisfied under two dozen!" - -"_Tant mieux et tant pis!_ As Rosamond says, 'Thou canst not tell yet, -how many fathoms deep I am in love;' how concealment is preying on my -damask cheek, and what violent heart-quakes I am continually enduring! -The girl before last that I died for was my idol for an eternity of -three months' duration. I might have continued most deplorably in love -yet, if she had not imprudently appeared before me one day in an -unbecoming east wind, with considerably more color in her nose than in -her cheek!" - -"You are the most observant of men, De Crespigny! If you only pass a -young lady at full speed on a staircase, you can describe her eyes, -complexion, figure, and expression, before I could be certain whether -she has one eye or two! But what is this Irish story I heard about -you! Some lady with seven brothers, and you threatened to shoot them -all that she might become an heiress! What were the particulars?" - -"You seem to know more than I do, or anybody else!" replied Captain De -Crespigny, hastily tossing off a bumper to conceal his confusion. -"There are so many girls whose peace of mind I annihilate, that it is -next to impossible for me to remember them, but I can think of nothing -now except my cousin Marion, who always promised to be beautiful, and -has more than fulfilled her promise. Tell me, Dunbar! when does that -pearl come out of the shell?" - -"If you please, sir!" said a servant, entering, "the hackney coachman -is waiting to be paid seven shillings for bringing Miss Dunbar from -Dartmore House!" - -"Let him wait all night if he chooses!" replied Sir Patrick, angrily -frowning away his footman, "as the Irishman said, 'may he live till I -pay him!' Tell the man to come again to-morrow--and next day--and the -next--to come back in short, whenever he has nothing else to do! -Perhaps in a delirium of generosity I may some day think of paying -him." - -"At our usual rate of payment, seven shillings from you would be equal -to L7!" said Captain De Crespigny, laughing, "let him put it down to -your account!" - -"Yes! I have already more creditors than pence, therefore one more -less can be of no consequence! That fellow of mine is the most -officious rascal!--and he begins every sentence the same, 'If you -please, sir, the plate-chest has been robbed!' or, 'If you please, -sir, the bay mare is dead!' But I am never pleased to pay when it can -be avoided, and especially now. This is one of my moneyless days! My -banker's bulletins continue unfavorable! I cannot raise another -shilling! The handle of the pump is chained. All my relations have -made wills in my favor, but not one of them will die! As Falstaff -says, 'What money's in my purse? seven groats and twopence!'" - -"I shall set up a hackney coach, and drive one myself if it pays -so well!" exclaimed Captain De Crespigny indignantly, "What an -extortioner the fellow is! up to snuff and a pinch above it! He -deserves to be executed!" - -"Don't speak of executions in this house! we have had enough of them -already," replied Sir Patrick, forcing a laugh that sounded very like -a stage laugh. "What brings me here, if I am to be dunned in the very -sanctuary by a set of rascally creditors! You can take the hackney -coach home, if the man waits a few hours longer, De Crespigny, and pay -him off! It would be difficult generally to say which of us is best -off for ready money, but as Jeremy Diddler says, 'You don't happen to -have such a thing as ten-pence there, have you?'" - -"No! I make it a principle never now to patronize the paper currency or -bullion _ca m'est egal_. Scotch notes are so atrociously filthy, and -gold is too heavy for the pocket. I am hastening as fast as possible to -my last shilling! Money is a bore! As for you, Dunbar, if you wished to -borrow a glass of water, I shall not be the man to lend it! I would not -for worlds be included among your 'rascally creditors!'" - -"They beset my door so incessantly the week before we came here," said -Sir Patrick, laughing, "that I played the fellows an admirable trick -by connecting a strong galvanic battery with the knocker of the door, -so that the more angrily they grasped it, the stronger was the shock -they received. I sat with Wigton for an hour at the window in perfect -fits, when we saw the look of astonishment and terror with which, one -after another, they staggered away. One impudent rascal absolutely -succeeded in serving a writ on me for L200, but happening to have as -much in the house, I thought it best for once to pay him off, and----" - -"This is a most remarkable story! almost incredible!" exclaimed -Captain De Crespigny, laughing; "not so much your being arrested, for -that might happen to any of us, any day, but your having L200 in the -house, Dunbar! Excuse me there! I have as much credulity as most -people, but you should keep to probabilities!" - -"If one could pay people off with golden opinions," observed Sir -Patrick conceitedly, "I flatter myself in that case, that all my -creditors might be more than satisfied." - -"When are those fellows to have their next meeting?" - -"I wish we knew, that I might give them a harangue on agricultural -distress!" replied Sir Patrick, carelessly plunging his whole hand -into his luxuriant hair. "It gives me no scruple to disappoint the -shop-keeping world! None whatever! These rascals have not the -slightest hesitation in making punctual customers pay their bills -twice, therefore it is quite fair that others should not pay at all. I -could point out a dozen of my tradespeople who, knowing they risk only -a sheet of paper by re-sending their bills a year after they are paid, -make a practice of doing so. If the ill-used customer produces a -receipt, why then, an angry bow and a sulky apology are all the -satisfaction to be got; but if the receipt, by good chance, be lost, -then he becomes perfectly cheatable, and no remedy can be had but to -pay over again! I have seen the thing happen fifty times, long ago, -when I really did sometimes pay my debts, and of course never took the -trouble to keep any receipts." - -"On such occasions," said Captain De Crespigny, "the offending -shopkeeper, when proved in the wrong, should be fined double the amount -of his bill, to be expended for the benefit of meritorious men like you -and me, Dunbar, who cannot pay once. The sight of every poor man I meet -gives me a moral to avoid poverty, _coute qui coute_; but as for you, -Dunbar, prudence and economy are not certainly to be enumerated in the -catalogue of your many virtues! As sure as your name is Patrick, if -L1000 dropped into your pocket now, it would be squandered with the -liberality of a prince before you walked to the next street." - -"Most uncommonly true, De Crespigny!" replied Sir Patrick, ringing to -order a fresh bottle of claret. "But in these days of bankruptcies, -revolutions, robberies, sudden deaths, and murders, the only way to -make sure of enjoying my own is, to spend it immediately. In that case -there can be no mistake! I long ago discovered that it is impossible -to be both merry and wise; therefore give me joy at any price. -Happiness is to be bought, like everything else, if people have only -the heart to pay for it. In my opinion a long face and a short purse -are the two great evils of existence, both to be avoided at the risk -of one's life." - -"Perfectly unanswerable, Dunbar! Money is the patent sauce for giving -a relish to everything! It throws dust in the eyes of all the world, -till they can observe none of our faults, and yet see all our -perfections magnified and enlarged, as we see them ourselves. Misers -make money the end of life, but we make it the only means of enjoying -existence; a sure ticket to pleasure of every kind and of every -degree!" - -"One of these years, De Crespigny, your grave will be dug with a -golden spade! You are growing mercenary! But every man living is, in -one way or other, deranged about money;--those who have much, hoarding -as if their lives depended on amassing another shilling." - -"I wish, Dunbar, you would write a treatise on the art of living well, -after we have been obliged to calculate that difficult sum in -arithmetic, 'take nothing from nothing, and nothing remains!'" - -"Why, really, as a shillingless spendthrift, I could say enough to -make all of you misers during life; but for my own part, as long as I -possess a guinea, the first man who wants it may get the half. -Hoarding is the only enjoyment which increases, I am told, with -increasing years; but it is the only enjoyment of life I never intend -to taste. I mean always to live rich, that I am determined on; and if -I die rich, I shall out-hospital every fool who ever left a will, by -endowing a 'Dunbar Dispensary for superannuated _bon-vivants_!'" - -"How well the world would get on if everybody were of your way of -thinking!" - -"Thinking! my dear fellow--I never think! What do you take me for?" - -"For a strange being, certainly, and for my own particular friend. -Besides, as the poet beautifully expresses it, in speaking of such -friendship as ours:-- - - "We have lived and _laughed_ together, - Through many changing years; - We have smiled each other's smiles. - And--_and paid each other's bills_." - -"Thank you, De Crespigny! I shall send a file of mine to you -to-morrow! Do you remember the memorable hour at old Brownlow's long -ago, when my first bright guinea glittered in our hands, while he -detained us to enumerate all the various uses it might and ought to be -put to. I never forgot his oration--that is to say, I have thought of -other things certainly during the intervening ten years; but it has -often occurred to me, that if I had, as he proposed, hoarded my -treasure till another came, I should have been a miser for life. I -did, however, squander it then, with the spirit of a gentleman; and -ever since, whenever any one lectures on economy, I put cotton in my -ears. Wigton, the wine stands with you!" - -"Capital claret this, Dunbar! My uncle Doncaster would not have -quarrelled with Crockford, if he had given him such a bottle as this. -Claret is certainly the poetry of wine, and I should like to have a -cascade of this pouring down my throat all day and every day! Your own -importation, I suppose? It does your cellar great credit." - -"It has been, at any rate, placed to my credit in Morton's books. I am -very fastidious now, and owe it to myself to have the best." - -"I can't tell what you may owe to yourself," said Captain De Crespigny, -laughingly turning his dark keen eyes on Sir Patrick; "but you -certainly owe a great deal to other people." - -"Very true, and I owe you a grudge for saying so. I never can forgive -myself for not having been born to a larger estate! L50,000 a year -would have suited me so much better than my paltry pittance of twenty! -These are very hard times! The fellow who supplied this claret might -have enjoyed my custom for ten years to come, if he would have waited -as long for payment! It is a man's own fault always when he loses my -business! The moment he takes to dunning, we part. It is a rule with -me, and I told him so. He did not take warning!--actually sent in his -account a second time!--a most ungentleman-like thing to do!--an -offence I never pardon! So now----" - -"He may retire from business at once!" added Captain De Crespigny, -filling his glass. "Did I not hear that the house had failed next -morning! We all know what your countenance is worth!" - -"Three farthings a-year, paid at sight! We should make it a principle -to discourage duns; but they do occasionally force their way upon me -in some unaccountable manner, like a draught of air through the -key-hole, and then I can look as grand and immovable as George the -Fourth's statue; but fortune will be in good-humor with us again some -day, and take me under her especial patronage, when I shall pay -everybody thirty shillings in the pound, and----" - -"Hear! hear! and a laugh! as they say in the House of Commons!" -exclaimed Lord Wigton. "Well done, Sir Patrick, the Great----" - -"The great what? Your speech is a fragment," said Sir Patrick, in his -liveliest accents; "besides which, it was an interruption to mine, -Wigton; and I intended to have said something particularly amusing, if -you had not broken the thread prematurely. It is lost to you for ever -now! I am dumb as a flounder; and you may pity all the present -company, as they have really missed a very good thing." - -"We shall place it to your credit accordingly, Dunbar," said Captain -De Crespigny, laughing. "It was rather annoying to have perhaps the -only good thing you ever could have said in your life nipped in the -bud. I hate sometimes to see a joke of mine standing with its back to -the wall, and struggling in vain for existence." - -"Dunbar has talked himself into such a fit of parsimony," said Lord -Wigton, laughing, "that he is ever economizing his words." - -"_N'importe_," replied Sir Patrick, gaily circulating the bottles. "You -are all mistaken, and you particularly, Wigton. I can economize my way -up the hill of life as well as any of you, and shall yet live upon an -income of nothing per annum. My plan is, to keep only five hunters--to -stay but one month at Melton--to feed upon sunshine--to fill my head -with the rule of three--in short, to become actually quite a pauper in -my style of life; and, if all things else should fail, I can, as a last -resource, turn patriot, and subsist upon liberalism and -mob-popularity!" - -"That sounds vastly prudent and proper, Dunbar; but all I say is, -whatever desperate schemes you arrive at in the way of retrenchment, -give me the income you spend, rather than the income you have!" -replied Captain De Crespigny. "I took a fit of arithmetic one day, and -discovered, upon accurate calculation, that scattering L20,000 a-year -on an income of ten, gradually drains off the whole!" - -"You are a perfect Babbage, my good fellow; but you know I have -expectations from three uncles in Australia, and one in the West -Indies!" - -"Uncles! except the brave old Admiral, you scarcely possess a relation -besides myself in the world; but as long as Sir Arthur lives, you have -something to be proud of. The only thing I envy you on earth is for -being his nephew. I reverence him. I never pass him, hail, rain, or -sunshine, without taking off my hat. He is quite a jewel of a man." - -"You shall have him very cheap!" replied Sir Patrick, assuming a -careless tone, to conceal a great deal of irritation. "What will you -bid? I wish he were 'going! going! and gone!' I never knew such an old -bore as he is, always interfering about my sisters, and fussing about -my debts. The world ought to be entirely peopled with uncles, aunts, -and grandmothers, for they all know so much better how to act than -anybody else." - -"It is setting a very bad example for old people to live very long. My -uncle Doncaster took a twenty years' lease of his house in Belgrave -Square lately, and told me afterwards, he thought of having the term -'extended' to the period of his natural life! I am sure his life is -perfectly supernatural already! What would the old fellow have!" - -"Those superannuated people who outlive themselves have nothing -else to do but to sit in their arm chairs and find fault! The world -is good enough if they would only think so; but all their -world-before-the-flood ideas are picked up in a different state of -existence from ours. Everything changes in half a century--customs, -dress, modes of thinking, notions of honor, ideas of pleasure, habits -of society--all are turned upside down; so there can be no use in your -uncle or mine prosing about the past and the future. There is neither -past nor future in my plans of existence now." - -"Why, really, if men would neither look backwards nor forwards, there -is scarcely a moment of any man's life which is not very tolerably -agreeable. The rule that carries me joyously forward through life, is -to make the best of everything. We borrow all our annoyances from -anticipation of the future, which often turns out perfectly -groundless, or from regret of the past. We cannot alter the stream of -events; therefore I am for floating along the tide with my arms -folded, and looking neither to the right hand nor to the left." - -"Quite right; and take my word for it, that in this little trumpery -world of ours, ruined men enjoy the best of it. We have nothing to -lose--our estates are managed for us--we care not the toss of a -farthing about politics--we have no fear of a reverse--we are always -the most liberal of what we have--and in short, it is true enough, -that '_menage sans souci_ is the _menage six sous_----'" - -"I have generally got through all the difficulties of life hitherto -with a hop-skip-and-a-jump; so I mean always to keep myself in -practice; but after all, Dunbar, money has its merits, and the best -profession for a ruined man is to marry an heiress. They always select -the greatest roue who makes them an offer! Why do you not propose to -Miss Crawford and her L60,000?" - -"I never answer questions in the dog-days! My dear fellow! L60,000 -would not be a breakfast to me! It would scarcely supply copper-caps -to my gun! Besides which, I cannot make a low marriage, and pick money -out of the puddle! An heiress at best always seems to me a -personification of all my creditors! A person one should marry to -please them! but the only thing on earth I would not sell is--myself!" - -"Being beyond all price, of course, Dunbar! I am still insufferably -bored at Beaujolie Castle to marry that cousin of mine with a purse as -long as her nose, and both I believe are miraculous, but we have not -met in the memory of man! Perhaps I may some day yet be obliged to -welcome gold from whatever pocket it comes, but I am not very -impatient to see Miss Howard at the head of my table!" - -"My dear fellow! you would be sitting at the bottom of her table, if -Miss Howard Smytheson accepted you! It is unlucky that a fairy-like -fortune and a fairy-like person are so seldom united in one -individual." - -"I have no objection to marry for money as soon as they are. Love among -the roses would not be in my line at all, but when I see gold in a -beautiful enough casket, then '_les beaux yeux de sa casette pour -moi_!' 'Mammon wins its way, where seraphs might despair!'" - -"But if we must choose between them, give me love, and let money take -care of itself!" - -"Splendidly said! you are growing magnanimous, Dunbar. What has -happened to you since we met last? Did I not hear some romantic tale -of true love lately, connected with yourself and Granville's pretty -sister, Clara! 'a portionless lass wi' a land pedigree!' I vehemently -contradicted the whole affair, as Lady Towercliffe's entire story was -so very unlike you, but----" - -Captain De Crespigny paused suddenly--filled his glass--averted his -eye--and pushed the bottles hastily round, for he had observed with -astonishment that Sir Patrick's under lip became violently compressed, -his white forehead became visibly paler, a bright flash was emitted -from his eye, and his agitation became so obvious to every one around, -that a deep silence fell over the whole party, which soon after -dispersed. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - - -One of the greatest pleasures in life is derived from the -unexpectedness of events, without which existence would lose much of -its interest, and finding herself thus emancipated from school, -settled at home, and relieved from her worst fears respecting Sir -Patrick, Marion no sooner escaped from her unexpected glimpse of the -jovial party in the dining-room, than, lightly carolling some snatches -of a popular song, she flew up stairs the happiest of the happy, to -find the scene of Agnes' toilette, whom she discovered at last all joy -and flutter at the prospect of a ball at Lady Towercliffe's in the -palace. - -The softening effect of happiness on stern and rugged natures has been -often remarked, but selfishness never slumbers, and the reception -Agnes bestowed on Marion partook more of astonishment than of -pleasure, and was mingled much more with censure than with -approbation. Still, after expressing more wonder than the occasion -called for, what could possibly have brought her home, and the most -unbounded censure of Mrs. Penfold for her "unjustifiable conduct" in -sending her, Agnes, having no one better, or rather no one else to -talk to, though not violently delighted at the unexpected meeting, -gave some fragments of her attention to Marion, whose deep tender eyes -were sparkling with affectionate pleasure on again seeing her sister, -while her countenance, from recent agitation, looked like an April -face of smiles and tears. - -"What a storm in a tea-cup you have had at Mrs. Penfold's! tiresome -old cat! I am glad it teased her! Dixon! pin that wreath more to the -right:--not quite so far! there!--oh! how perfect!" said Agnes, gazing -with exultation at her own extraordinary beauty. "Pat must find out -some other school for you, Marion! It would never do to stay idling -here! Dixon! never shew me that dress again! Wear it yourself or burn -it, but blue always looks vulgar! I have lucky and unlucky gowns! Some -in which I meet with all the friends I wish to meet, and dance with -all the partners I prefer, but that dress is a happy riddance. I -remember once being obliged, when wearing it, to dance three times and -go to supper with stupid, tiresome Lord Wigton! Dixon! fetch my -bouquet! not that withered old thing, but the one Captain De Crespigny -brought me to-night. Fetch it from the drawing-room." - -"So that horrid Dixon is still with you!" whispered Marion, as soon as -the abigail's last frill disappeared. "I very seldom dislike anybody, -Agnes, but she is very odd. There is a strange gleam about her eyes, -which look so sharp and penetrating, they have prongs that pierce when -they are turned on me." - -"Yes!" said Agnes, laughing, "she does sometimes look through me till -I feel myself nailed to the wall." - -"Moreover, she has such a flattering, fawning, cunning manner, that I -wonder you can tolerate her for an hour," continued Marion. "We know -so little of her, too, that she is like a person fallen from the -clouds!" - -"Oh! there you are wrong, for Lady Towercliffe says she is 'a perfect -treasure!' Consider, too, what low terms she accepts, merely from her -desire to serve me! I never saw a creature so preternaturally anxious -to be taken, and now, after two years' practice, she really is -excellent. Do you remember at the time I engaged Dixon, what a perfect -romance her history was! Pat did not believe a word of it; but to do -her justice, she made it very entertaining. I hope, at least, the -greater part was founded on fact!" - -"Why does she wear widow's weeds,--she did not mention at first having -ever been married!" - -"No more she did! how strangely beautiful she looks in them, like the -abbess of a convent! Her husband, if ever she had one, which I doubt, -is said to have died, abroad, and her only wish is never to see -strangers. Pat insists she has had some _affaire du coeur_, but I tell -him it must positively have been with old Sir Arthur, for she started -so visibly one day long ago, and became redder than red, when I said he -was coming to dinner." - -Seeing Agnes in so unusually gracious and communicative a mood, Marion -ventured now to inquire into the state of her brother's affairs, -saying, she supposed he must inevitably sell his estate, go abroad, or -retrench, as the expedient of planting half-pence, to grow into -guineas, had not yet been brought to perfection, even by Sir Patrick, -though it had so long been a subject of wonder how he contrived to get -on. - -"This has been a horrid business!" exclaimed Agnes peevishly; "as for -Pat himself, he will do very well! Trust him for taking care of that. -He has always money enough and to spare for his own amusement, though -sometimes he would hardly even pay the postage of a letter to save my -life. Only think of his bringing me here, out of everybody's way, -during the most beautiful years of my existence! Our friends will -scarcely imagine that I think it worth chair hire to travel from this -burying-place to the inhabited world! What can one do. We shall give -some quadrille parties ourselves, but scarcely a living soul is within -reach except the Towercliffes, and those odious Granvilles!" - -"The Granvilles!" exclaimed Marion, in a blaze of joy and -astonishment; "dear Clara! is she here." - -"Yes; but she cuts this house entirely, and we are hardly on speaking -terms, therefore let me beg you not to attempt any violent missyish, -boarding-school friendships in that quarter. I cannot enter into -particulars, but rest assured that the less you see of Clara the -better for me,--and the better, too, for Patrick. Never, for your -life, mention her name before him." - -"Why?" asked Marion with a look of bewildered disappointment. "Agnes, -I cannot give up Clara Granville!" - -"Perhaps, then, she may give you up! She abhors the whole family now! -If I must not veto her without rendering a reason, let me tell you -that there is a very awkward pecuniary quarrel between Mr. Granville, -Pat, and Mr. De Crespigny. It is merely one of their madcap tricks, -but extremely annoying. You have often heard Sir Arthur tell of three -Yorkshire baronets, who signed a mutual contract sixty years ago, that -the first of them who married should forfeit L10,000 to both the -others." - -"Yes; and not one of them ever ventured to dispose of himself at so -great a sacrifice." - -"Well! some years afterwards, the subject was discussed one day in -public conclave, at the Harrowgate ordinary, and what should the late -Mr. Granville do, in company with Major De Crespigny and our father, -but, like a set of madmen, as they must have been at the moment, drew -up, for a frolic, precisely such an agreement for themselves, which -they signed and sealed, making some of the 150 strangers present act -as witnesses. The whole affair had been long forgotten, when Mr. -Granville married some fright of a girl, all nose and freckles, merely -because of her being amiable, or some such whim. She lived long enough -to make saints of the whole family, and died after her son and -daughter were only a few years old." - -"Then how is your quarrel with Clara tacked on to this affair, I -cannot quite trace the connexion." - -"Why! Pat has been very angry at Mr. Granville lately about some -unexplainable affront; so, having accidentally found the old Harrowgate -document, and being very hard up for money, he and Captain De Crespigny -are threatening to levy the fine of L10,000 due to each of them, and -poor Mr. Granville is, as you may suppose, rather indignant, having -been all his life stringing halfpence together, to pay off his father's -debts, though no one could legally oblige him. As Pat says, 'more fool -he!' You know our brother's favorite expression of contempt is, to -describe any one as 'the sort of man who would lock up his money!'" - -"What a shocking affair!" exclaimed Marion, coloring with shame and -indignation. "As uncle Arthur says, Patrick would do anything for -money short of a highway robbery! Surely, Agnes, he cannot be in -earnest." - -"Pshaw! never mind being amiable now," replied Agnes impatiently; "we -need not act to empty benches! I am already aware that you, Marion, -are on the exact pattern of what Mrs. Hannah Moore would bespeak to -order for a sister or daughter; but with all you learn at school, pray -learn to keep that goodyism out of sight, for I can fancy nothing more -intolerable than a young lady turned out on the model of those horrid -sententious books, filled with advice to young ladies. Mrs. Ellis -writes to the 'Women of England,' but she luckily leaves the 'Women of -Scotland,' to their own devices, without troubling us to be -exorbitantly amiable." - -"I shall be in no hurry to see Clara now!" continued Marion, -dejectedly. "I suppose Patrick will be cut by all gentlemen for such -unjustifiable conduct." - -"Oh dear, no! Nobody is ever cut for anything now as long as he has -money! I can scarcely tell the thing upon earth, except cheating at -cards, that a man of L10,000 a-year may not do, and yet be as well -received as ever,--and ladies ditto! Any woman who can afford a court -plume, and many even who cannot afford, may fit on her ostrich -feathers, and go to court with as proud a step and as lofty a -carriage, as either you or I. Your uncle, Sir Arthur, complains that -there is no such as 'moral indignation' in the world now, and so much -the better. What good would it do to anybody? If a gentleman once gets -into a fashionable club, he is made for life, and may ever afterwards -defy the world to look askance at him." - -"Then nobody takes any notice of Patrick's affairs?" asked Marion -doubtfully. - -"No; except uncle Arthur, who makes himself quite absurd about them; -refuses to dine here; turns his back on Patrick at the club, in a most -un-uncle-like manner; and performs all sorts of antics to testify his -annoyance; but we are both rather glad he no longer comes prosing to -this house, and that we need never enter his. The Admiral is a fitter -companion for those old pictures round the wall than for us. Do not -look at me with that hair-standing-on end expression! I can't help -what Patrick does, and you will soon get accustomed to such things." - -"Oh no, never! I hope never! but Patrick cannot surely push that claim -in earnest against the Granvilles. He will refund the money, will he -not, Agnes?" - -"Perhaps, when all his other creditors are paid off. Now spare the -whites of your eyes, and do not look at me as if I had five heads, but -pray attend to my injunction, and avoid Clara, who is only fit to be a -saint in a niche at her brother's chapel. You may know her at any -distance now by her five-year-old dresses and country-cousin bonnets. -Richard Granville has taken orders at last, and become a most superb -preacher. In short, the Granvilles are good, worthy, dull, respectable -people as ever lived, though the very last upon earth that would suit -us." - -"Do you mean to be severe, Agnes? I hope you are mistaken!" replied -Marion, humbled and depressed by all she had heard. "I have sometimes -felt, when with Clara, as if goodness were infectious, and never hear -of any people better than myself without wishing at least to be in the -same room with them." - -"Take my word for it, Marion, these enormously good, sagacious persons -are better to look at than to converse with. They may be admired at a -distance, but the greater the distance the better; and pray never -set-up in that line yourself, as nothing is more unpopular. Clara -invited me, when we first arrived here, to one of her tea parties! -some horrid Granville-ish affair, I have no doubt! But I knew my own -value better than to go. Fancy me, Agnes Dunbar, at a good party!" - -"I hope you might not be so very much out of place, Agnes!" replied -Marion, with an arch and pretty smile. "Whenever I give 'good parties' -you shall be the very first person invited!" - -"Then take my apology now,--previously engaged! Indeed, I may perhaps -consider myself an engaged person in every sense, Marion. Captain De -Crespigny has already almost proposed several times, and makes no -secret of his attachment. Oh, never mind Dixon! She knows who sent me -this bouquet and all about it. Captain De Crespigny tells me he has -planted all my favorite flowers at Kilmarnock Abbey, and often says -what a resource they will hereafter become to me! Here are all the -letters of my name grouped together, Anemone, Geranium, Narcissus, -Everlasting, and Sweet William." - -"Very ingenious," observed Marion, smiling. - -"I promised not to mention whose device it was; therefore, Marion, as -I am exceedingly particular about keeping my word, if any one guesses -where I got this, remember to recollect that I did not tell. But, -Dixon, what is the meaning of this? the geranium is broken and these -flowers are so withered, they have not surely been in water." - -When Marion looked accidentally at Dixon, she was startled to perceive -that a mortal paleness had overspread her features, which bore a -strange bewildered expression, while her hand, in which she held the -flowers, trembled visibly, but she said nothing, and Agnes, in the -triumphant gaiety of her spirits, rattled heedlessly on. - -"One of the rooms at Beaujolie Castle, which Captain De Crespigny -already calls 'my _boudoir_,' opens into a conservatory filled with -rare exotics, but he says I shall be the brightest flower of the whole, -though never born to blush unseen, if he can help it! How very droll he -is, paying compliments often that would make one feel beautiful for a -year. He said this morning, when Patrick complained of the room being -hot, that he wished I would fan it with my eyelashes, and asked for one -of them to wear as a feather in his Highland bonnet! Yesterday, when I -showed Captain De Crespigny this new pearl hoop, he said I spoiled the -symmetry of my hand with rings, as there was not a jewel in the world -fit for me to wear, and only one ring that ought ever to be placed -here! You should have seen his sentimental look on the occasion, which -might have done for twenty proposals!" - -"One would have been enough," said Marion, smiling. - -"What he said was quite sufficiently explicit, and I only wish he -would appear a little more diffident, as his look was most provoking -self-satisfied, when he added, 'how fortunate will be the happy man -who places a ring on that finger!' When speaking of the Admiral, too, -he always now calls him 'uncle Arthur!' and yesterday, at taking -leave, he said in his half jocular, half serious tone, 'I shall live -upon the Bridge of Sighs till we meet again!'" - -"Then, pray, let him stay here till he is a little less confident," -replied Marion, laughing. "You should teach diffidence in three -lessons, Agnes; he has no right to seem sure of success till he has -obtained your consent point blank. You have many admirers to choose -among." - -"Squadrons of admirers, but not so many lovers as you think, Marion! -The race of marrying men is becoming extinct in the world, so I must -not be severely discouraging to poor diffident Captain De Crespigny, -who has been setting his mustachios at me so long. Your notions about -keeping people in suspense are quite of the old school, when ladies -used all to be upon stilts, but '_nous avons change tout cela_.'" - -"I am sorry for it. We should all have been born when Sir Arthur was, -and I wish everybody were like him." - -"Spectacles, grey hair, and all! Thank you, Marion, but I am not -particular, and feel quite satisfied to be a contemporary of Captain -De Crespigny. If you could but have heard him this morning when he -sang the 'Pirate's Serenade,'" said Agnes, warbling the words to -herself, - - "This night, or never, my bride thou shalt be." - -While Agnes continued singing _sotto voce_ for some minutes, her whole -heart and thoughts occupied with agreeable retrospections, the eye of -Marion again accidentally wandered towards Dixon, and she was startled -out of a reverie into something almost approaching alarm, by observing -her attitude and expression. With features as pale and rigid as those -of a corpse, she gazed at Agnes, and there was an intensity in her look -perfectly unaccountable, while a dazzling and terrible light glittered -in her eyes. Marion with difficulty suppressed an exclamation of -astonishment, when she perceived the extraordinary change in Dixon's -countenance, but with a private resolution to watch more narrowly than -before, what such evident agitation could mean, she determined as yet -to make no remark, but allowed Agnes to rattle on undisturbed, while -her own thoughts were filled with perplexity and surprise. - -"Yesterday, Marion, Captain De Crespigny actually made me read over -with him that proposal scene in the new novel, 'Matrimonial Felicity.' -I nearly died of confusion when he doubled down the page, saying, he -hoped this was not the last time we should study it together. The story -has but one fault, that the hero makes rather a low marriage, and of -that Captain De Crespigny expressed an utter abhorrence. I remember -ages ago, his making me laugh so excessively with a description of some -school-boy attachment he had in Yorkshire. Such a burlesque upon love! -It was exquisite! The silver thimbles and wall-flowers he presented to -a fair damsel in prunella shoes, and no gloves, while his _gages -d'amour_ were accompanied with verses borrowed from the Irish Melodies, -and passed off as his own. I forgot always to ask what became of the -poor deluded girl at last--probably married before this time to some -fat farmer or thriving shopkeeper, but for my own part, the misery of -an unrequited attachment is what I never can know. Captain De Crespigny -really is the only person one could possibly have fancied." - -A loud and startling crash at this moment interrupted Agnes' -delightful reminiscences. Marion instinctively sprang from her seat -with alarm, and looked hastily round, when she perceived that Dixon -had tripped over and thrown down a table covered with china ornaments, -on which Miss Dunbar had frequently squandered half her income, even -at times when she could scarcely afford a dress. The etiquette being -now established that all young ladies, of whatever means, shall -cultivate a passion for china and hot-house plants, Agnes had made a -collection of second-rate vases and third-rate tea cups, interspersed -with stunted hyacinths and drooping camellias, at so great an expense -that Sir Patrick often recommended her to take a wing of the bazaar -and sell off all her trumpery again. The whole assortment now lay in -fragments on the floor, while Agnes delivered herself up to agonies of -lamentation, scolding, and wondering, over the ruin of her hoarded -treasures, while she pointed out with consternation how nearly the -table had fallen with its edge upon her own foot, which might have -lamed her for life. The "fall of china" is a proverbial trial of -temper, and that of Agnes did not prove on this occasion invulnerable, -while the epithets, "awkward wretch!" and "stupid idiot!" were audibly -lavished on the offending abigail. - -Marion appeared exclusively occupied in gathering up the scattered -fragments of china, and arranging them together, but her eye was -secretly observing Dixon, the strange wild expression of whose -features filled her with indefinite apprehension. In her countenance -there gleamed, certainly, for an instant, a dark smile of malignant -satisfaction. Marion felt sure that it was so. Could the poor -creature's mind be shipwrecked? Was she insane? Her look had become -fierce and haggard, her forehead of a deadly paleness, and when she -caught the eye of Marion earnestly fixed upon her, she started up, -with a frown of angry defiance, and hurried out of the room. - -"This is a most calamitous catastrophe!" exclaimed Agnes, -disconsolately. "How could Dixon be so intolerably stupid?" - -"Are you quite certain it proceeded from stupidity? The accident is -altogether very strange," observed Marion, going close up to her -sister, and relating all she had observed during that evening in the -very lowest whisper, for Marion felt a nervous consciousness that -Dixon was not far off, and might attempt to overhear them. A stealthy -step was heard on the stair after she concluded, but Marion, -thoroughly engrossed with the subject, reiterated once more her -conviction that there had been something more than common in the -manner of Dixon, whom she advised Agnes to watch very carefully, if -she did not part with her soon. - -"You were always prejudiced against Dixon, poor stupid fool that she -is, Marion. I wish I had sent her adrift before she broke all the -china, but it is very unlike you to be so severe! How can you fancy -the creature did it on purpose? That is too bad, when you might have -seen how ghastly pale she became!" - -"I did see, Agnes! and that makes me wonder only the more! No one ever -looked like that surely, for breaking a few china gewgaws!" - -"Marion! speak respectfully of my treasures! But you are in a most -censorious mood this evening: very different from common, when you are -generally a knight-errant in all our conversations, defending -everybody. But nothing pleases you to-night. My admirer first, then my -maid, my china, and even Patrick, who certainly behaved exceedingly -ill to-day, in not asking me to preside at his party. The pretext was, -that we had no chaperon, but I had the greatest mind, in a fit of -offended dignity, to leave his house." - -"Your dignity would have been rather put out of countenance, by having -to borrow my carriage if you did go!" said Sir Patrick, who had -laughingly entered the room unobserved. "Lady Towercliffe may perhaps -receive you in time for her six o'clock breakfast to-morrow morning, -Agnes, but unless you make more haste, the supper and dancing will be -quite out of the question. Past twelve o'clock, and a rainy night!" - -Sir Patrick was a good-natured, selfish man, willing that everybody -should be happy, provided it put him to no personal inconvenience, and -when Marion took this opportunity to explain the circumstances of her -very unexpected return, he merely bestowed a contemptuous whistle on -the description of Mrs. Penfold's wrath, laughed at Marion's evident -anxiety about his embarrassments, and then desired her to set about -being happy at home the best way she could, as he thought she might -make the rest of her life a holiday now. "And," added he, in his usual -gay rallying tone, "forget for ever all your grievances at Mrs. -Penfold's, or rather, Mrs. Tenfold's, on account of the breadth of her -person and the length of her bills!" - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - - -Sir Patrick, like most men who are gifted with more head than heart, -disbelieved in all such generous emotions and exalted affections as he -had not himself experienced. With a lively defiance of received -opinions, his vivacity was unchecked by the fear of giving pain or of -causing offence, being perfectly reckless on that score, provided only -he could enliven the dull routine of ordinary society. Marion's -mingled expression of shyness and animation, her light laughter and -ardent feelings, were refreshing to a mind so hackneyed as his, and -though he often checked her sensitive spirit in its full flow of -affectionate confidence, by a retort courteous, or rather -discourteous, he was nevertheless vain of the admiration she -invariably excited, and read, in the eyes of others, the value he -ought to place on her beauty and talents. - -Agnes' whole mind was so frothed over with folly, and encrusted with -selfishness, that unless the wheel of fortune touched upon her -personal comforts, she was as impervious to all external impressions -as a tortoise beneath the shell, and it was a useless waste of -generous sentiments and kind emotions, whenever the heart of Marion -was laid open to her. Agnes, who had long since adopted a company -manner, and even a company voice, persuaded herself that Marion also -had very cleverly "got up" a character on some imaginary model of -excellence, which she acted over to the very life. It seemed to her a -naked certainty that the refinement and delicacy natural to Marion's -mind were in reality artificial; and though the radiance of her -intellect, and the sensibility of her eye, were but in harmony with -her actions, all testifying disinterested self-denial and invariable -affection, still Agnes convinced herself that Marion lived "for -effect." - -If Marion ever acted a part at all, it was only in concealing from -those who might have ridiculed her, the unfathomable depth of her -feelings, since she might as well have asked for sympathy from an -ice-berg as from Agnes. Knowing that every evidence of sensibility -would be received with scepticism, she silently and hopefully waited -till some scope might be afforded her for testifying that all which -she might have wished to profess was nothing to what she would do or -suffer for those she loved; and if ever Marion repined at any one -circumstance in her lot, it was, that she might perhaps pass through -life unknown to those she loved the best, because she dared not -express, even by a few insignificant words, that affectionate -attachment to Agnes and Sir Patrick, which she would have thought any -sacrifice a pleasure, to evince in its full and heartfelt measure. - -One privilege of friendship Marion enjoyed in unbounded measure with -both her brother and sister. She became the usual depositary of their -many grievances and disappointments. Marion had the art,--or rather -the instinct, for to her all art was unknown,--of listening in -perfection. If Agnes received a dress from her London milliner which -did not fit, or if Sir Patrick did not obtain an invitation to some -jovial party which he had expected to enliven, Marion became of -immediate importance. The annoyance he felt on such occasions could -scarcely be exceeded--the death of his nearest relation, or of all his -relations together, would have been nothing to it; but Marion could -always administer some gentle anodyne to the irritated sufferer, and -displayed a wonderful ingenuity in turning up the best side of -everything, for the advantage and comfort of others. Nothing melted -Marion's heart so entirely as to see Sir Patrick for a moment -depressed, as the very pride and haughtiness of his spirit rendered -it, in her estimation, the more affecting when he seemed at all -subdued, and on the evening of Lady Towercliffe's ball, she could not -but fancy, before he set off with Agnes, that there was a forced -vivacity in his spirits which she had never perceived before, and that -the tone of his voice had a melancholy modulation when he bid her good -night, accompanied by an unusual degree of kindness, always the very -worst indication of Sir Patrick's spirits, the consciousness of which, -and a thousand conjectures respecting its cause and extent, dismissed -her to bed with an anxious mind and a prayer, even more fervent than -usual, for his happiness. - -In one house, Marion was understood and loved as she wished to be, and -all her young enthusiasm found its best refuge and welcome in the aged -heart of Sir Arthur, who felt refreshed and cheered by the -companionship of thoughts and feelings as fresh and natural as the -flowers in spring, while they reminded him of the time when his own -had been as buoyant and untrodden, as hopeful and gay, as full of kind -intentions and generous wishes. - -The morning after Marion's arrival at St. John's Lodge, she arose by -the peep of the day, intent on surprising her uncle with a visit -during his early breakfast, and gayly anticipating the look of joyful -surprise and perplexity with which she would be welcomed, while she -rehearsed in her own happy mind, how best to increase Sir Arthur's -astonishment. The day was indeed one of matchless beauty, the sunshine -perfectly superb, and all around resplendent with light, gayety, and -happiness, the white clouds skimming along like swans on the blue sky, -the air perfumed with blossoms, every leaf spangled with dew, the -painted butterflies, like winged flowers, hovering over the meadows, -and the country people exhibiting looks full of mirth, hilarity, and -good humor, as they hastened past to their tasks of daily toil, -enjoying those common gifts of a bountiful Providence, the light -breeze, the balmy sunshine, the music of birds, the perfume of -flowers, and the joy of natural, unfevered spirits. - - "And now, while bloom and breeze their charms unite, - And all is glowing with a rich delight, - God! who can tread upon the breathing ground, - Nor feel Thee present, where Thy smiles abound?" - -The whole air seemed full of incense and poetry when the light-footed -Marion, with a bounding and elastic step, set forth on her solitary -walk towards Portobello, joyous as a bird in spring, pleased with the -whole world, and admiring everything with a lightness of heart that -cast its sunshine on all she saw. Marion delighted in a wild sense of -liberty now, when she contrasted it with her long years of endurance -at Mrs. Penfold's; and equipped in exactly such a pink gingham dress -as Agnes had censured on Clara Granville, with the free air, like -liquid sunshine, playing about her glowing cheek, and her light -ringlets fluttering in the breeze, the excitement of her spirits -became such that she could have run with pleasure across the daisied -meadows, and, "glad as the wild bee on his glossy wing," longed to -reach the craggy heights of Arthur Seat, or to linger beneath the old -thorns already fragrant with blossoms, and steeped in dew. - -Marion had picked some flowers as fresh and blooming as herself, while -she hurried through the more inhabited parts of the sanctuary, but -when passing beneath the palace windows, her steps were arrested for a -moment by hearing the sounds of mirth and music. "Can it be!" thought -she, in astonishment, "Lady Towercliffe's ball is yet at its zenith!" - -Pitying the dancers much more than she envied them, Marion looked at -the scene of glorious beauty around her, and was hurrying forward, -humming a light barcarolle in concert with the thousand birds in full -chorus on every side, when suddenly a loud shout caused her to start -and turn around. Marion now perceived with astonishment that a window -of Lady Towercliffe's apartment had been hastily opened, and Sir -Patrick stood on the balcony waving his handkerchief impetuously for -her to stop, and a moment afterwards she saw him eagerly running after -her across the fields without his hat. - -"Marion! you lucky girl! stop there!" exclaimed he with breathless -animation. "We are all at breakfast, and require one lady more to make -up a last quadrille, so come along; you are my prisoner! What makes -you look so aghast? Who ever heard of a girl not liking her first -ball?" - -"Patrick, you are certainly mad!" said Marion, unable to help laughing -at the almost delirious eagerness of his manner. "Pray consider! I am -not in a ball dress! I am not invited! I shall look like a -house-maid!----" - -"Nonsense! I wish everybody looked half as well! All these reasons, -and fifty more, go for nothing. I have set my heart upon it, and you -shall not stand in your own light, like the man in the moon. No, -Marion! you are to be published immediately under my auspices. You -have often expressed a willingness to die for me any day, but that is -not necessary just at present. All I ask is that you shall dance for -me! Now, fling that bonnet off, shake your little forest of ringlets, -and come along. You will pass muster very well without Cinderella's -god-mother to make a metamorphosis." - -Unable to resist the outburst of her brother's extravagant mirth, yet -shrinking and abashed, almost ready to cry with vexation, Marion was -unwillingly led, or almost dragged by her laughing persecutor into the -drawing-room, where, with a look of _naivete_, and an aspect lovely in -the first blush and freshness of girlhood, she gazed in mute -astonishment and almost with dismay at this her first peep into the -great world of fashion, wishing for her own part that she could have -adopted invisibility, and enjoyed the scene as if she were in a private -box at the theatre, for as yet her feelings were "_trop pres de la -peine pour etre un plaisir_." - -A bright sunshine streamed into the room, while the gas lamps still -dimly glared over the breakfast table, at present surrounded by three -or four hot, flushed, dusty-looking young ladies, with exaggerated -colors, soiled dresses, torn gloves, withered bouquets, and -exceedingly disordered ringlets, falling in dishevelled masses over -their naked shoulders. These ladies, assuming forced spirits, and an -appearance of over-done gaiety, kept up a rattling, flippant dialogue -with about twice or three times the number of gentlemen, some in -glittering uniforms, padded and stuffed to the very chin, and others -in plain clothes, but all over-heated, over-excited, and -over-fatigued, while, in spite of parched lips and blood-shot eyes, -they were still endeavoring, with all their might, to be fascinating. - -To Marion's unaccustomed eye the whole party seemed like a set of -second rate actors from the theatre, not calculated, by their aspect, -to elicit very rapturous applauses, and she privately wondered they -were not ashamed to look each other in the face when in so ridiculous -a plight. Even Agnes, her own beautiful sister, looked very unlike -Agnes! and she felt astonished to find that it might actually be -possible to spend an hour in her company and not be admiring her, but -in Marion's very private opinion, her appearance was now as if some -sign post painter had done a resemblance of her sister in the very -coarsest coloring, and in the most overdone style of dress and -expression. - -Agnes had a great deal to say, and no diffidence to prevent her saying -it all, therefore she was now plunged into the midst of a very -animated dialogue with Captain De Crespigny, talking with a look of -conscious beauty and conscious success, in the only style she could -talk, nonsense, and making a lavish expenditure of smiles, attitudes, -and exclamations, to give herself the appearance of vivacity. Her hair -was in a most disastrous state, and her complexion everything but what -it should be, while her dress had so completely fallen off at the -shoulders, that she might appropriately have sung her favorite air, -"One struggle more and I am free." - -The expression of Agnes' countenance became at once perfectly natural, -when she turned round, and for the first time observed, with a start -of genuine astonishment, that Marion was beside her, looking at the -moment like some being of a better world, or like some graceful water -lily rearing its pure and beautiful head above the turbid pool. - -Marion glanced at her sister in a state of smiling embarrassment, as -if desirous to claim her protection amidst a scene so new and strange, -and taking possession, with a confiding look, of Agnes' arm, joy -seemed rushing out of her bright animated eyes, and dimpling in her -cheeks, when, under her sister's protection, she gazed around with an -expression of timid amusement and curiosity. - -"Marion, what mad freak is this?" exclaimed Agnes, with a hot red -blush of angry surprise; "Patrick, do take her home!" - -"Not till she has been my _vis a vis_ in this quadrille, and then we -must all disperse," replied Sir Patrick, with a boyish mischievous -laugh, while noticing a haughty flash pass swiftly over the brow of -Agnes; "I had difficulty enough in getting Marion to come at all, so -she shall not escape me now. De Crespigny, have you engaged a partner?" - -"If I had I would have strangled her!" replied Captain De Crespigny, -with an admiring glance at Marion, who stood with her downcast eyes -shaded with their long deep fringes, while an arch young smile played -round her mouth, and dimpled her cheek. - -"Will you then take the very great trouble of dancing with Marion?" - -"I shall be too happy," replied he, throwing a world of expression -into his fine animated eyes. "I shall do so with all my heart!" - -"Marion, your old friend and cousin, Louis De Crespigny. Did you ever -see such an ugly fellow?" - -"That is the very thing I pique myself upon! I am like the Skye -terriers, admired chiefly for my surpassing ugliness," said Captain De -Crespigny laughingly, observing the smile and the blush with which -Marion listened. "You think me plain; but I wish you saw my uncle!" - -"Wear a mask, De Crespigny, if you ever become as hideous! But in -respect to looks, the most unendurable of all living beings is a -handsome vulgar man, like the description I hear of that creature -Howard, Sir Arthur's pen-and-ink man. I could forgive his vulgarity, -if Marion did not tell me that he presumes to be handsome, which -renders him utterly insufferable! I wish somebody would put him to -death!" - -"The fellow has never yet shown himself to me," replied Captain De -Crespigny, carelessly. "Now, Miss Dunbar, allow me the honor of the -next quadrille with you; and if there be a dozen more," added he, with -his most ineffable smile, "so much the better! I consider any other -gentleman who asks you to-night as my personal enemy!" - -Marion stole a frightened glance at Agnes, while timidly accepting the -offered arm of Captain De Crespigny; but her sister had turned away -with a look of superb disdain, and was engaged in lively conversation -with Lord Wigton, a tall stripling, who seemed as if he was never to -be done growing, and who copied Captain De Crespigny in everything, -from the pattern of his watch-chain to the choice of his partners. - -Agnes felt invariably more astonished at any deficiency of attention, -than at the most devoted assiduity, having accustomed herself to -believe that she was always the first object of interest to every -gentleman in the room, though diffidence or caution might cause them -to exercise their self-denial for a time, by keeping aloof; and it was -with more commiseration for Captain De Crespigny's privation in losing -her, than for her own, that she accepted the school-boy Peer as a -partner, while secretly amused and flattered by the ludicrous -expression of awe and admiration with which he usually offered -himself. Having talked, flirted, and laughed, through one quadrille -and several reels, the clock struck eight. It was an unspeakable -triumph to Lady Towercliffe, that her ball had thus been kept up the -latest of any during the season; and now the whole prepared for -retiring to their fevered pillows. - -Captain De Crespigny, after uttering, as usual, in his most -ingratiating manner, a million of absurd nothings, took a sentimental -leave of Marion, saying, with his very best smile, and a sigh -to correspond, "I shall always remember this evening with -pleasure--always! Ten minutes of unmixed happiness are something in -this world to be thankful for. Life has nothing more delightful." - -These words were said in his usual gay, off-hand tone, while Captain De -Crespigny felt perfectly charmed to think what an impression they must -be making on the heart of his young and unsophisticated partner. He was -at the same time astonished himself, to find on this occasion how much -more his heart was on his lips than it had ever been before. Marion was -the only girl Captain De Crespigny had yet seen whom he did not feel a -wish to trifle with; for during the last half hour, he had been not -only amused, but deeply interested, by discovering in her conversation -a degree of matured reflection, of _naivete_, humor, and good sense, -accompanied by a brightness of expression in her deeply-speaking eyes, -much in contrast with what he had ever been accustomed to before. -Nothing is so rare in manner as to be perfectly natural, without a -_soupcon_ of affectation; and to this charm was added another, quite -as new and unexpected to Captain De Crespigny, though by no means so -acceptable, as he became not only astonished, but piqued, at the gay, -indifferent carelessness with which Marion heard, as words of course, -not more belonging to her than if they had been addressed to any one -else, his well-turned compliments and insinuated admiration. - -Not to be met half-way was new and astonishing to Captain De Crespigny! -It seemed perfectly unaccountable, little as he knew how long his -character for a ruthless flirt had been placarded before the eyes of -Marion, who no more credited the sincerity of his professions now, than -if he had been an actor performing on the stage. She considered that it -was his part for the evening to scatter civilities indiscriminately -around him, while his real feelings were, she believed, privately -consecrated to one, and to one only. Marion's own heart was in armor, -protected by the belief of Captain De Crespigny being her affianced -brother; and therefore she received his _adieux_ with a quiet, demure -look, succeeded by an arch smile, as the idea crossed her mind how -completely she was in the secret of his attachment, and how little he -seemed to guess that she was. - -When Captain De Crespigny observed Marion's good-humored, careless -manner in taking leave of him, he began to fancy it just possible she -might still be quite indifferent to his attentions; but he rather -indignantly resolved that this should not continue long. It would be a -distinction, he knew, to follow in the train of a young beauty so -admired as he saw that Marion must be; for a hundred tongues were -already talking around him of her matchless loveliness, while he alone -had yet enjoyed an opportunity of discovering that much as she was to -be admired by those who saw her, she was still more to be loved by -those who knew her; for she seemed to unite in herself all that he had -ever praised in a thousand others before, though he carried no plummet -in his mind fitted to measure the depth of hers. Captain De Crespigny -had been accustomed, hitherto, always to feign more than he felt; but -now, for the first time, he found it necessary to conceal, even from -himself, the extent of his feelings; for it seemed as if the last few -hours had rendered Marion perfectly known, and for ever dear to him. -Slowly strolling homewards, therefore, he gave vent to his thoughts, -by singing, in a voice like moonlight, soft and clear, the words of a -favorite song:-- - - "And fare thee well, my only love - And fare thee well a while! - And I will come again, my love, - Though it were ten thousand mile." - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - - -Marion had a genius for being happy, and much as the unexpected ball -had amused her, she hurried along the road to Portobello, her cheek -dimpling at the recollection of all that had passed, while she -confidently anticipated one pleasure yet to come from it, the -amusement she knew Sir Arthur would derive from her adventure; for -never did two individuals, when together, seem to converse more in -accordance with Dr. Johnson's rule, than Marion and her uncle, that -"the aged should remember that they have been young, and the young -that they must yet be old." - -As Marion arrived within sight of the cottage, her step became more -buoyant, and her thoughts more joyous, when, seeing Sir Arthur at his -open window, she waved her handkerchief to him; and Henry, leaping out -from a height of about ten feet, ran laughing to meet her, his rich -brown hair waving in the wind, his color heightened by the exercise, -and his eye sparkling with the joy of this very unexpected meeting. - -While Marion poured out the tea, and poured out, at the same time, a -whole flood of recollections and circumstances connected with the -ball, Sir Arthur equalled her utmost hopes, in being amused and -enlivened by the description, while he said, in a rallying tone, -looking fondly at her bright, happy countenance, "My dear Marion, you -will never get on in the fashionable world! You look too pleased and -happy, like a girl in the Christmas holidays. That will never do. It -is the fashion to be exceedingly fastidious and discontented. You must -positively give yourself some airs, or I shall have to be angry at -you." - -"You, uncle Arthur! Do let me see you angry! I cannot fancy such a -thing. But pray, publish a volume of advice to young ladies on their -first coming out. It would be a great pity for the rising generation -not to benefit by your remarks," said Marion, gaily seating herself at -the window. "I feel this morning as cheerful as that view of yours -from the window, where the waves are dancing in sunshine, the ocean -one liquid diamond, the sands all sparkling with gladness, and the -white-winged vessels gliding joyfully along." - -"External things take their expression from the feelings with which -they are looked at," replied Sir Arthur, with sudden emotion. "That -wide desert of sand seems to me this morning boundless as human -wishes, and barren as their reality. I would not willingly throw a -cloud over your happy face, Marion; but it must be! How strange, that -even you, young and joyous as you are, must be doomed, like all the -children of man, to sorrow! The delight of seeing you here, my very -dear girl, had banished all care from my mind for a time; but it is on -your account, far--far more than my own--that I feel anxious and -melancholy." - -Marion put her arm gently within that of Sir Arthur, and looked -affectionately, but silently, in his face, while he continued, in -accents of manly regret and indignation, while there was a mournful -tenderness in the look he turned on his niece, - -"You have not heard, Marion, that the little I ever had has been made -less by a mean transaction of my nephew's. For my own part, this -matters little, as it is not in the nature of things, that with all my -accumulated infirmities, I should live as much as a couple of years. -My sight has almost entirely failed, my general health is equally bad, -and my long-faded spirits owe their best support to religion, and to -the affection of yourself and Henry." - -Marion silently and tearfully kissed her uncle's check, and pressed -his hand more closely in her own, while he proceeded, in accents of -increasing emotion, - -"My boy here wishes, as he ought, to pursue a profession, and Henry -will be an honor to any one he enters. He has never cost me an anxious -thought, nor a single shilling. I trust his anonymous annuity will be -always continued, and that on his account I need not lament my -impoverished circumstances; but my chief earthly care is for you, -Marion. Though Agnes, too, shows me little attention, and no kindness, -I cannot forget whose child she is, nor think of her future life -without anxiety. I had hoped to have the means of being useful to both -of you while I lived--to have offered you a shelter here, in case, as -I expect soon, there should be no other for you--and to have left you -both at last above absolute penury, when I am at rest in the grave. It -is for your sakes only that I would now cling to the tattered shreds -of my worn-out existence; but this is a difficult world for -unprotected, portionless girls, in which to buffet their way onwards. -Remember, dear Marion, it is my misfortune, not my fault, if death now -overtake me before I can do anything for my brother's children." - -Marion clasped her arms round Sir Arthur's neck, and wept in silence. -There was a weight of grief in all he had said, for which she was -totally unprepared, and which she felt in every fibre of her heart. -Sir Patrick's disgraceful conduct, and the impending departure of -Henry, so long her companion and friend, were afflictions for which -she was in some degree prepared; and they seemed as nothing, compared -with what her venerable uncle said, for the first time, of himself. He -was a strong-minded man, unwilling to obtrude his infirmities and -feelings on the notice of any one, anxious always rather to borrow -cheerfulness from those around, than to cause anxiety or grief; but a -sense of its absolute necessity had induced him to show Marion, in -some degree, her real position, and in doing so, had obliged him for -once to speak of his own pecuniary losses and growing frailty. Long as -the Admiral had been threatened with blindness, brought on by the -pernicious climates in which he had served, the apprehension of -actually losing him had hitherto been so far from Marion's thoughts, -that she frequently pleased herself with anticipating the time when -she might herself supply, by reading to him and walking with him, the -place of that gloomy and spectral-looking Mr. Howard, one of the few -people in the world whom Marion disliked, at the same time that she -almost envied him for being so constantly in the society of Sir -Arthur, and for being so indispensably useful to him. - -Marion felt that all the world would be cold and bleak to her indeed, -as if the sun had left the firmament, if she lost the warmth of -affection and kindness to which, from infancy, she had been -accustomed, in the house of her beloved uncle, the only parent she had -ever known. If such a misfortune were to come, who would then advise -her--who would then be interested in her feelings--who would believe -in the sincerity of her affections--who would be happy when she -appeared, and grieved when she departed? All this rushed upon Marion's -young mind when she arose to depart, while bitter tears coursed each -other down her cheeks, and large drops stood in the nearly blinded -eyes of Sir Arthur, which he endeavored to hide, as he affectionately -embraced her, saying, in a tone of dignified, but melancholy -composure, - -"Come back soon, my dear girl! Let me see that face often, while I can -see at all! You are the ivy giving life and cheerfulness to a blasted -tree." - -"Let me remain with you always!" whispered Marion, in a tone of the -deepest earnestness, "dear uncle Arthur! It is impossible to tell how -happy I could be with you, but I have an abhorrence now, not to be -expressed, of my present situation. It seems little short of swindling -even for me, to live as I do, with all our debts unpaid. When I sit -down at my brother's table, or wear the dresses he gives me, I cannot -but feel myself an accomplice. It is degrading to my very heart, and I -would not willingly do it. Take me home, dear uncle, to the best home -I have ever known. Let me read to you, write for you, walk with you, -and we shall be so happy--so very happy together." - -"It may come to that too soon, dear Marion, and when it does, no -parent ever received his own child with more pleasure than I shall -welcome you. Even with all my shame and sorrow, then, for your -brother, my very heart shall rejoice to see you, but not yet. Patrick -is your guardian--a most unfit one certainly;--but while he is able -and willing to receive you, which cannot probably be long,--it would -ill become me to interfere. In remaining with him, you fulfil your -father's will, who bequeathed you to his care,--a trust he has but -little deserved. Remain with him, however, at present, and do not feel -answerable for his actions or circumstances, over which you have no -control." - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - - -Marion's walk back from Portobello was of a very different aspect from -her gay outset in the morning, and nature seemed to have suddenly gone -out of tune as she gazed around, with an altered eye on the sombre -massy hills with their giant shadows, throwing into mysterious -obscurity the tall ancient buildings of the doleful Canongate, which -looked like the ghost of a departed city; and the melancholy -magnificence of Holyrood reminded her of greatness in adversity, while -she reflected that the royal houses of Stuart and of Bourbon had there -found a dismal refuge in their utmost destitution. But more -immediately connected with herself, and more interesting still to her -thoughts, though rather a sinking in poetry, was the consideration -that there her own brother had been driven by his folly and -indiscretion, and that her father's family, so long respected in -Scotland, seemed now about to be finally extinguished in penury and -disgrace. It was a misfortune without remedy, for Marion knew the -limit of her influence with Sir Patrick to be less than nothing, and -she believed that not a living being possessed more. She had never -heard a surmise of his attachment to Clara, or deep and unconquerable -as it was, she might have entertained some hope that the love of -virtue and goodness in others, might lead to a respect for it in -himself, though none can doubt the melancholy truth, that, as fevers -are infectious, but health is not, so moral evil is far more -contagious than moral good. - -After a hurried walk, Marion reached home in some trepidation, lest -she might be too late to dress for dinner, an offence which Sir -Patrick always visited with his utmost indignation; but on entering -the house, she was alarmed and surprised to hear, from the butler, -that Agnes had been seized with sudden illness very soon after her -return from Lady Towercliffe's ball, and that she was unable to leave -her bed. - -Marion flew, rather than walked up stairs, and entered her sister's -room with the most affectionate solicitude, but great was her -astonishment to find Agnes stretched almost insensible on the bed, and -evidently in an agony of suffering, pale, cold, and languid. Her -spirits were evidently in the lowest depression, and, for the first -time in her life, she seemed to consider herself a mere mortal like -other people. - -Dixon, in the mean time, watched over the invalid with an air of -excessive, almost exaggerated solicitude, emitting a series of very -ostentatious sighs, while she kept her place close beside the bed, so -as to exclude every one else, and made eager signs to Marion when she -entered, to leave the room without speaking, and not approach her -sister, or agitate her in any way. - -Without heeding any such signals, however, Marion approached the -bed-side with noiseless steps, and quietly assuming the place which -had been occupied by Dixon, gently took hold of Agnes' hand, which -felt so cold and clammy, that she started with a degree of alarm, -greatly increased by the sight of the invalid's altered aspect. - -"Have you called in a doctor?" said she, anxiously. "Surely Patrick -does not know how very ill you are, Agnes?" - -"Dixon says he thought nothing of it, and recommended me to put off my -illness till after the assembly: unfeeling wretch! when I shall -perhaps never recover. Since then he is gone hunting," added Agnes, -with a peevish look at Marion, as if it were her fault, "and he will -not return home before night!" - -"Who said Patrick had gone out hunting? It is not the case. I met him -in the passage, and he had been told you complained only of a slight -nervous headache!" said Marion, glancing at Dixon, whose countenance -wore an expression so sinister and peculiar, that Marion felt the -color rush to her face with surprise, but turned away instantly to -conceal how much she had been startled by it, though determined -privately to watch Dixon's face more narrowly than before, while -feeling a vague apprehension of she knew not what. - -"Miss Dunbar must be kept quiet," observed Dixon, in a harsh sulky -voice, "she ought not to speak. It only fatigues her, and she should -see no one!" - -"Who ordered that?" asked Marion with a scrutinizing look at the -abigail's averted face. "I shall remain here, Dixon, therefore leave -the room yourself at present." - -While she angrily and slowly prepared to obey this authoritative -command, Agnes turned her pallid face towards Marion, saying, in a -faint voice, and with a look of extreme lassitude, - -"Dixon says I have been in a delirium. She is probably right, for I -could have been certain that when the shutters were closed, I heard a -voice in the farthest corner of my room. It sounded like muttered -curses, and a dark figure crossed the fire-place. Could it be a dream? -I was too weak to move--my hand trembled, so that I could not reach -the bell, but surely I heard a low, strange, unearthly laugh. It was -horrible! but a moment afterwards Dixon appeared, and she says I was -in a deep sleep, evidently dreaming some horrible dream!" - -"It is impossible sometimes to distinguish between a dream and a -reality, especially when we are ill," said Marion soothingly, for she -was alarmed at the look of terror and perplexity with which Agnes -mentioned these circumstances, and privately determined, as soon as -possible, to communicate on the subject with Sir Patrick. "I must be -allowed, Agnes, to sleep in your room to-night." - -"Dixon maintains that this is all mere fatigue, after the excitement -of Lady Towercliffe's, but I was never yet wearied with being -flattered and admired! This morning, however, strange to say, my -spirits are dreadfully depressed. Nothing gives me pleasure. I can -scarcely imagine any earthly thing that could interest me. Though the -ball turned out pleasanter than any ball ever was before, and Captain -De Crespigny seemed, as usual, the most lover-like of men, yet this -morning, if he proposed to you, or even to Dixon, I should scarcely -care. Everything seems a blank. I feel a sort of depression and horror -not to be described or imagined." - -"I desired you, Dixon, to leave the room," exclaimed Marion, -astonished to perceive her still lurking about the bed. "Go -instantly," added Marion in a more peremptory tone, for there was -something that terrified her in the woman's look. "What do you think, -my dear Agnes, can be the cause of this very sudden illness? Did you -eat any supper?" - -"Nothing; I Jephsonized completely; tasted not a morsel, and drank -still less! That good creature, Dixon, brought me a cup of tea from her -own breakfast, on my return home, merely to lay the dust in my throat, -but, _entre nous_, I tossed the greater part out of that window -clandestinely, as it had an odd, disagreeable taste, like -stuff-petticoats! Poor Dixon would be mortified if she knew what I -thought of her 'delicious mixture' at, probably, 3s. 6d. the pound. It -is a pleasure to see any human being so attached as she is to me." - -Marion's color deepened at the tone of reproach in which these last -words were spoken. It was impossible, she thought, that they could be -seriously considered applicable to her, and yet both the look and -accent seemed to say so, and the ready color flushed her cheek when -she felt that no attachment could have equalled her own, had she dared -to express it either in word or deed. - -As Agnes declined sending for a doctor, and seemed already better, -though unable for more exertion, Marion took up a book, and remained -silently by her side, watching, with anxious solicitude, every -variation of her countenance, and, with affectionate ingenuity, -anticipating all her many wants, the most troublesome of which -appeared to be a craving and intolerable thirst. - -After some time the door opened, and Dixon was about to enter with a -tray containing Agnes' dinner, but on seeing Marion still there, she -started and seemed about hastily to withdraw. - -"Come in," said Marion, looking with astonishment at the abigail's -countenance, which was flushed and inflamed, as if she had been -intoxicated. "Come in." - -"When Miss Dunbar is ill, she always likes her dinner alone," said -Dixon, pertly. "This is only a plain pudding, so I shall keep it warm -below." - -"My sister will not like it the less for my helping her," said Marion, -affectionately turning to Agnes. "You may leave it with me, Dixon." - -Marion was surprised to see the woman visibly change color when she -said this. The abigail instantly compressed her lips as if to prevent -their quivering, fixed her wild glaring eyes on Agnes, and then gave -an anxious glance at the dinner tray. - -"This pudding seems excellent," continued Marion, helping Agnes; "but -surely there is rather too much sugar scattered on the top! Sugar!" -added Marion in accents of astonishment, when she had put it to her -lips; "this is not sugar! stop, Agnes! stop! I charge you not to taste -it!" exclaimed Marion, hastily dashing the spoon out of her sister's -hand, as she was raising it to her mouth. "What can this mean? There -is something here I do not understand. It must be explained!" - -Bewildered and amazed, Marion looked round, and beheld a dark scowl of -rage and fear, like insanity itself, never afterwards to be forgotten, -which disturbed the countenance of Dixon for a moment, and then she -became of a livid, unnatural whiteness, when, in a low, subdued voice, -she uttered, - -"I know nothing about it; the cook seasons Miss Dunbar's dinner; if -this is not to her taste, I can take it away." - -"Marion, what is the matter? I hate all this fuss. Pray do not make a -scene when I am so ill. Dixon manages for me without half this -trouble. The pudding seems good enough." - -Marion trembled visibly as she got up, but without saying another word -she rang three times for the cook, who expressed the greatest -astonishment when the pudding was shown to her, saying, in a tone of -pique, as she supposed her skill was in question, - -"I put none of that there powdering on; sure it be something very -queer; neither sugar, salt, nor mustard! It would be of little use in -a kitchen, with no taste? I declare," added she, suddenly changing -color, "to my thinking, it be nothing better nor worse than arsenic!" - -A stifled cry of astonishment and consternation escaped from Marion -at these words, while she hurriedly exclaimed, "Stop Dixon; do not -let Dixon leave the house! Send for an apothecary. Where is Patrick?" - -The powder, on being analyzed, proved, indeed, to be arsenic, which -Dixon bought on the previous evening, on the usual pretext of -poisoning rats; but while Marion was raising an alarm, the culprit -herself absconded, carrying off all Agnes' trinkets and money, which -she must previously have secreted; and notice of the robbery was -immediately sent to the police. Among her valuable collection of -jewelry, Agnes bestowed the most audible lamentations on a splendid -locket set in diamonds with her brother's hair; but her secret regrets -were the deepest for a crystal scent-bottle, with a gold top set in -turquoises, which Captain De Crespigny had presented on the previous -evening, pretending he had lost it to her in a bet. - -"One would fancy," said Agnes, in her usual rallying tone, the first -time she saw Captain De Crespigny after her recovery, "that Dixon had -been some old admirer of yours. Not a vestige is left of anything I -ever received from you! The last year's annual which you gave me, the -music which you copied for me, even my withered bouquet of the night -before, all gone at one fell swoop, leaving not a wreck behind!" - -Captain De Crespigny colored violently, and strode to the window in -evident confusion, which Marion could not but remark with astonishment -and perplexity; but Agnes, quite unconscious of his agitation, rattled -on with increasing animation. - -"I always now put my money and everything valuable in the most -conspicuous part of my room, to save anybody the trouble of murdering -me for them. I have a perfect horror of being murdered! It never -occurred to me, however, that the treasures which for certain reasons -I value most, were in any danger, being of no intrinsic value to other -people. I really would have died in defence of my little -scent-bottle." - -Captain De Crespigny had recourse now to the poker, an inestimable -refuge in all cases where the concealment of emotion is an object, as -his heightened color could excite no reasonable surprise after the -exertion of lifting it, and the noise he made afterwards seemed -equivalent to a reply. - -"It was, after all, a most terrifying escape!" continued Agnes, rather -delighted than otherwise by the importance she had acquired by this -adventure, and holding it up continually in every light that she -could. "That horrid Dixon! she always had a half-crazed look! You must -remember my telling you so, Marion?" - -"I remember it perfectly it was I who said so to you!" replied her -sister, laughing, - -"Ah! that is exactly the same thing!" - -"Not in the least," persisted Marion, good-humoredly smiling. "All -great discoveries occasion disputes about the originators. Watt and -Bell about steam, and you and I about this poisoning affair!" - -"Well, it was clever of you, Marion! I shall do as much for you -another time. That ungrateful creature! The arsenic would probably, at -the very least, have spoiled my teeth, and perhaps made my hair grow -grey! That I never could have survived!" - -"The strangest thing of all is, that there seems to have been so much -malice in the whole business," continued Marion. "She might easily -have carried off all the plate, or Patrick's gold dressing-case! What -could ail Dixon at you, Agnes? You were kindness itself to her." - -"This is an odd world, and very remarkable things happen in it," -observed Sir Patrick, with a yawn. "But you may talk till you are both -in your coffins, without making anything new of this business. Your -affair has been the wonder of the house for two entire days, Agnes, -without a single new fact having come out, and there is De Crespigny -strolled into the garden to escape being wearied to death. I really -think two days long enough to discuss any one subject, and the less -you annoy yourselves about it the better. If the culprit is above -ground, the police will ferret her out; and my advice to both of you -is, to eat your puddings for the next month without sugar!" - -Agnes assumed a look of majestic ire at this very cavalier allusion to -her adventure, and threw herself back in her arm-chair, with an -exceedingly ill-used aspect, heaving a succession of indignant sighs, -which continued most provokingly unnoticed till they amounted at last -almost to groans of suppressed anger, while Sir Patrick, taking up the -"Times," concluded, by saying, in a tone of absent, careless -indifference, - -"One has no leisure now to be happy and sorry about everything that -occurs. I remember once seeing a very impudent, forward-looking -actress perform Juliet at Covent-Garden, when De Crespigny whispered -to me, in his droll way, 'Depend upon it, this is not the first lover -whom that young lady has met on a balcony!' and you may depend upon -it, Agnes, this is not the first poisoning experiment your abigail has -attempted: I hope she will never try her skill on me! What would you -say if she were to administer a dose of zinc some day, and turn you -blue! I often wonder that no jealous woman ever wreaked her vengeance -in that way! It would be a capital joke!" - -Agnes had been greatly flattered, and if any attention to herself -could have surprised her, she might have been astonished at the -intense interest almost inadvertently betrayed by Captain De -Crespigny, in the mysterious circumstances of her lately discovered -danger. When the particulars were first mentioned, he turned as pale -as death, and asked with startling eagerness, for a minute description -of the abigail's appearance, to which he listened with almost -breathless attention. From that moment he became indefatigable in his -efforts to trace out the fugitive, in which he seemed most truly and -heartily in earnest, writing advertisements himself for the -newspapers, to offer a reward for her apprehension, and never seeming -to tire of hearing all that could be remembered or related, respecting -the period of her being first engaged by Agnes, her dress, manner, -age, and appearance, while his color varied visibly from red to pale -several times during the narration. - -"It is altogether most flattering to me!" observed Agnes next day, -when pointing all this out to Sir Patrick. "Captain De Crespigny has -been sometimes most maliciously accused of insincerity towards young -ladies; but when he is in earnest you see how very much in earnest he -is! It would be impossible for him to be more deeply interested and -agitated on the occasion, if his own life, instead of mine, had been -endangered. I wish everybody else had shown as much feeling!" added -she, glancing angrily at Sir Patrick, who was carelessly whistling a -tune, and beating time with a riding whip on his boot. "Well!" -exclaimed Agnes, getting more and more irritated, "if I did not see -that one person at least cares more for me in the world than you do, I -would be ready yet, without giving Dixon the trouble, to poison -myself! I would spend my last shilling on a dose of arsenic!" - -"I am not sure that poisoning in such a case would be the best plan!" -replied Sir Patrick, describing circles on the carpet with his whip, -and speaking in a tone of most provoking _nonchalance_. "In the first -place, if people are so very indifferent, it might be no great -punishment to them; and besides, I do not exactly see how poisoning -would improve your own prospects, either in this world or the next! In -respect to my friend De Crespigny, it is quite a catch for any idle man -like him, when something occurs that he can be interested in, for he -was dying of too much leisure; but as for his ever falling seriously in -love with any young lady in the creation, let me warn you, Agnes, once -for all, that there cannot be a more hopeless hope invented or dreamed -of." - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - - -Marion found it more and more difficult every day, to account for the -bitter, angry contempt with which Agnes spoke of Clara Granville, her -dislike to whom never seemed for an hour to lie dormant, as she was -perpetually making allusions to her, which caused very frequent -irritation between herself and Sir Patrick, who sometimes angrily left -the room, and yet occasionally joined in her invectives against the -whole Granville family, in a tone of reckless, angry derision, which -was to Marion completely perplexing and unaccountable. If Agnes felt -dull or out of spirits, she complained of being excessively -Granville-ish; or if Sir Patrick were observed for a wonder, in any -single instance, to economise, she called him a Granville-ist; but if -her brother either laughed, or flung himself out of the room, -according to the humor he was in, it was in a fit of Granville-ism; -and Marion became surprised to perceive that the mention of that name -was never, even by chance, like that of any other name, a subject of -indifference; and conscious that some secret was connected with it, -not imparted to her, she carefully avoided all allusion to Clara. - -Agnes one day jestingly announced to Sir Patrick that the Granvilles -had taken out perpetual tickets at the Charitable Soup Kitchen, and -meant to dine there every day on broth; and the next morning she -rather inconsistently found fault with them, because at least twenty -poor people assembled at their lodgings every day, to be fed, as if it -were a House of Refuge. - -Marion observed that all the innumerable books for charitable -subscriptions, which were circulated from door to door, Agnes liked to -examine, for the gossiping amusement of ascertaining how much was -given by each or her friends, though never for the purpose of adding -her own name, as her purse was a complete valetudinarian, always -complaining of exhaustion, yet always capable of any exertion dictated -by inclination; and Sir Patrick also, though he generally swore an -impatient oath or two, when he saw the succession of dingy looking -books brought into the drawing-room, sometimes amused himself with a -supercilious glance at the contents. - -Whenever the object was judicious, the Reverend Richard Granville's -name, and that of his sister, appeared for a small sum, such as they -might be able to afford; and Marion felt convinced there was much -single-hearted goodness, and courageous disregard of mere appearances, -when beneath the pompous L5 5s., of Lady Towercliffe, she saw the -modest unobtrusive ten shillings, or half-a-crown of Miss Granville. -It was probably all Clara could give, and she did not feel ashamed to -proclaim the very small amount, though Agnes, like most persons who -are mean themselves, in respect to giving, was splendid in her notions -for others, and exclaimed outrageously against the absurdity of -bestowing a paltry trifle at all. - -"Five shillings to the Infirmary! did ever anybody hear such nonsense! -as if an Infirmary could be supported on five shillings! It is so like -Clara Granville's trumpery ideas! I daresay she thought the fortune of -the institution made by such a donation! It will scarcely buy a packet -of James' powders for one of the invalids!" - -"But when Clara spares five shillings, are we to give nothing!" asked -Marion, seeing Sir Patrick's pompous butler, as usual, carrying away -the book untouched. - -"Better give nothing than make ourselves ridiculous, like the -Granvilles. Nobody will guess that this book was brought here! I wish -Clara had given her superfluous money towards the better equipment of -their own one solitary man-servant,--the merest attempt at a footman I -ever beheld, with such a lodging-house look! Like the waiter from some -second-rate inn! Did you ever see anything so ugly, and out of taste, -as that little yellow cottage of the Granvilles', standing close to -the old palace, like a kippered salmon nailed to the wall!" - -An angry flush burned upon the cheek of Sir Patrick, who did not trust -his temper with a reply to Agnes' tirade; and Marion hastily withdrew -her eyes from his countenance, on perceiving that he had bit his lip -till the blood seemed ready to spring, while his eyes flashed fire. In -a moment afterwards, he whistled half a tune, threw open the window, -and finally hurried out of the room, while Agnes looked mysteriously -at Marion, and said nothing, though the expression of her eye plainly -told that something was wrong. - -Sir Patrick never entered a church; but Sunday being a day of impunity, -when he might go to his club, and become a gentleman-at-large, without -the possibility of being arrested, he invited a weekly supper party to -meet him at Douglass' Hotel, every Saturday night, punctually at -twelve o'clock, which held together till so late an hour on Sunday -mornings, that once having carried a candle to the door, when letting -out Captain De Crespigny, the day-light flashed in upon them, and they -saw the congregations passing along every street to church. - -Sir Patrick's life had now become one continual subterfuge. '_Il jurait -bien, mais il payait mal_;' and he was heard frequently to declare, -that he could not but fancy it might be, to an old experienced fox, a -great amusement, when he afforded a good day's hunting to sportsmen, -from the strange delight he felt himself in baffling duns and teasing -bailiffs. He cared for nothing, not even for his debts and creditors, -but over-reached everybody, paid nobody, and treated all mankind in -different styles of insolence; but his favorite diversion was, nearly -to out-stay the hour of twelve on Sunday night, knowing that his -ill-treated creditors had offered a reward of L500 for his capture, and -that the whole way along the High Street, emissaries were ambuscaded, -in the eager hope that some fortunate night the clock might strike -Monday morning before he was safely sheltered within the sanctuary. - -Once Sir Patrick had indeed lingered several minutes too late; and -when he approached the ditch, forming a line of demarcation between -the debtor's refuge and the world in general, a rope was drawn -completely across the street, while two men like constables, in large -loose duffle coats, and hats slouched over their faces, had taken -their station, each holding it resolutely at opposite ends, in the -certain expectation of entrapping him, though the courage of both -seemed for a moment to waver, when they saw the tall, well-knit, and -finely-proportioned figure of Sir Patrick, as he strode onwards, with -his usual military bearing and commanding aspect. After exchanging a -look, however, they tightened the rope, and were about, with a rapid -manoeuvre, to coil it round him, when Sir Patrick, seeing their -intention, rushed forward on the nearest, and levelled him to the -ground with a single blow, saying, "You dastardly rascals! do you -suppose that a dozen such fellows could be a match for any gentleman!" - -"I'm a better gen'lemen than you, Sir!" said the other, in an insolent -blustering tone. "Every guinea in your pocket, Sir, there's ten men in -the world have a better right to than you have! I think a gen'leman -born means a gen'leman as pays his debts!" - -"Then here is what I owe to you!" replied Sir Patrick, flinging him -almost across the street, with a violent blow on the head. "Only dare -to stand in my way again, and every joint or bone in that miserable -carcass of yours shall be fit for the surgeons. I intend to keep this -rope till the day you are hanged!" - -Agnes made her Sundays literally a day of rest, by remaining most of -the morning in bed, to recover the fatigues of the previous week; and -even in the afternoon, a "Sunday shower" often kept her at home. She -had been taught at Mrs. Penfold's, to consider the most superficial -attention to religion, as being little short of angelic, and to -believe that the utmost extreme of rational devotion, if she wished to -be inordinately pious, would consist in going once every Sunday to a -pew in some fashionable chapel, where the stream of the preacher's -eloquence might be permitted to flow in at one ear, and out at the -other, without there being any occasion for her to analyse or -understand what he said, satisfied that her duty was more than done by -appearing there at all,--besides which, she occasionally read prayers -at home, in a careless mechanical way, which was anything but -praying--she had a magnificently bound bible on her toilette, more for -ornament than for use--she wore all her dresses for the first time at -chapel, dined on roast beef every Sunday, and spent the evening in -writing letters or in reading, or rather in sleeping over some volume -of religious poetry or tales--what Sir Patrick laughingly called "a -half-good book." - -Both Agnes and her brother spoke with unmitigated and indiscriminating -reprobation of Methodists, Roman Catholics, Unitarians, Independents, -or any other sect of whom they knew the name, because, having always -belonged nominally to an orthodox chapel, they considered it a matter -of course, when thinking about the matter at all, that they must be -orthodox too; though, if Agnes had been obliged to give a summary of -her own doctrines, it would have been a confused medley, containing -many of the heresies she reprobated by name, without knowing their -nature. Thus sailing down on the stream of her own inclinations, -without effort or reflection, Agnes would have been indignant and -astonished beyond measure to be told, that she was not performing in a -most commendable manner "The Whole Duty of Man," or at least more than -the whole duty of woman, while she looked upon all those who evinced a -greater reverence for religion as mean hypocrites or fanatical -enthusiasts--being very much of opinion with the divine, who said that -orthodox meant his own opinion, and paradox other people's. - -Marion silently, and very unobtrusively, pursued the even tenor of her -own way, with that deep and ardent devotion of spirit which had first -been awakened to life by the happy instrumentality of Clara, whose -apparent estrangement from her family now she deeply deplored, while -many an anxious conjecture frequently crossed her mind, whether she, -along with her brother and Agnes, must share in that alienation which -she could neither fully understand nor in any degree diminish; and on -the Sunday morning after her arrival at St. John's Lodge, before -setting out for chapel, she had been surprised and mortified to -observe, that Agnes' occupation in bed consisted in tearing up, to -make matches, a numerous collection of notes from Miss Granville, all -containing apologies for not accepting various invitations to St. -John's Lodge. "What can this all mean?" thought Marion, in agitated -perplexity, as she pursued her way to chapel. "It is very unlike Clara -to be so repulsive! and equally unlike Agnes to be importunate! I fear -something is greatly wrong; but Clara is too just and too good to -mingle me in any quarrel of which I do not so much as know the cause. -When we meet I shall at once ask Clara for an explanation. We must all -yet be reconciled and happy, as in former days." - -There is nothing which extravagant people grudge so much as paying for -a pew in church; and those often who squander money upon everything -else, meanly evade subscribing this just and necessary tribute for the -maintenance of religion and good order in society. It is astonishing -how many who pay their way with lavish liberality during the interval -to concerts and balls, will stand, week after week, like paupers, in a -chapel-aisle, begging for a seat, rather than hire one for the season; -and on this occasion Marion, finding that neither Sir Patrick nor -Agnes had ever imagined any necessity for providing themselves with a -local habitation of their own, followed a stream of people into -chapel, and stood for some time near the door, in that most awkward -and conspicuous of all situations, waiting for the chance of being -shown into a seat by some compassionate pew-opener. - -The street had been crowded by a dense mass of carriages, while Marion -felt almost bewildered by the loud crash of equipages driving up and -driving off, breaking the line and backing out, as if they had been -assembled on the benefit night of some popular actor, while a flood of -pedestrians crowded along the foot-path, as if their lives depended on -being first. She was astonished also at the unprecedented concourse of -people already assembled in chapel, with looks of eager excitement and -flushed expectation. Every aisle appeared filled to excess, and the -staircase seemed one solid mosaic of faces, while the congregation -were all crushing, elbowing, and pushing forward, in impatient haste. -Voices were heard, at length, speaking aloud, in angry contention, for -places--a sound which grated strangely and startlingly on the ear in a -sacred edifice; and when at length the heat became unbearably intense, -a loud crash was heard, of persons breaking the window for air. - -Marion, intimidated at having ventured alone into so dense a crowd, -and at a loss to guess what could occasion so much excitement, would -have made her way out; but the pressure behind rendered it as -impossible to retreat as to advance. On few occasions do people betray -so great a want of kind consideration, and even of hospitality, as -when comfortably ensconced in an extensive pew at church, occupying -room enough for three or four others, and carelessly staring at those -who are vainly waiting, with hesitation and confusion such as -Marion's, in hopes of being obligingly accommodated with a place. Her -color deepening every moment, and her veil drawn closer, Marion shrank -from notice, while one person after another elbowed his way forward, -and closed the door of his pew, with the authoritative, self-satisfied -air of a proprietor, heedless how others might be situated; and still -Marion anxiously glanced around her in vain, for the obscurest nook in -which to subside unseen. - -At length, when the first loud peal of the organ had sent forth its -solemn tones, summoning every heart to devout attention, Marion felt a -gentle touch given to her arm, and on looking round, her hand was -clasped for a moment with a look of heartfelt affection by Clara -Granville, who silently led her to the seat, at some distance, from -which she had followed her, and giving one more affectionate pressure -of the hand to Marion, she composed herself into a look of devout and -fervent attention, forgetful evidently of all but the important -services of the hour, while Marion's heart beat with rapture to find -herself once more beside her most beloved friend, and that friend -unchanged. - -The prayers were not merely read, but prayed--not in the every day -matter-of-course tone, so common in the pulpit, nor in a pompous, -self-sufficient, commanding voice, but with deep thrilling solemnity, -and in a manner calm, graceful, and dignified, by a young clergyman of -most intelligent and serious aspect, who evidently felt all he said, -and became so utterly absorbed in his duty, that it appeared as if he -almost imagined himself alone, and visibly present with the Divine -Being whom he addressed. - -The young preacher's appearance was singularly striking and -prepossessing. His dark Spanish-looking complexion, and rather foreign -features, were animated by an expression of the brightest -intelligence, while in his eye might be traced the calm dignity of a -highly cultivated intellect, and the benevolence of a Christian who -hoped all things and believed all things, judging others as he would -himself be judged. In preaching, he avoided the arena of controversy, -but his arguments were clear and comprehensive, his eloquence -irresistible, as much by the fire and splendor of his genius, as by -the depth and solemnity of his reflections, while the attention was -enthralled, the judgment convinced, the heart awakened, and the inward -feelings touched in their most secret recesses. Without a thought of -affectation, he was simple, dignified, full of earnestness, -self-conviction, and fervent devotion, while there were passages of -grandeur when he alluded to the solemn mysteries, and higher truths of -revelation, which might have made a mere philosopher feel as if the -wing of his imagination had been broken in attempting to follow; and -yet there were thoughts and illustrations so clear and comprehensible, -that any ignorant child from a charity school might have understood -them. - -Amidst the brighter scintillations of his genius, it was evident that -he understood the whole alchemy of human nature, and while almost -insensibly revealing the magnificent proportions of his own mind, he -understood and sympathised with all the trials, temptations, and -sorrows of human nature, and considered the whole art of happiness for -man to consist in unreserved and heartfelt submission of his own will, -his own hopes, wishes, and affections to the will of his Maker, -desiring to have nothing, to be nothing, to do nothing, and to expect -nothing, but according to His wise and holy decrees--to let the stream -of events run on, seeking to extract the best happiness from them as -they occurred, without one rebellious wish that they had been -otherwise, but only with a fervent prayer that they may, and a firm -belief that they shall, carry him forward, though the course be rough -and perilous, to a calm, bright haven of ceaseless and unutterable -joy. - -When the congregation had dispersed, with a degree of silence and -solemnity very different from their noisy and irreverent entrance, -Marion walked for some time, leaning on the arm of Miss Granville, but -so entranced that she was unable yet to break the chain which had -carried her mind and feelings captive to another and a better world. -She had never before felt so deeply impressed with the transitory -nature of all around her, the insignificance of those joys and sorrows -with which she was encompassed, and it seemed to her but a day or an -hour, till the curtain of eternity should rise, and the glories of a -great hereafter become visible to her sight. - -"You have been deeply interested by all we have heard?" said Clara, in -an accent of gentle interrogation, but with an expression of peculiar -meaning in her countenance, which Marion was at a loss how exactly to -interpret. - -"Interested!" exclaimed Marion, with youthful enthusiasm. "If all the -sermons I ever heard were compressed into one, they could scarcely -equal what has been said to-day!" - -"Do you remember the preacher?" asked Clara, coloring and smiling. -"But no! how could that be possible, when you never met before! Here -he comes! Allow me to introduce you, then, to my very dear brother -Richard. You know each other already, by the description of one who -loves you both!" - -Mr. Granville advanced to Marion with frank and prepossessing -kindness, but though his manner was most ingratiating, his countenance -wore an expression of pre-occupation and fatigue, while he walked -hurriedly past, after cordially shaking Marion by the hand, who -observed to Clara with surprise, that his hand felt as cold as ice. - -"That is always the case with Richard after preaching," replied Miss -Granville. "The solemn feeling of responsibility which he has on -entering the pulpit, often agitates and overawes him to a degree you -would scarcely credit. The extravagant enthusiasm with which he has -lately been followed, makes him still more anxious to use rightly -while it lasts his influence with others, though, as he says, nothing -is so transient in this transitory world as the popularity of a -preacher, and his chief solicitude is to remind men that it is the -word preached, and not the preacher, which they are come to hear, and -always to preserve the simplicity of his own mind, unadulterated by -any inordinate wish for applause." - -"I am sure his words and thoughts have all the force of genuine -feeling," said Marion, earnestly. "He preaches from heart to heart, -which is the only way to strike a light between them. It seemed -to-day, as if he were steering us through an ocean of immeasurable -thought." - -"But," replied Clara, "Richard is deeply impressed with the danger to -a preacher himself, arising from the adulation with which he is -followed by crowds in search of novelty, who give that respect to the -mere ambassador delivering his message, which he wishes to claim -solely and entirely for his Divine Master. He quoted to me yesterday a -quaint old author, who says that God humbles men in this life, that He -may exalt them forever; but Satan exalts men in this life, that he may -cast them down for eternity. It is a solemn truth, and Richard feels -the danger as he ought." - -"Then it is a danger no longer, if seen and rightly avoided," replied -Marion. "He already lives, I have heard, in a better world, while he -acts in this, but so much applause must be apt sometimes to draw down -your brother's thoughts from heaven to earth, if he hears all that is -said and thought. Lady Towercliffe remarked, as we came out, that his -eloquence does him immortal honor." - -"Yes! as Richard himself once observed, 'immortal honor for -twenty-four hours, or perhaps a week;' but that is no object of -legitimate ambition to a preacher of immortality. My brother is -blessed with one Christian attainment almost in perfection, and that -is an actual dread of worldly applause. No penny trumpet could be more -insignificant in his estimation than the enthusiasm of a few excitable -young ladies, and I have seen him often carefully avoiding those, who -would be 'frothing him,' as he calls it, with preposterous praise. He -compares popularity to the sails of a windmill, raised to the clouds -one minute, and down below zero the next; but fashionable notoriety -has no attraction for one who aims at real usefulness. If he did not -despise it, he would despise himself. He is engrossed with the -fervent, heartfelt hope of doing good according to his opportunity, -and in perfect simplicity performing his duty to God and man." - -"How mean and low in comparison do those appear who are living only -for the opinions of men, and the trumpery tinsel of this world, yet -how difficult it must be to rise above earthly ambition," said Marion. -"No patent of nobility could confer half the distinction on your -brother that he enjoyed to-day, surrounded by a multitude all aroused -to enthusiasm by his words. A mere author writes in solitude, and -never knows the full influence of what he has written; but an orator -reaps an immediate harvest of honor, and sees it before his eyes, -which must be ten thousand times more apt to intoxicate him with -success." - -"Yes," replied Clara, "no enthusiasm can rival what is felt at the -moment for a popular preacher. His eloquence rouses feelings stronger -than in any nature, while men become conscious that it would be their -highest honor and best safety to encourage such thoughts as he -suggests. You would smile sometimes to see how Richard's steps are -beset as he leaves the chapel, by crowds anxious to catch a glimpse of -his countenance, to request an introduction, to express their warmest -thanks, to entreat he will print his last sermon, or to beg for an -autograph." - -"It is taking pains to destroy what they most admire, when people -throw such temptations to vanity in a clergyman's way," said Marion. -"Even I could not but perceive, as he passed, the reverential glances, -and the whispered announcement of his name on every side, as he -hurried onward, looking neither to the right hand nor to the left; but -he sets an example of what he teaches, to live for high and holy -purposes. It is only by carrying a light himself, that a clergyman can -give light to others." - -"Yes, Marion! it was not in mere words, of course, or of sacrilegious -presumption, that Richard declared, on being ordained, his own solemn -conviction that he was specially called to be a minister of the -church. Unlike the Jews, who had Christ in their Bibles, but not in -their hearts, his whole spirit was imbued with the pure holy faith and -morality of the everlasting Gospel, and he considered it the highest -of earthly honors to be consecrated for that solemn office." - -"I was often told formerly," said Marion, "that your brother had -talents which would have raised him to eminence--or rather to -pre-eminence--at the bar, and in the House of Commons--or, as Pat has -always said, meaning the greatest compliment of all--on the stage; -but, dear Clara, how different, and how greatly superior, to feel, as -he must do, with an approving conscience, that all his abilities, -time, and strength, are consecrated to an object, which his heart, -without one momentary feeling of doubt or self-reproach, may delight -in--that all his studies, duties, and occupations increase his own -fitness to be happy for ever; while, at the same time, they are for -the good of all mankind, and for the glory of God. Your brother most -truly said to-day, that a sinner is 'the drudge of Satan;' but if -there be real greatness upon earth, I think it is that of an honored -and useful minister in the Church of Christ, whose character is -modelled upon the Holy Scriptures, as some insects take their hue from -the leaf on which they feed." - -"True, Marion! Richard's profession is, indeed, in the way he fulfils -it, 'twice bless'd,' as a means of both giving and receiving -happiness. It is with him a labor of love, in which every duty is a -pleasure, and his object is, to keep us in mind of our individual -importance in being believers; for as the glory of the sun is -reflected in a single drop of dew, so may the character of Christ be -represented in that of the humblest Christian; and like a stone in an -arch, each atom has a place to fill, which must be conscientiously -kept, whether more or less important and conspicuous, with unswerving -steadiness, for in no other can it be so advantageously situated." - -"I am entirely convinced of that," said Marion. "As your brother said -to-day, Christians must never feel themselves raised above the homely -duties of every-day life, nor give mere moralists occasion to say that -their faith is not evidenced by their works." - -"No," replied Clara, "let the ravens croak while the eagle pursues his -steady flight towards the sun, heedless of all but his high -destination. Yet, as Richard says, Christian mothers should instruct -their own children, wives should find their first earthly duty in -associating with their husbands, the heads of houses should watch -conscientiously over the belief and conduct of their servants, a -clergyman's vocation is within his own parish, and every family should -be a little kingdom in itself, ruled and governed by the law and the -Gospel of Christ, so that, as benighted wanderers in the dark are -often cheered and guided by seeing, as they hurry onwards, the light -and warmth gleaming round the hearth of a stranger, the sinner, also, -in his dark and dreary course, when he beholds a passing glimpse of -that peace and joy which are to be found in a Christian household, and -there only, might be tempted and encouraged to go home and do -likewise." - -"I wish it were so oftener," said Marion, while her thoughts reverted -sorrowfully to St. John's Lodge. - -"It is in speaking with single-hearted simplicity of home duties and -home affections, that Richard always excels himself," continued Clara, -warmly. "There he preaches as he practices, for he cultivates -happiness to diffuse it all around him, and he is, in reality, all -that other men wish to appear. He deprecates, in general, pulpit -oratory, as men are often apt to mistake mere excited feeling for true -devotion; and he considers that attention in church at most to be -depended on that which does not require to be pampered with novelty. -Eloquence has so often been perverted to such evil purposes, both -moral and political, that Richard sometimes tells me, he thinks, on -the whole, this world would have been a better world without oratory -at all, because brilliant talents and enthusiastic tempers usurp so -often the place due only to principle." - -"It often occurs to me," said Marion, "that half the actual history of -our own lives is unknown to us now, but will be probably revealed -hereafter;--in what respect, for instance, our circumstances in life -would have been altered, had we on various occasions acted -differently--how near we may have been to meeting with great events -which never actually occurred--what impression has been made on others -by our conduct and actions--who really loved us, and what is the -extent of good or evil which our conversation or our writings may have -done in the world. To your brother how many interesting discoveries -would such revelation probably disclose!" - -"Richard's own endeavor is generally to maintain a calm, rational, and -argumentative style of reasoning with his congregation, and yet he is -carried away irresistibly by his feelings, sometimes into such a burst -of eloquence as we heard to-day," added Clara; "you would sometimes -fancy, even in conversation, that Richard's mind, like some great -volcano, was undergoing an overwhelming eruption, while he pours forth -in resistless torrents, the burning lava of his thoughts and -feelings." - -Marion listened with increasing interest to Clara's remarks, and -watched with affectionate sympathy, the kindling brightness of her -friend's expressive eyes when she spoke of that brother so tenderly -beloved, and so unspeakably respected, of whom, from his earliest -boyhood, she had heard nothing but praise, for none had ever measured -the stature of his mind without finding it higher than they -anticipated. Marion felt an unenvying happiness in the happiness of -Clara, and yet a tear suddenly started into her eyes, and a pang of -unutterable sorrow struck upon her heart when she reflected, that, not -many years ago, her own brother, Patrick, had been the friend and -companion of this highly-gifted man, but that now they were friends no -more, and becoming every day less suited to be companions. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - - -From that memorable Sunday when Marion first renewed her friendship -and intimacy with Clara, her fair young countenance brightened into -its sunniest smiles, while day after day she carried her work to the -little "cottage of contentment," where Clara generally received her in -what she called her summer drawing-room, a small bowling-green in the -garden, bright and shining as an emerald, beneath a grove of -overhanging lilacs and laburnums. There Mr. Granville frequently -brought out books, which he read aloud and discussed, developing the -lofty aspirations of a mind fitted to be high among the highest in -learning and intellect, while his thoughts were like a well-tuned -instrument, from which every chord sounded to the praise of their -Divine maker, and his conversation was, as Pascal said of the Holy -Scriptures, even more addressed to the heart than to the head. - -When reading aloud, Mr. Granville evinced so much interest, with so -quick a consciousness of the author's meaning, and so true a sympathy -in his sentiments, that it seemed as if he must himself have composed -every line; and when he occasionally lent Marion any volume that she -particularly liked, she found his favorite passages marked, and the -margin enriched by so many interesting notes, that she followed with -delight the course of his mind, while at the same time storing her own -memory with high thoughts and refined sentiments. - -There was a degree of soul and spirit in the countenance of Mr. -Granville, which marked him as no ordinary man, and an indefinite -charm in his grave and courteous manner, suited to his holy -profession, and displaying the calmness and polish of one accustomed -to good society. He had an energy of expression irresistibly -influential, while illustrating with an eloquence peculiarly his own, -all the highest and holiest principles which can occupy the human -heart. His master mind conversed of Milton, Spenser, Cowper, -Montgomery, and of all the pious authors dear to every lover of nature -and of highly-wrought genius and devotion, while the most phlegmatic -must have been roused, and the most passionate become subdued, by the -indisputable dominion of a great mind, for his genius appeared to look -upon the trifles of existence with the passing glance of an eagle in -its lofty ascent. - -Marion and Clara were often entertained by Mr. Granville when he -related characteristic anecdotes of pious and literary men with whom -he had associated, enlivened by original remarks, shewing strong -powers of observation, and displaying the best side of human life; yet -his wit and humor were evidently chastened and subdued by a thoughtful -estimate of existence, and by a continual consciousness of his high -vocation, while Marion scarcely knew whether to be most astonished at -the versatility of his talents, or at the extent of his information. -No subject seemed strange to him, no country unknown, no science -unstudied, no book unread,--while with ready memory and practised -judgment he spoke as he thought, betraying no reserve or affectation: -and religion still, like a golden thread, was to be traced running -through his whole conversation. - -Marion's was a heart which required something in those she loved to -reverence and look up to; but here she had found that in its fullest -measure, and under the happiest auspices, among friends with whom she -had never spent an hour without feeling the happier and the better for -it. Now for the first time she discovered that there is an aristocracy -of conversation, which avoids everything low or mean in its origin, -while a new world of ideas opened upon her, in listening to sentiments -of high honor, and to feelings of universal benevolence. The genius of -Agnes for conversation lay only in the line of scandal, and she was in -the habit of sweeping away characters like cobwebs, at a single -stroke, by remarks full of flippancy, and often using her talents as a -mimic, while with tricks almost amounting to buffoonery, she rendered -the best and most estimable of her friends, though above the reach of -censure, at all events ridiculous. Ill-nature was to her conversation -what fuel is to the flame; and Agnes piqued herself on her penetration -in discovering the motive of others for all they did, while invariably -tracing it to something mean or contemptible; but with Richard and -Clara an equal ingenuity was shewn in tracing it to good; and while in -the one house every individual discussed was brought down to the same -level of absurdity or selfishness, it was cheering and gratifying to a -heart like Marion's, that at Mr. Granville's, the characters and -feelings of every one living were respected and elevated. - -At St. John's Lodge, when Marion heard Sir Patrick and Agnes discuss -their acquaintances, she could not but wonder sometimes where all good -or commendable people had hid themselves, as it seemed as if they must -have fled from the face of man, or have closed their hearts in disgust -from all association with the mean and paltry world of fashion and -frivolity; but now at last she had discovered some whom malice itself -could scarcely criticise; and in thus associating intimately with the -"excellent of the earth," she felt an increasing ambition to resemble -them. - -None were more fitted than Clara and Richard to appreciate the -single-hearted excellence of Marion's disposition, her utter -disregardlessness of self, her anxious desire to please, her gay -spirits, brilliant without effort, her heart generous without guile, -and her thoughts fresh and unsophisticated as the gentle summer breeze -from the mountains. No one could look at Marion, and not wish to be -her friend. - -There was a tone of frank and entire confidence in her manner, which -instantly gained that of others in return--a softened sensibility in -her expression--a deep fascination in her smile--and in her voice a -tone of joyous hilarity, indicative of her sunny mind, though, like her -countenance, it was capable of intense expression, and deepened -sometimes, now, into a tone of reflection and feeling beyond her years, -while before long it appeared evident, in Clara's opinion, that she had -become all and everything in this world to Richard, and Richard to -her--that her amiable, single-hearted _naivete_ of disposition had at -once carried all the outworks of Mr. Granville's affection, and that -already she was established not only in his friendship, but in -something more. - -Unsuspicious of Mr. Granville's increasing preference, Marion smiled -and talked in his society with unembarrassed vivacity, or in their -graver moods replied to his remarks as she might have done to those of -any aged clergyman. The perfect harmony of their tastes, and the -sympathy of their feelings, produced that gradual communion of thought -which is the essence of friendship, while heart answered to heart, as -if each had a telegraph instantaneously to reveal all that passed -within. The highest qualities of Mr. Granville's mind, as well as the -deepest feelings of his nature, were brought into visible exercise, -while he who had hitherto lived only for others, now felt that there -was not a link in the chain of human sympathies and affections which -had not become sacred and dear to himself. There was even something -that might be considered romantic in his feelings--a poetry of the -heart, which led him to believe that a refined and sanctified love, -such as men read and write of, but seldom feel, might yet exist on the -earth--such love as could survive the lapse of time, the withering -influence of prosperity, the chilling blast of adversity, and the -growing infirmities of age, till at length, nourished and perfected by -every vicissitude of sunshine and storm, it should be transplanted in -renewed holiness and beauty to another and a better world. - -Marion's character was rapidly matured and developed by her -intercourse with Mr. Granville, who raised in her ardent mind the most -enthusiastic interest; and while with timid pleasure, but increasing -confidence, she joined in the conversation, her voice dwelt on his ear -long after she ceased to speak, her looks were imprinted on his memory -in his most solitary hours, and to Marion a new degree of interest and -of happiness had suddenly become known, when with a vivid blush, and a -beaming smile of pleased emotion, day after day, she thought over all -that had passed, though ignorant yet of the extent to which her heart -and feelings were already engaged. How much of life's most interesting -emotions now passed through her mind during a few weeks, the heart of -Marion alone could testify; while the attachment of Mr. Granville was -concealed from common observation, to be only the more ardently -testified towards herself; and their happiness being the result of no -precipitate impulse, they became attracted together by that love of -excellence, which is the only permanent source of mutual attachment. - -Marion's mind had always a propensity to admire, and whether in nature -or in art, she found it more congenial to her feelings ever to seek -for beauties rather than defects, therefore now she was delighted to -associate with one who not only appreciated everything as she did, but -pointed out unexpected excellencies in all the objects of animated -nature, in all the books she read, and even in many of the companions -with whom she associated. With Richard and Clara she first visited the -abodes of poverty; and in attending to the sufferings and sorrows of -others, she saw that Miss Granville found the best relief from a -depression of spirits, under which Marion could not but see with -surprise and regret, that her friend had recently suffered. Clara's -piety was testified in deeds much more than in words, for good actions -she evidently considered as the necessary embellishments of that holy -faith which alone can render any mortal acceptable in the eyes of his -Divine Maker, while salvation by the cross of Christ is the pivot on -which all depends--the crowning stone to the arch, giving stability -and grace to the whole fabric of Christian hope. - -Miss Granville gave not only her time and money, but her feelings and -sympathies to the poor; while it evidently cheered her very heart when -she could do a kind action; and though ever ready, heartily and -gratefully, to acknowledge the Divine goodness to herself, whether in -joy or in sorrow, yet nothing appeared so keenly to stir up her -gratitude as any opportunity allowed her of doing a benevolent or a -friendly action, as she considered that the knowledge of religion, -without active exertion, testifying our love to God by our love to our -fellow-creatures, was worse than useless. "The most depraved of -sinners," as Mr. Granville said, "could repeat the creed, but a -Christian only can believe and follow it like Clara." - - Graceful and useful in all she does, - Blessing and blest wher'er she goes. - -Marion, on returning one day over the hills and through the fields, -with Mr. Granville and Clara, from a tour of interesting visits to the -abodes of chilling poverty and agonised wretchedness, such as she had -never even imagined, could not but contrast the smiling aspect of -nature in all the sunny joy and verdure of spring, with the mournful -lot of man as she had so recently witnessed it. - -"How strange," said she, "to take a bird's-eye view, as we do this -evening, of that great city, all glittering in sunshine, and every -window illuminated with a flood of light, as if nothing but festivity -and joy were there, and yet to know what a world of anxiety, and fear, -and pain, and sorrow, are all fermenting within its walls! Silent as -the whole scene appears, yet, for every window we can look upon, there -is probably some living being full of schemes, hopes, and fevered -wishes, dissatisfied with his own lot, and envying that of another! -What an awful world this is to be born into, when, amidst its many -pleasures and its many beauties, we yet consider all its solemn -responsibilities and fearful trials!" - -"Yes," replied Mr. Granville, in that voice, the deep melody of which -was like no other voice, "we are placed here in a great theatre; and -while, as interested spectators, we admire the decorations, let us -remember, in respect to the actors, that nothing is either ours or -theirs, but each has his part to perform, for which he is responsible, -and all shall then be swept away to take an abiding place, according -as we are fitted for it, in that real and unchangeable scene for which -here we are only rehearsing our parts. If actors on the stage were to -become actually and permanently for life, the great characters they -represent, provided only they supported the part well for a night, the -stake would be nothing in proportion to what a Christian shall gain if -grace be given him to fulfill his allotted part in this short and -transitory life, which is but a final rehearsal for eternity." - -"Very true," said Clara; "this world is a mere preparatory school, -where, like wayward children, we become surprised and irritated at the -slightest correction, being most unwilling to acknowledge that it is -either required or deserved." - -"Yet," added Mr. Granville, "nothing brings out the best qualities of -man like suffering. It is a hard rub given to gold, which becomes only -the brighter; and I often think how much interest and dignity is -bestowed on every event of our short lives, by thinking that we are -trained and disciplined as a part of a mighty plan which has been -going systematically on from the beginning of time, and must be -continued to the very end." - -"As you observed yesterday," replied Clara, "we are woven into the web -of human life which is passing on daily into eternity, carrying us -along on its surface with irresistible speed. We have no choice -allowed either in coming into the world, or in going out of it; but -the existence thus given to us leads on to an eternity of joy or of -insufferable misery, according to the state of preparation in which we -are found at last. It often occurs to me, as a solemn reflection, that -the two principles of good and evil are, as long as we live, to -continue at war in our minds, but that, like fire and water, one of -these will finally extinguish the other, and that, when death -overtakes us, we shall then become either entirely holy or entirely -reprobate." - -"It is a solemn truth," said Mr. Granville, with his usual tranquil -dignity of manner. "The tide of this world's history rolls on, while -generation after generation, like the successive billows on a troubled -ocean, rises and swells into momentary importance, till it be dashed -in pieces and followed by another; but one great Omnipotent power -directs the whole, and watches over each insignificant atom as it is -hurried along. He, by whom the very hairs of our head are numbered, -ordains for our good and for His glory, all events and circumstances, -whether great or small; and if our wills are implicitly conformed to -His, we shall see the trifles of this life through a blaze of -religious light, which will display us their importance as a means of -attaining good, but their insignificance if pursued as an end." - -"Even now," observed Clara, "the very occupations and habits essential -to a Christian life, in themselves confer a degree of happiness which -the world cannot give, and does not know--a faint but pleasing emblem -of what is promised in a better state." - -"It appears to me," said Mr. Granville, "that those who live for mere -amusement, are no wiser than if they embarked for a voyage round the -world, in a little pleasure-boat, dancing lightly on the billows, with -its white and flowing sails glittering in the sunbeams, rather than in -a strong and sturdy vessel, cutting its dignified way with deep, -steady and undeviating course, in gladness and in safety, through -tempest or calm, whether the breeze be adverse or favorable. Life is -one long struggle, where the Christian must learn to hate much that he -naturally loves, and to love much that he naturally hates, continually -steering his course against nature, to advance in grace." - -"I have heard it said," observed Marion, "that Paris is the place, of -all others, where men can most easily do without happiness, because if -any one can entirely forget himself in mere pleasure, it is there." - -"How often have I pitied those who squandered their years abroad on an -aimless, amusement-seeking life," said Clara. "What a weight of _ennui_ -they must endure! What a sense of utter worthlessness they must feel! A -fever of delirious pleasure is probably the best they occasionally -enjoy! I have sometimes been astonished lately, when in confidential -conversation with the gayest, and apparently the happiest of my -companions, to find that they were actually laboring under the deepest -depression of spirits." - -"You need never be surprised by such discoveries, for I meet with them -continually in my clerical visitations," replied Mr. Granville. "The -bright sun above our heads was not created to look down on scenes of -merely selfish enjoyment. It cannot be; and if a thermometer could -visibly display the relative degree of cheerfulness enjoyed through -life by the slave of amusement, who consults only the impulse of his -own passions, or the servant of God who obeys the dictate of reason -and revelation, how astonished most men would be at the measureless -disparity of actual felicity. The one wrapped up in selfishness, yet -anxious to escape amidst a wild uproar of amusement, from his own -thoughts; the other retiring often, voluntarily, to the companionship -of his reflections, while his heart expands to embrace the true -interests of all mankind; the one rich in everything but real -happiness; the other poor, perhaps, in respect to wealth, but yet -possessing great riches." - -"I am more and more convinced every day," said Clara, "that no living -creature has a sufficient portion of happiness for himself, unless he -shares that of others, while imparting his own; and that no kind of -traffic brings so large a return to all parties, as that of giving and -receiving the sympathy and good offices of Christian kindness. It is -twice, or rather thrice blessed!" - -"I often think," said Marion, "if we could step into the chamber of -any person's mind, and look around us there, how astonishing it would -be to survey even that of our most intimate friend! Many would appear -large and spacious, bright, well furnished, and in good order; while -others that make a tolerable appearance in society, because they need -only show a few samples in the window, would turn out to be filled -with rubbish, narrow, gloomy, and disordered." - -"Some minds," replied Mr. Granville, "resemble a show-house laid out -for display, where strangers are brought to envy, admire, and exclaim; -but home-feelings are the real ornaments of life, which I covet for -myself, and for those who are dearer to me than myself." - -"It would be curious," observed Clara, smiling, "if every human being -might choose the sort of happiness which, in a future life, he wishes -to enjoy! There would be a strange diversity of inclination! I suppose -a foxhunter, who now finds his best enjoyment in riding six hours -a-day, would then bespeak a horse which was never, in a long course of -ages, to tire, accompanied by a fox ready to be killed every three -hours. A gourmand would ask for a perpetual dinner, and a perpetual -appetite; and Captain De Crespigny would wish for a continual -succession of young ladies, all living on his attentions, and dying of -broken hearts when he disappointed them." - -"Only ask yourself in respect to any earthly pleasure, if you would -wish it to be continued for ever, and that will convince you more than -anything, Clara, that this world is not our home," said Mr. Granville. -"There is never a moment of our lives in which we could hear with any -satisfaction that what we then enjoyed was to continue throughout -eternity. No! there is a mighty vacuum in our souls, which can only be -filled by that which 'eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,' and which it -hath not entered into the heart of man yet to conceive." - -There is a free-masonry,--a sort of electrical connection between -those who suffer and those who sympathise. It was evident to Marion -that, beneath the look of calm, deep, and chastened composure, which -might be traced in the large lustrous eyes of Clara Granville, there -was the heavy aspect of one who had suffered, as well as thought much. -The high arched forehead, in which the meanderings of the smallest -blue vein was visible, and the ethereal transparency of her alabaster -cheek, gave an almost poetical, but very melancholy expression to her -countenance, and there was a subdued tenderness in her voice and -manner, most touching to the heart. - -She seemed like a lily blighted in the storm, and often did Marion -wonder what that sorrow could be, which shunned all notice, and seemed -to bury itself beneath a multitude of thoughts and occupations for the -good of others. - -Once, and only once, Marion observed an alteration in the settled -composure of Clara's manner, the occasion of which caused her -considerable surprise. Hitherto, when she inadvertently mentioned Sir -Patrick, the Granvilles insensibly changed the subject almost -immediately, but without the slightest appearance of dislike or -resentment, while Marion could not but silently blame her own -forgetfulness of her brother's conduct to Mr. Granville, which she -thought might well render his name unacceptable in their family -circle. One day, however, her eyes were accidentally fixed on Clara, -when she mentioned that Sir Patrick had escorted her to the chapel -door on the previous Sunday, and seemed more than half inclined to -enter, but had suddenly burst away in a most unaccountable paroxysm, -and hurried out of sight. - -A deep and sudden blush overspread the pale cheek of Miss Granville, -who hastily looked up, and meeting Marion's eyes, the color rushed in -torrents over her face, arms, and neck, and her long eye-lashes became -heavy with tears, while her emotion growing evidently uncontrollable, -she threw down her work, and glided out of the room. - -"Clara dislikes him for his rapacious conduct to Mr. Granville. Why can -I never learn to avoid Patrick's unlucky name," thought Marion. "It -comes in _a propos_ to everything or to nothing. I am unaccustomed to -think before I speak, but this will make me remember to forget him in -future. I could not have believed that Clara would feel that affair so -very acutely." - -Marion's thoughts now reverted with some anxiety to her brother and -sister. They were either ignorant of her renewed intimacy with the -Granvilles, or indifferent to it, but which might turn out to be the -case, however important to her own happiness, she scarcely dared to -investigate, and day after day passed on finding her almost -domesticated with her newly-restored friend, and scarcely missed -apparently by Agnes. Marion was truth itself, and would have abhorred -any clandestine engagements, but after having mentioned the first few -times that she was going to call on Clara, the intimation being -received by her brother and sister in solemn silence, she thought it -unnecessary to make a repetition of the announcement; yet, as her -feelings became more deeply and engrossingly interested, her anxiety -became the greater to know what Sir Patrick might say or think on the -occasion; and to Marion's experience it became true as to that of the -poet, - - "Love's first step is on a rose; the second finds a thorn." - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - - -It is the greatest height of wisdom to be happy, but the happiest -periods of existence are the most difficult to describe; and from this -time forth, within the domestic circle of Mr. Granville, Marion was -introduced into a scene of such refined and intellectual enjoyment, -that it seemed to her as if she had hitherto beheld the picture of -life, painted only by some inferior artist, coarsely daubed over with -glaring hues, and vulgarly discolored; but it now appeared to her in -all the graceful symmetry, subdued harmony, and exquisite coloring of -a great master. - -Marion's natural taste had revolted from the mean, reckless, -exaggerated caricatures of happiness, which had been exhibited to her -in Sir Patrick's riotous revellings, and in her sister's feverish -excitement; while Agnes wasted her heart and feelings in building up -romances for herself, very much in the Minerva press and -Adela-de-Montmorency school; but now the morality appeared in all its -true fascination and inestimable worth to Marion, when she saw real -felicity formed upon that divine model, which she had before imagined, -but never seen. - -While sharing the pure joys and peaceful happiness of Clara and -Richard, scarcely a thought of Marion's heart remained unspoken, -except her secret and increasing consciousness of the wide disparity -between that home, where she found nothing but a heartless desolation -or neglect of her best feelings, and the beautiful exemplification of -domestic felicity to which she had now been introduced. Every -occupation or amusement in which she engaged with her friends, became -enhanced in pleasure and importance, by the consciousness, that beyond -the mere gratification of the moment, it was consecrated to a higher -and better aim; that it might be remembered hereafter without remorse, -and that it was but a link in the bright chain of eternal happiness -for which they were all preparing, and which they expected all to -enjoy together, by the light of that sun which never sets, but shines -beyond the grave. - -The Christian friendship of a brother and sister for each other, is -perhaps the purest and happiest of all earthly attachments, for there -is not an hour of life from childhood to old age, in which they have -not experienced the same joys and the same sorrows, known every -vicissitude of existence together, acquired the same habits, wept for -the same sorrows, rejoiced in the same prosperity, and cherished the -same hopes. The affection of Clara and Richard was not the transient -union of two individuals thrown together by the accident of birth, -united by mere instinct, living in contact for convenience, and -expecting to be finally separated by death; but it was the deep, -strong, heart-felt attachment of a Christian family, linked together -for mutual support in sunshine or shadow, tenderly to assist each -other along the difficult path of life, happy in the blessings that -were given them now, and happier still in the expectation of those yet -to come in that "new heaven and new earth, wherein dwelleth -righteousness." - -As Mr. Granville's character became more known to Marion, and the -interest with which he listened to her thoughts and feelings -perceptibly increased, she could not but secretly indulge sometimes in -the thought, presumptuous though it seemed to herself, how different -life might yet become, if the preference already so obviously -testified were by any "strange impossibility" to increase, till he -became allied, to her by the strictest tie of perpetual friendship, -and their lives and affections were mingled into one. Marion's young -heart glowed with emotion when she thought how her feelings would all -then be understood, her affections appreciated, her happiness cared -for, and every trivial incident of her life rendered doubly important, -because it belonged to another as well as to herself--to one who would -share all her thoughts, direct all her actions, and mingle with every -Christian motive to exertion, the desire to please him in her own -happy home. - -The attachment of Agnes for Captain De Crespigny was like that of a -child for its rattle, compared with the ennobling sentiment of which -Marion's heart was capable, for there a mine of undiscovered -affections lay buried and unknown, while every deeper emotion had -hitherto been repelled or neglected by all around, except her uncle, -and she could not but tremble to think, if her affections were ever -warmed into life by reciprocal attachment, how inconceivable must be -the misery or the happiness which would ensue. She indulged in no -fallacious expectations of life, no romantic dreams of never-ending -happiness and never-dying love, which originate in unreasonable -expectation, and too certainly end in bitter disappointment; but, to -be the object of Mr. Granville's unchangeable confidence and -affection, his companion in sickness as much as in health, the sharer -of his sorrows as well as his joys, a participator in all his duties, -and, most of all, to testify her gratitude for his preference, by -devoted attachment on her own part, not bounded within the perishable -limits of a mere earthly tie--these were the silent, unspoken wishes -of Marion, which glanced through her mind often, as she hurried home, -late and unwillingly, to St. John's Lodge, and which caused her bright -eye to beam with additional lustre, or brought the color in a richer -carnation to her cheek. - -Events always happen when least expected, and if there be a day in -life when any one in this world of change can feel peculiarly certain -that nothing remarkable shall occur, that is probably the period when -the most remarkable events take place. Marion had gone with Clara and -her brother to spend a quiet day among the romantic glens of Roslin, -when, finding herself alone with Mr. Granville, in one of the most -beautiful parts of the rocky glen, she was suddenly astonished by his -making her, with manly frankness, and yet evident diffidence, an -explicit declaration of his attachment. He said, on the occasion, all -that could be said by such a man, with the eloquence of deep emotion; -and, encouraged by the timid pleasure with which Marion evidently -listened to his words, Mr. Granville laid open the whole depths of a -heart in which all that was ennobling in nature had become embellished -by all the purifying influences of religion, while she, with tears and -blushes, heard thus unexpectedly what promised her the utmost sum of -human felicity, and she attempted not to conceal how highly, beyond -all expression, she appreciated his preference and attachment. - -There is a language of the heart which words cannot -express,--thoughts, feelings, and affections too deep to be told, but -revealed only in the eyes and voice, when with sincerity of emotion, -such as Mr. Granville's, a long concealed attachment is at last -declared. - -"I have asked myself a thousand times whether I could make you happy, -and if I believed," said he, "that there lived a man upon the earth -who could love you more, or make you happier than myself, I would -endeavor to resign all hope; but I know the lasting nature of my -attachment, which time itself cannot alter, nor death finally -extinguish; and if such affection as mine, with nothing else to offer, -can make you happy, it will be a new motive to exertion on my part, -and a new source of thankfulness to the Divine Giver of all good. Your -brother knows better than most men the pecuniary embarrassment in -which a long-continued law-suit has plunged me, and that my future -income may not perhaps be large, but consult him,--and my very dear -Marion, as I must for once be allowed to call you, consult your own -wishes and your happiness. Before giving me a final answer, take some -days to consider----" - -"Not an hour,--or a moment," replied Marion, frankly, but with a -faltering voice and glistening eye, while a vivid blush dyed her -cheek, "I need only consider whether my own heart be worthy of you! I -have thought sometimes,--I have dreamed of such happiness as ours -shall be, but little did I hope ever to see it more than realized -now!" - -Love is with lovers an endless subject, and hours appeared like -moments, while they conversed together on the past and the future -with new feelings of confidence and joy, and the whole beautiful -scenery around seemed as it were haunted by the spirit of thought -and of enjoyment, while it was with a thrilling emotion of deep -gratification that Marion now felt undoubtingly conscious that she -had become indeed an object of preference to Mr. Granville, that she -would be thought of always by one whom she could never forget, that -she knew the whole story of his heart and affections, and that these -were devoted,--ardently devoted to herself; and now resolutely -discarding every apprehension of future difficulties or sorrows, all -around took the color of her happiness, and she lived only in the joy -of the present hour. Nothing required concealment between them, and -it seemed the sole object of both to open up the most secret recesses -of their minds, comparing opinions and feelings, while before long it -appeared strange to Marion that a time had ever existed when their -hearts were unknown to each other. No caprices, no misunderstandings, -no jealousies could arise between them, for there seemed to be but -one heart and one mind in common, from the moment when Marion -whispered her confession, that their attachment was reciprocal. - - Oh! there are looks and tones that dart, - An instant sunshine through the heart, - As if the soul that minute caught, - Some treasure it through life had sought. - -At length they were warned to return homewards, by the golden light of -a setting sun, which yet looked in glowing majesty over the distant -hills, and sprinkled its glory on the highest tops of the trees, till -they were tipped with fire; but Marion paused, in delighted -admiration, on the centre of a rustic fairy-bridge, like a spider's -web, thrown across the narrowest and deepest part of the swollen -stream. Among rock and moss, tufted with weeping birch, the -overhanging cliffs here formed themselves into two sides of a natural -arch, in which nature had apparently omitted the key-stone, though art -had supplied the deficiency, by a slight bridge, underneath which the -sparkling waters boiled and thundered on with bewildering rapidity, -like a stream of light, bounding and leaping, with a clamorous -brawling uproar, along the rocky channel, and disappearing behind a -bold promontory, over-grown with tall pines, and twisted with the -knotted and gnarled roots of many an ancient oak. - -The country seemed indeed clothed with a prodigality of beauty--the -wild confusion of rocks--the feathered branches of a hundred -trees--the sparkling sunbeams, sprinkled like scattered leaf-gold on -every object--the shadows interlaced upon the verdant grass--the -yellow broom, glowing with its sunny hues--the groups of -well-conditioned cattle ruminating on the meadows--and the stream, now -murmuring in wild music over its rocky bed, and dimpling into smiles -beneath the sunshine, while the mind and conversation of Mr. Granville -travelled into the highest regions of thought, and Marion compared the -bright gay aspect of all around to her own happy feelings. - -"It is a pleasure to think," said Marion with animation, "that the -poorest and most destitute of human beings might enjoy the beauties of -nature as we do now, and all the pleasures, too, of confidence and -affection, if they but knew how to value them. God gives all that is -most precious to his creatures in common; and how little of our real -happiness in life is derived from the mere vulgar display of wealth, -equipages, jewels, and external splendor. It is not the materials of -our happiness which are so important, as the way in which we build up -the fabric." - -"I have sometimes been ready to regret," answered Mr. Granville, "that -in offering you my hand and fortune, I offer you so little; but I -never desired wealth for myself. No man living cares less for luxury; -and we may trust that my devoted affection shall succeed in shielding -you from the thousand inconveniencies of a very limited income." - -"It is the heart I value," whispered Marion. "With all my faults, the -love of money never was one. We shall be rich in happiness, and in all -that Providence gives to the most favored of those who trust in Him." - -"Yes! such mutual confidence as ours, with Christian contentment and -cheerfulness, are the real elixir of happiness," replied Mr. -Granville. "It is by closing our eyes against the pure enjoyments -prepared for us by the God of nature, and opening them to the -artificial wants invented by man, that we lose all the simplicity, and -most of the real felicity of life. One can scarcely wonder, in a scene -like this, that many Christians think this beautiful earth, in a -purified state, shall hereafter become the place of our eternal -happiness; but wherever the presence of God is, that, and that only -will constitute heaven." - -"And who could wish for more?" said Marion. "That should in itself -excite all our gratitude and joy." - -"Yet this noisy turbulent stream, rushing wildly past in its angry -career, is like the troubled course of human wishes, thoughts, and -speculations, with which we are continually disturbing that calm, -unruffled state, in which our minds would best reflect the light of -heaven," answered Mr. Granville. "No one ever had a plummet long -enough to measure the depth of that love to man, which has placed us -as probationers in our sin-blighted world; and even if we had no -futurity of glory promised us, and were finally to perish at death, we -have cause to be thankful for seeing so much natural beauty, and so -much intellectual enjoyment, while permitted to remain here." - -"Yes!" replied Marion, "considering that we have forfeited every -blessing, I think any man who has enjoyed life as he ought to, might -give a receipt in full, as having received a thousand mercies to which -he had no claim." - -"But who can imagine the magnificent expansion of mind hereafter, when -the whole scheme of nature, of providence, and of grace, shall be -fully revealed, and our capacities enlarged, to comprehend and -appreciate the mighty plan," continued Mr. Granville. "Now, even the -wisest and best of Christians must be satisfied with the intelligent -ignorance of knowing that he knows nothing; for even angels, -travelling on the wings of thought for thousands of years, cannot yet -understand the whole counsel of God; but our present business is to -study and practise here the temper and manners of that celestial city -in which we hope hereafter to reside, that our attachment, begun -indeed now upon earth, may be blessed and perpetuated throughout -eternity." - -_C'est bien d'etre avec les gens qu'on aime--leur parler, ne leur -parler pas._ The eye of Mr. Granville now gazed in delighted admiration -on the whole circumference of earth and sky, with a keen perception of -their beauties, and an intelligent recollection that while the eternal -sky and the decaying earth form an apt emblem of soul and body, all the -works of nature may be brought beautifully to exemplify the works of -grace. Marion and he long stood still together in that companionable -silence, which became so soothing and delightful to their spirits, that -neither seemed willing to break the spell. - -Both Marion and Mr. Granville delighted in devoutly contemplating the -glories of creation--nature's system of divinity--those "elder -Scriptures writ by God's own hand"--the majestic display of Almighty -wisdom, power, and goodness, in the grand theatre of human life, as -well as in the minutest events of their own existence. - - This is religion--not unreal dreams, - Enthusiastic raptures, and seraphic gleams; - But Faith's calm triumph--Reason's steady sway-- - Not the bright lightning but the perfect day. - -Thus musing together, in silent, speechless happiness, Mr. Granville -was suddenly roused, by observing a young lady approach with agitated -and disordered steps, leaning on the arm of a more elderly female, and -walking at a pace of such unusual rapidity, that it almost amounted to -running. They both glanced frequently and hurriedly behind, as if under -great alarm, while so remarkable an expression of terror was evident in -all their looks and movements, that Mr. Granville, without a moment's -hesitation, stepped forward, and courteously volunteered his services, -while Marion with delighted astonishment, recognised her friend and -companion, Caroline Smythe. - -"You seem alarmed! Allow me to offer my assistance!" said Mr. -Granville. "Shall we accompany you?" - -"No! no! I am safest alone!" gasped the younger lady, in accents of -wild alarm. "He carries pistols! He is perfectly insane! Stop him if -you can! Oh! stop him! Do not let him follow! Direct him wrong! Do -anything! Try, if you possibly can, to detain him!" - -Mr. Granville glanced swiftly round, and observed, with surprise, not -far from the bridge, and turning the sharp corner of a projecting rock, -the figure of a tall, powerful young man, of rather gentleman-like -appearance, wrapped up to the chin in a large cloak, who instantly, on -perceiving strangers, muffled his face closely in his handkerchief, and -drew down his hat, but approached with rapid strides and violent -gesticulations, apparently speaking to himself, and muttering curses -with terrifying vehemence. Not a moment was lost in hesitation, before -Marion assisted the elder lady in supporting Caroline onwards, who -evidently suffered under a mortal terror, while they rapidly dragged -her across the fragile bridge, on which Marion and Richard had so -lately enjoyed some brief and happy moments. - -Mr. Granville, in the mean time, approached the stranger so as to stand -directly in his path, and necessarily to impede his progress, while he -steadily fixed his gaze upon the blazing eye of the madman with a calm -and commanding look, which testified an unflinching determination to -obstruct his onward career, and a steady resolution not to be -intimidated by the air of scowling defiance with which he was met. - -"Stand back!" exclaimed the stranger, in a tone of maniacal fury. "Life -and death are at stake! stand back! delay me one moment, and you die!" - -"Is the bridge secure?" asked Mr. Granville, catching hold of the -madman's arm when he was rushing past, and instantly stooping down as -if to examine the foundation, when, by a powerful effort of strength, -he suddenly hurled the whole fabric into the eddying stream, which -washed the shattered fragments in a moment out of sight. - -With a cry of almost fiendish rage, and setting his teeth till it -seemed as if they would be ground to powder, the maniac sprang like a -tiger on Mr. Granville, and would have collared him; but with great -agility he eluded the madman's grasp, and fixed his eyes with an -expression of stern resolution upon his frantic antagonist, till his -face cowered beneath that steady gaze, when he said in a calm, slow, -resolute accent, - -"Those ladies shall pass on unmolested. It is base and cowardly to -terrify timid females whom we are bound with our very lives to protect. -Go back as you came, and beware of touching them or me." - -A wild and hideous laugh was the maniac's only reply, and his eyes -gleamed more and more fiercely, while he gnawed his lip with rage, but -at length suddenly bursting with irresistible fury past Mr. Granville, -he took a long, quick run to where the bridge had formerly stood, and -instantly, with a single bound of marvellous agility, leaped across. -Richard Granville was for half a moment bewildered with astonishment at -this unexpected achievement, and saw with consternation and dismay that -it would be vain to attempt impeding the infuriated maniac, who turned -a deaf ear to his loudly vociferated remonstrance, and deliberately -fired a pistol in the air, while he held up another in a menacing -attitude towards Mr. Granville, and then replacing the deadly weapon in -his breast, he hastily disappeared along the same path which had been -so recently pursued by the ladies. - -Richard, heedless of any danger to himself, became now most seriously -alarmed for the safety of Marion and her companions, therefore he -delayed not an instant to scramble across the stream where it was -fordable, and to follow at his utmost speed. In the impetuosity of Mr. -Granville's career, the ground receded beneath his feet, and as he -rushed onward a band of iron seemed to restrain his breath, for the -road became steeper and more solitary, while long grass and weeds had -grown over the wheel tracks, and the way was impeded by wild straggling -hedges, which threw their sprays of brier and thorn almost entirely -across the way. At length meeting a couple of countrymen, he hurriedly -explained his apprehensions, when they mentioned having met a strange, -wild-looking man, proceeding with long strides in an opposite -direction. To Mr. Granville's great relief, however, they seemed to -think that no ladies could have gone in that way, and after prevailing -on the two laborers, with a bribe, to assist him in capturing the -maniac, he resolutely and fearlessly pursued his course. - -Marion, meantime, had accompanied the two ladies in their most -unexpected flight through the forest, at a pace which precluded the -possibility of speaking, except that now and then an ejaculation of -terror, or an expression of fervent thankfulness was wrung from them -when they glanced around, giving a fearful idea of instant danger. -Caroline's pallid lips were parted, her eyes straining forward with -impatient apprehension, and every limb nerved for exertion, while she -silently pursued her way, though her feet seemed to herself as if they -had become lead, in her vehement efforts to fly onwards; and the -countenance of her aunt expressed scarcely less terror. - -Without speaking, Marion did all in her power to accelerate their -progress, but at length Caroline's footsteps faltered, her eye became -dim, and she staggered back, faint with fatigue, seeing which Marion -silently pointed to a large empty barn which stood beside the road, and -having supported her within the door, Caroline fell helplessly on the -floor, covering her face with her hands, and trembling visibly in every -limb. - -Marion brought water, rubbed Caroline's temples, and tried by every -means to soothe her with the hope of being safe, but in vain--her -tongue grew parched, her eyes became glassy, her features almost livid, -and she faintly pointed towards the door, which Marion barricaded to -the best of her ability. Caroline threw herself back on a heap of -straw, and covered her face with her hands in a helpless agony of fear. -Several minutes afterwards elapsed in breathless silence on the part of -Marion and Mrs. Smythe, when Caroline at length started up, eager to -pursue her course towards the nearest village, now scarcely a mile off, -while her companions earnestly entreated her to rest rather, and -compose herself. - -"He has lost the track! he cannot be following us now," said Marion, in -accents of trembling alarm, the agitated tone of which belied her -words, while an icy chill had crept through her veins. "Let us rest -here, we are safe now! He will hurry past! He will not think of -searching for us in this place!" - -"He will! he will! when the fit is on nothing escapes him," replied -Caroline, who felt a choking sensation in her throat which impeded her -utterance. "Oh! think of the fearful past! that dreadful night when he -first became insane! Why did I believe him when he promised never to -terrify me more! a horrid dread is upon me! a strange ringing in my -ears! a weight of lead upon my heart!" - -"How wonderful that he never can be traced! that he always finds us -out! that if there ever be a moment when we feel peculiarly safe from -his presence, he comes!" whispered Mrs. Smythe, in an under tone, as if -afraid that the very walls might re-echo her words. "We must leave this -neighborhood, we must take new precautions till he can be found and -shut up." - -Before Caroline could utter the affirmative, which trembled on her -lips, her eyes became stony with a look of sudden fear, her hands were -faintly clasped together, her parched and livid lips were parted, and -with a half uttered shriek she threw herself behind Marion, riveting -her arms closely round her waist, when, the next minute, a window of -the barn was dashed in with a violence which nothing could resist, and -the maniac, giving a wild cry of malignant triumph, began to clamber -in, clinging to the window-sill with his long bony fingers, while -concealing his face, so that nothing could be seen but his eyes, which -burned like living coals. - -"You have deceived me once, but you shall deceive me no more!" said he, -in hoarse, deep accents, and with a ghastly look, while the terrified -girl seemed to wither beneath his glance. "I cannot breathe while you -live! I have shed blood before now, and none can tell who did it! You -may call, but there are none to help--you may weep, but I cannot -pity--you may fly, but there is no escape! My heart is turned to stone! -My blood is liquid fire! Strange figures are gibbering behind me! -Unearthly voices are whispering in my ear! I will do it! Yes! when I -stand on the scaffold to be executed I shall not be nearer death than -you are at this moment." - -Marion, conscious that the madman's fury was not directed at herself, -and feeling the courage which arises from desperation, resolved, at -whatever cost, at least to delay, if possible, any catastrophe which -she might not be able finally to prevent, and anxious, even for an -instant, to take the maniac's eye off the trembling girl beside her, -she now walked resolutely forward to the window, though trembling as -much as if she were about to throw herself beside a wild beast in his -cage. Her teeth chattered with terror, and the words seemed to stiffen -in her throat as she uttered them, but still she persevered, saying in -a gentle, soothing accent: - -"You are a gentleman, and cannot want money! What would you have? Who -has injured you? Tell me why you pursue us? Think for one moment how -many years you have to live, and how miserable you may be for ever, if -you do a rash act now! Pause and consider, for the curse of God and man -will be upon you!" - -The madman gazed for an instant at the pale countenance of Marion, -every feature in which quivered with emotion; he seemed almost ashamed -of his own fearful violence, and was about, in a calmer tone, to reply, -when the barn door was suddenly burst open by the two countrymen, who -entered with Mr. Granville. - -"He shall die!" muttered the maniac between his clenched teeth, "Both! -all! all! The power of life and death is here!" - -Marion heard a sound of terror close beside her--it was a click, as of -a pistol being cocked, the muzzle of which was directed towards Mr. -Granville, while the maniac deliberately took his aim; but with a -sudden impulse of desperation, she threw her arm upwards, and struck -the fatal weapon, which instantly went off with a report that stunned -her senses. - -Nearly blinded by the shock, Marion staggered backwards as if about to -fall, yet strained her eyes, in speechless agony, to ascertain if Mr. -Granville were saved. There was blood upon his cheek, but he rushed -forward at once, and pinioned the madman's arms within his own, while -the two countrymen assisted; and after a severe scuttle, the maniac, -perfectly mastered, lay panting on the floor, while he glared on Mr. -Granville with a frown of baffled malignity, uttering execrations both -loud and deep, so dreadful to hear, that Marion's heart quailed within -her at their awful import, though unable to look round, while occupied -in applying restoratives to Caroline, who had sunk, with a heavy groan, -perfectly insensible on the floor. - -After more than ten minutes, during which not a pulse could be felt, -Caroline was carried into the air by Mr. Granville, when the wind, -playing on her cheek, brought on a gradual restoration to life--a -slight fluttering was perceived at her heart, a faint color tinged her -cheek, and with a deep-drawn sigh and a bewildered look, she suddenly -started up, as if about to renew her flight. - -"Dear Caroline!" said Marion, calmly, "all is safe! Do not agitate -yourself. We have had, indeed, a wonderful escape." - -Miss Smythe embraced Marion in a transport of joy and gratitude, after -which she turned to Mr. Granville, uttering the warmest expression of -her thanks, while he, with an evident desire to conclude a discussion -obviously so agitating to the two ladies, proposed, after amply -remunerating the two countrymen, his assistants, to hurry forward and -send conveyances from the neighboring inn. With one anxious look at the -pale, exhausted countenance of Marion, Mr. Granville hastily -disappeared, meditating, as he hastened along, with deep interest on -his recent adventure, and with pleasing emotion on the happy -_eclaircissement_ which had that morning taken place with Marion, -binding them to each other by the strong ties of honor, principle, and -affection. - -Half an hour afterwards, Richard returned with two carriages, in one of -which he placed the ladies, whom he met advancing along the road; but -after proceeding forward with the other, to secure his prisoner, he was -startled and astonished to discover that the maniac and his two keepers -had entirely disappeared. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. - - -"Well! I do declare! some people have the most marvellous good -fortune!" exclaimed Sir Patrick next morning turning to Marion, with a -newspaper before him. "Here is an account of Granville--Richard -Granville--being engaged in a splendid adventure. I might live for -ever, and not meet with such a thing. He has rescued Miss Howard, the -heiress, from that mad cousin who haunts her with some love-and-murder -threats, and who will positively some day assassinate her, like the -Miss Raes and Miss Shuckburghs of former times. These very good people, -like Granville, who profess to be quite above the world, are all very -fond of money. Ten to one, Granville marries Miss Howard in a month." - -"So the young lady is to be murdered first, and married immediately -afterwards!" said Marion, laughing to see her brother's impetuosity. -"The heroine of that story is, after all, only my old school companion, -Caroline Smythe. She has been persecuted by this man, she tells me, -ever since her childhood, but now he must be put in confinement for -life; and--and--as for Mr. Granville,--Patrick,--with your leave, I -have a very private and particular reason for believing he -is--previously engaged." - -A brilliant blush mounted to Marion's temples, while her brother might -have almost heard her trembling; but a smile of conscious happiness -played round her mouth, while her long eyelashes drooped over her -burning cheeks when she spoke these words in an accent of pleased but -tremulous emotion; and Sir Patrick, after gazing in her countenance for -a moment with an expression of angry perplexity, suddenly started on -his feet, crumpling up the newspaper in his hand, with a fiery -exclamation of rage, saying, - -"Speak again, Marion; tell me what this means. The most uncommon thing -in this world is a direct answer; but your blushes are like no other -person's, for they betray everything. Girls, from the very beginning of -time, have always found out the very last man on earth they ought to -like, and live in a state of romantic misery till they can marry him. -But it shall never be! I hate and detest Granville! He has injured me! -He has caused all my recent sufferings. He shall feel what I have felt. -I have the power now, and the will to be revenged. In his sacred -profession he dare not and cannot marry you without my consent--and -never! no never, shall he have it. Marion, you are a mere child yet! -you do not know your own value, and would let yourself go at a mere -pepper-corn rent! Granville would become a perfect beggar if he loses -our law-suit. You ought to be offered the first match in Scotland." - -"So I am," replied Marion, in a low and gentle voice. "Mr. Granville -scarcely has his equal in the world." - -"Pshaw! nonsense! I have other views for you! Marion, you have not an -idea of the sensation you make. My friends are all raving about you. I -never understood till now why you cared so little about any of them. -Let Agnes look to her laurels, for I am in more than one secret already -that would astonish her. Granville must be allowed to follow up his -adventure with the heiress. Never mention his name to me again. You may -depend upon it, in a month he will be ready and willing to marry Miss -Howard." - -"Let your consent depend upon Richard's constancy, and then I shall be -secure," answered Marion, with a playful smile. "He shall be at liberty -to change his mind on a moment's notice; but, in the mean time, -Patrick, I have a great idea that he will continue always the same; and -be assured that I certainly shall." - -"Pshaw! nonsense, Marion! You never could be satisfied with the stupid -sort of happiness to be found in a hum-drum parsonage. Give me no more -of your love-in-a-cottage ideas, when I know you have a chance of--of, -no matter who! somebody worth a dozen Mr. Granvilles, and who could buy -him up a hundred times over." - -"One Mr. Granville is quite enough," replied Marion, smiling. "If he -were like the Emperor of China, cousin-german to the stars, and uncle -to the moon, I could not think more of him. Riches are only to be -valued for the use people make of them, but he is 'more bent to raise -the wretched than to rise.' Very little is essential, Patrick, 'when -humble happiness endears each scene;' and nothing more is indispensable -to me than to be so loved by one who is deserving of my love in return. -How much rather I would live with a poor man who is liberal, than with -a rich man who is avaricious; and Richard's wealth, though not great, -is furnished with wings to fly away on a thousand embassies of mercy -and liberality." - -"I wish mine had wings to come, instead of to go; but say what you -will, it bores me to hear of Granville, he is so absurdly different -from everybody else." - -"So much the worse for everybody else," observed Marion, with a -good-humored smile. "Is that the blackest count in your indictment?" - -"And bad enough, too! I'm told there's not a garret nor a dingy -cellar-full of misery in the city, where Granville is not upon visiting -terms. He is a perfect Humane Society in himself. I daresay he will -receive a public dinner and a piece of plate from the beggars at last." - -"Let me entreat, Marion," said Agnes, who had entered during the -discussion, "that you will not be running about with those Granvilles, -in search of typhus fever or small-pox. You really ought to be -fumigated every time you return from these houses, where the people are -all dying of dirt." - -"When Lady Towercliffe recommended her husband's old castle in the -country to me once, for the shooting, she finished the catalogue of its -many perfections, by saying, 'and we have such very pleasant beggars!" -observed Sir Patrick, laughing. "I should certainly have been tempted -to bag a few brace of them! The Irish fellow whom you may remember -besetting my door so long in Edinburgh, without extracting a _sous_, -came up to me lately, in the coolest manner imaginable, and said, 'you -must find another beggar, Sir Patrick, for the situation here is not -worth keeping!' I gave the rascal half a sovereign for his humor, and -never saw his face again." - -"It is all very well, if beggars find us out, to give a trifle, and so -get rid of their importunity," said Agnes, in her most benevolent -accent, "but the idea of setting out on a crusade to find them out, is -rather too amusing. I am immensely charitable, however, in referring -cases of distress to my friends, but benevolence is the most expensive -of all virtues to set up for." - -"Better do too much than too little," replied Marion. "We must not -suppose every man in want is either a knave or a fool, and no -remembrance will last so long in our minds as the good we have done, or -left undone, for we gain the highest happiness to ourselves by -dispensing it to others. Yesterday, Mr. Granville relieved a poor man -from actual starvation, nearly ninety years old." - -"Was he an orphan?" asked Sir Patrick, in a rallying tone. "What could -the old fellow be doing in the world so long! but if I might be allowed -to give an opinion, which I never do, it is, that you should avoid -those dens of infection and filth." - -"There is no absurd romance in their benevolence, and Clara is never -permitted by her brother to visit anywhere, till he has personally -ascertained that there is no contagion of either the scarlet, yellow, -or typhus fever in the house," continued Marion; "but we accompanied -him last week to see a poor woman who was in a darkened room, with her -face muffled up, and yet I could not but fancy the tone of her voice -familiar to me. I was on the point of telling her so when the door -opened, and who should come in but my uncle's clerk, Mr. Howard, who -seemed so caught! One seldom can know who are charitable and kind in -this world, for I never suspected him of being a good Samaritan. He -said it must have been a mistake about my ever having heard the poor -creature's voice before, as to his certain knowledge she has been -bedridden these ten years; therefore, Clara and I gave her all we could -spare and came away. There was only one seat in the room, and nothing -else but the naked walls!" - -"How very indecent!" said Sir Patrick, taking up the newspapers, "those -_pauvres honteuses_ have a sad life of it! You will positively draw -tears from my eyes!" - -"Nothing will do that but a mouthful of mustard," replied Marion, with -a brilliant smile. "It would be more to the purpose if I drew a -shilling from your purse! You have no idea, Patrick, how many starving -people there are in the very houses that you see from these windows!" - -"Well, really! I wish everybody had L5,000 a year," observed Agnes, -yawning. "If we could build an addition to the world it would be a -great convenience! There certainly are too many of us!" - -"That is a most original and interesting remark of yours!" exclaimed -Sir Patrick, laughing. "We have certainly more cats than can kill mice. -I did hear that it was very seriously debated at the Speculative -Society lately whether the creation of the world had been on the whole -an advantage to Ireland or not! How the question was decided I forgot -to ask!" - -"No doubt the existence of every living being must be an advantage, if -rightly used," observed Marion, in a gentle, diffident voice, "but if -not, then certainly it were better never to have been born." - -"That is your last new importation of Granville-ism," said Agnes, -satirically. "Well, I would much rather, Marion, that you took the -typhus fever, than that you became a methodist!--Pray do not infect me -with either the one or the other." - -"There is always more contagion in what is evil than in what is good," -replied Marion. "Fevers are infectious, but health is not. Most of the -illness I have seen lately arises from bad food, or rather from no food -at all." - -"It occurs to me," said Sir Patrick, throwing down his newspaper, "that -as all rivers are formed of drinkable water, it is most unlucky that -the ground is not formed of eatable bread! What a world of trouble it -would save about the corn laws!" - -"But in such a case," replied Marion, laughing, "no man would work, and -the stones on the road might have to break themselves!" - -"If the weather, too, were permitted to be regulated by act of -Parliament, how droll it would be to read a petition from the farmers -of Mid-Lothian against the late excessive rains, or from the hackney -coachmen against a long continuance of fine weather. How I should like -to see the summer with which any one of my tenants would be satisfied!" - -"Of course it is their business to complain, or you would increase -their rents. If a farmer came to your factor in ecstacies with his -crops, and wishing a renewal of his lease, what terms would satisfy -you? We are all like buckets in a well--what raises one depresses -another, _ainsi va le monde_." - - - - -CHAPTER XX. - - -Marion was no miser of happiness to hoard it all up for her own use, -and most willingly would she have imparted a share of her present -joyous feelings to Agnes, but in vain did she look for any -encouragement to the frank, confiding, and sociable nature of her own -disposition, from a sister who had no desire to share in the hopes and -fears, the joys and sorrows of a disinterested attachment, such as she -could neither understand nor approve. - -"Perfect happiness and a hut in the country!" said Agnes, -contemptuously, while the warm blood mantled into Marion's cheek, but -instantly putting her features in order to look composed and -indifferent, she turned the conversation to no particular subject. - -Too happy to be silent, Marion next selected for her _confidante_ the -very last person upon earth whom it would have occurred to most young -ladies to entrust with the progress of a love affair, while, from Sir -Arthur, she received the deepest and most affectionate interest in -return for all she told him, though he acted like a perfect incendiary, -by adding fuel to the flame, inviting Mr. Granville to his house -whenever he could come, and praising him whenever he departed. - -With daily increasing solicitude, Marion's elderly confidant listened -to all the simple romance of her thoughts and feelings, delighted with -the overflow of a heart which had nothing to conceal. Neither -overvaluing nor undervaluing the gifts of fortune, Sir Arthur felt -unspeakable comfort in the belief that Marion would now be better -protected and cared for through life, than could have been hoped, from -the few years that remained to himself, or from the heedless -indifference of her brother, who had never shown her much regard till -now, when he testified his care in the way least acceptable to Marion, -by an angry, resolute opposition to her marrying and settling, as he -persisted in saying, "upon ninepence a-day." - -The difficulty increased every week, of joining that happy circle where -her most delightful hours had been passed, and a thousand impediments -were now contrived by Sir Patrick to prevent Marion from visiting even -at Sir Arthur's; while the young Baronet filled his house at St. John's -Lodge with so many of his friends, that the Admiral laughingly observed -one day, while he seemed possessed by the very spirit of raillery and -good humor, "I think, Marion, your brother is actually laying siege to -you now--or rather, it is turning into a blockade! I suppose he expects -some of those half-witted blockheads fluttering about the house to -eclipse Granville, which is of course extremely probable! Now, for the -twentieth time to-day, let us discuss my nephew elect. He seems--rather -amiable!" - -"Seems! dear uncle Arthur! he is all that he seems, and a hundred times -more! He is--need I say what he is?" - -"No! no! I remember to have read novels long ago, and know all about -it! Marion, you may well feel proud of being admired and beloved by one -who is himself admired and beloved by all! I cannot think," added Sir -Arthur, with a sly smile, "what in all the world Mr. Granville sees to -fancy in you!" - -"That is exactly what puzzles me! I often wonder why he likes me!" - -"Because, I suppose, somehow or other, he cannot help it. Now, Marion, -you have the worst of memories I know, for what Mr. Granville says; but -do try if you can recollect a few of his last conversations to -entertain me with. You will have so many lovers soon at St. John's -Lodge, that it may perhaps become impossible to distinguish Granville -from the rest, or one from another!" - -"No! that can never be! Patrick's friends are scarcely my -acquaintances, and not at all likely to become admirers. I feel and -fully appreciate my own happiness now in being chosen and preferred by -one whose thoughts and wishes are all such as my own may be ready and -willing to echo--who can lead my thoughts upwards as well as onwards, -whose attachment is founded on the purest sentiments--and, not the -least of his attraction, dear uncle Arthur, who loves and honors you as -I do!" - -"Merely because I am your uncle! Depend upon it, all my great merits -are eclipsed by that one! Well! I must put up with it, till he knows -better! I need not send to the circulating libraries for a romance now, -as there are so many to interest me at home!" - -These words of Sir Arthur's referred not merely to the growing -attachment of Richard and Marion, but Caroline Smythe, who was about -soon to depart for England, had in the meantime become a constant and -prominent member of the gay little circle at Seabeach Cottage, where -her friends exerted their utmost endeavors to restore the tone of her -nerves and spirits, which were still much affected by her recent alarm, -and none succeeded so well in diverting her thoughts, and beguiling her -time as the lively, animated Henry De Lancey, who became himself daily -more entranced with the happiness of being in her society. His -preference for Caroline was testified in the way most truly flattering, -being more betrayed than professed, yet his whole heart was visible in -every word and action, while he evidently became every day twenty times -more deeply in love than at first, and the interesting countenance of -Caroline grew more interesting from the additional depth of expression -to be traced there. Sir Arthur, happy in the happiness of others, -appeared to cast aside all care, while sunning himself in the joyous -smiles of those who had so long been the dearest objects of his -solicitude, and day after day the intimacy and mutual affection of all -parties appeared to be riveted by fetters which never could be broken, -though it sometimes crossed Marion's mind as a cause of surprise that -Sir Arthur, who did nothing without reflection, should appear never -once to apprehend the difficulty into which Henry's attachment would -evidently plunge him. - -There was something irresistible in the fascinations of young De -Lancey's character, the warmth of which seemed as if it must have been -nurtured beneath a brighter sun than that of others, while there was an -irresistible captivation in his joyous, youthful aspect, his frank and -graceful carriage. Mr. Granville, who had a genius for making society -agreeable, as well as improving, treated him with the confidence and -companionship of a brother, almost insensibly developing the graces of -a heart fitted to awaken the deepest interest, and drawing forth a -power of mind and character in Henry, of which he could scarcely before -have deemed himself capable, while leading him often away from the -common-place nothings of the passing hour, to the highest regions of -thought and to the brightest aspirations after future distinction, -after immortal wisdom and undying happiness. - -"We must live and act for others," observed Mr. Granville one day in -his usual tone of energetic animation. "The miser who collects useless -hoards which are lost to him at death, is not more absurd in his vain -pursuit, than the mere philosopher who lays up stores of knowledge to -perish with himself. The good or the evil which may be done by the most -insignificant individual both now and to generations yet unborn, is -incalculable; and the only important question we can ask of ourselves, -in which no other can be concerned, is, 'What shall I do to be saved?' -That, each man must seek to ascertain for himself; and who would not -say that the greatest fool on earth is he who forgets to ask it at -all,--or who asks it with indifference!" - -"I am more and more convinced," said Henry, "that religion is the -greatest support in life, and the only one in death. On our hearts it -is like the calm serene light given by the moon when she soars vividly -along the heavens amidst clouds and darkness, pouring celestial light -upon the earth in pure and holy splendor, beautiful and sublime, yet -often how melancholy and solemnizing, - - 'Thoughts of immortal beauty spring to birth, - And waft the soul beyond the dreams of earth.'" - -Henry scarcely ventured to tell his own heart how deeply and -engrossingly he had become attached to Caroline, while in secret he -remembered every word or look which had endeared her to him, with a -pleasure and emotion till now unknown, and which could not but be most -painful in his solitary hours of reflection, when he considered the -uncertain tenure of his own situation in life, and his ignorance -respecting that of Miss Smythe, though he felt soothed and comforted by -the consciousness, that to her he was evidently not indifferent, and -that Sir Arthur either seemed blind to their increasing preference, or -pleased to witness it. - -Henry had seated himself one morning in a small ante-room, repairing -his fishing tackle, and though voices became audible in the -drawing-room, in animated conversation, he continued perfectly heedless -of what was passing, till at length his own name, spoken in accents -always dear to him, irresistibly enchained his attention. Sir Arthur -was requesting Caroline to sing one of his favorite melodies, and she -gayly resisted his entreaties, saying, in her liveliest accents, "No! -no! wait patiently till the evening. That was copied for me by Mr. De -Lancey, and I promised he should be present the first time it was -performed. I can refuse you nothing, Sir Arthur, so I must seek safety -by flight!" - -Nodding and smiling, with one of her archest looks, Caroline tripped -lightly into the room, where Henry sat, so shaded by the -window-curtain, that he was perfectly invisible, when a moment -afterwards she was followed by Mrs. Smythe, who said in an excited tone -of angry remonstrance, - -"Is there no end, Caroline, to this extraordinary intimacy of yours -with young De Lancey! It really is becoming absurd! Sir Arthur is very -much to blame in giving it any encouragement! A youth without -prospects! without so much as a name!" - -"With no seat in Parliament! no diplomatic appointment! no family -living! no title!" pursued Caroline, laughing. "You know, my dear aunt, -I never centered all good in birth and station!" - -"Neither did I suppose you would dispense with both!" replied Mrs. -Smythe, in a tone of increasing bitterness, and hurrying towards the -door, evidently so irritated, that she dared not trust herself to -remain. "Rather than have my niece united to a nameless outcast, living -upon the bounty of Sir Arthur Dunbar, or of connections who are -probably disgraced by his existence, I would prefer seeing you married -to the Twopenny Postman, for he at least is independent, and has -something." - -A glow like fire rushed through Henry's frame at these words, and -before Mrs. Smythe had closed the door, the hot blood seemed boiling in -his veins with agonized shame and sorrow. Pale and red by turns, he -leaned his head on his hands in solitary desolation, and quivered in -every nerve with grief and self-reproach. The whole harvest of his -happiness seemed blasted at a single breath; his mind was a wild chaos -of conflicting emotions; and one only thought rose paramount to all, -that he had been held up to ridicule and contempt, perhaps deservedly, -in the eyes of that one beloved being, the object of his dearest, -first, and only attachment, He wreathed his hands together, and bent -his head in a tempest of emotion, while the whole rich treasure of his -affections and hopes lay mouldered into rubbish at his feet; for he -felt and knew that all Mrs. Smythe had said, was but too painfully -true. A dark extinguisher had fallen over every earth-born wish. He -felt that it had been unpardonable even to desire that the happiness of -another should be linked with his uncertain fate; and he struggled -long, though vainly, for composure, while contemplating the destruction -of that one hope which had contained the sum of all his earthly wishes. - -"I will yet deserve her or die!" thought Henry, overleaping -impossibilities, or, with the sanguine feelings of a young and ardent -mind, not even seeing them. "My pleasing dream has ended for the -present; and how could I ever expect it should be otherwise! but I -cannot and will not blot out from the picture of my future life, that -form which embellished every hope of my existence! Days and nights of -laborious exertion shall be as nothing, if I can but prove myself -worthy of Caroline,--if I can but, at the remotest period of time, call -her my own. Were it not for such a prospect I should become -indifferent even to myself!" - -Henry's musings were disturbed by a slight noise near him, and when, -with a flashing eye, he started and looked up, the very object of all -his thoughts, hopes, and regrets was beside him, and he beheld -Caroline, her cheeks suffused with the deepest emotion, and her -downcast eyelashes sparkling with tears, while in hurried accents of -extreme agitation, she spoke to him almost inaudibly: - -"Is it the affairs of the nation you are so deeply meditating on, Mr. -De Lancey, or your own affairs?" - -"My affairs!" exclaimed Henry, in a tone of deep depression, while his -dark lustrous eyes became dim and glassy with emotion. "I have no -affairs! a creature of charity,--of the most generous and noble-minded -benevolence,--but still a dependent on the bounty of others! In your -presence I could forget the mystery and bitterness of my lot,--but I -forget it too much! I am not answerable for my feelings, but I am for -my actions; and I must leave you for ever! I can never know the rapture -of a requited attachment; but why should I not acknowledge the feelings -of admiration that must be common to all in your presence. I am a -nameless outcast; but pardon my folly and infatuation in having loved -you, without a hope of return. My mother perished, as you know, under -fearful circumstances; and who can tell whether my father may not have -died like a felon! My worst enemy can say, or suspect nothing worse -than I sometimes fear; and I deserve all I suffer for having one moment -forgotten the dark mystery of my lot." - -"You were here, then, Mr. De Lancey, some moments ago," said Caroline, -in hurried accents! "You overheard all that my aunt so imprudently -said! you! you!--you--what must you think!" - -"I dare not trust my lips with the expression of half what I think and -feel," replied Henry, in a low, deep, broken voice, and fixing his -troubled eye on Caroline. "Let me speak for once to you on that subject -which another began! Let me for once relieve my heart, by saying how -entirely,--how unchangeably I love you. What bright visions of hope -have flitted before my fancy, all blighted now for ever! I know the -utter despair that ought to attend my attachment. Love, to others a -blessing, must ever be to me a curse; yet I would rather love you -without a hope of return, than gain the hearts of a thousand others. I -neither ask nor expect encouragement; only believe and pity me! In the -long absence which awaits me from home, let me be consoled by thinking, -that I am not utterly despised and forgotten,--that when time and -distance have separated us, I may still preserve a place in your -memory, though not perhaps remembered, as I shall remember you." - -Caroline listened with deep delight to this renewed confession of -Henry's long-cherished attachment. It seemed as if she could have -listened for ever, but was unable to reply during several minutes of -agitated silence, till at length, with a strong effort, she said in -faltering accents, yet with some of her usual vivacity-- - -"You said this once before, and I never forgot it. You were very dull -not to read my heart long ago. If I felt less I could say more. Be -constant for two long years, and we may be happy! I need then consult -no one's wishes but my own. Sir Arthur knows all. He has been entrusted -with my thoughts from the first moment, when you told me that--that our -attachment was reciprocal!" - -"Can it be!" exclaimed young De Lancey, in accents of the wildest joy, -while, in a transport of emotion, he clasped her hand in his own, and -those words were at last spoken between them, which pledged Henry and -Caroline to each other for ever. "I am not then doomed to pass through -life alone and uncared for. You will accept a heart that never has -loved, and never can love another! I am now afraid only of being too -happy! The tide of my whole existence is changed! The two years you bid -me wait shall not be wasted. For your sake I shall strenuously seek to -become the architect of my own fortunes, to throw off the trammels of -obscurity, to carve out for myself a name which you shall not be -ashamed to hear. The world is before me, where, with buoyant hopes and -resolute will, surely I may achieve something, when my ardent aim and -eager hope shall be to enjoy honor first, and love hereafter. For years -I have not known a moment of solitude, as your image has been my -perpetual companion, and now there is no futurity of life to either of -us, in which we shall not both be interested, for, believe me, no one -on earth was ever loved with greater depth and constancy of attachment -than yourself." - -The feelings of a lifetime are sometimes concentrated in a single hour, -and so it was with Henry and Caroline, who talked of the past and of -the future with buoyant hopes and entire affection, but not yet with an -entire confidence; for it was evident that Miss Smythe, in speaking of -her own connexions and prospects, became agitated and reserved, while -she concluded the conversation abruptly, by saying, - -"I shall feel proud and happy to think that the motive for all your -exertions is derived from a generous and disinterested attachment to -myself; and whether success or failure be the consequence, we shall at -last share it together, for better or for worse. All real happiness -must spring from the heart. I care neither for splendor nor -amusement--they are the mere outside crust visible to the vulgar eye; -but friendship and--and attachment, founded on religion, these are the -jewel in the casket, outweighing all else." - -"Without them, none can know the greatest joys or the greatest sorrows -of this world," said Henry, with emotion. "For your sake I have now a -thousand ambitious desires that never would have occurred to me for -myself alone. If there be anything in me deserving your regard, I wish -it were ten times redoubled, and that, besides, I had fortune, talents, -estates, and friends, beyond the utmost desires of all your -connexions." - -"Then," replied Caroline, with a penetrating look at Henry, but in a -careless, off-hand tone, "if we are to suppose a shower of fairy gifts -called down upon us by our own wishes, I shall, perhaps, ask to become, -for your sake, very beautiful, very fascinating, and, above all, very -rich." - -"You have everything already, except the wealth," said Henry, warmly; -"and I should abhor an heiress! I would not sacrifice my independence in -life to any woman--scarcely even to you! A man's office is to confer, -not to receive." - -"Men of even very large fortune seem, in these days, to feel -otherwise," observed Caroline, smiling. "They have a sort of mercantile -idea on the subject of marrying, that it would be very presumptuous in -a young lady, without sufficient capital, to expect a partnership in -their house." - -"I have little, indeed, to offer, and even that little based upon a -mysterious uncertainty," replied Henry. "Yet unless I could bestow -something besides myself, and something more than I ask in return, I -never would marry. It is a mean, degrading position, for any man to be -a pensioner on his wife, when even the very gifts which his affection -might induce him to give her must be purchased with her own money. No! -dearest Caroline, we shall be contented on very little, and we might be -miserable on a great deal. Your happiness shall be my first, almost my -only consideration. Our affection will be riveted by the sacrifices we -daily make for each other, till it becomes woven into our very being; -while, come what may, we are above adversity, and equal to prosperity, -strong in mutual attachment, and in one common hope for time and for -eternity." - -"May we live to realize all you say," replied Caroline, with tears -starting to her eyes, while a smile was on her cheek. "The picture is -drawn by a masterly hand. In this world the sun itself has many dark -spots, and I do not expect or hope that we shall be without our share -of difficulties and sorrows; but our happiness is rooted in a soil that -cannot fail, for we shall advance together, in social and unlimited -confidence, through the land of fleeting shadows, to the land of bright -and permanent realities, of unimaginable and unceasing enjoyment." - -"How different is the happiness of the Christian from that described by -the poet," said Henry. - - "My hope, that never grew to certainty,-- - My youth, that perish'd in its vain desire; - My fond ambition, crush'd e'er it could be - Aught save a self-consuming, wasted fire!" - - - - -CHAPTER XXI. - - -Captain De Crespigny continued to visit at St. John's Lodge almost -daily, having now adopted a quite-at-home style, dropping in at all -hours of the morning or evening, partly in the character of a cousin, -partly as a convivial friend of Sir Patrick's, and solely, in the -estimation of Agnes, as her devoted admirer; but not one of the -motives which ostensibly brought him there was the real one. He kept -up long, animated, horse-and-dog conversations with Sir Patrick, and -love-and-nonsense conversations with Agnes; but his whole thoughts and -attention were secretly devoted to Marion, to so engrossing an extent, -that he became astonished even at himself. She was always exceedingly -busy about something when he called--more frequently out of the room -than in it, while he staid, and so constantly sat down to write letters -or notes while he talked to Sir Patrick, that one day, in a tone of -pique, he said, writing at such a rate, she would soon be several -volumes a-head of Sir Walter Scott; but still Marion continued as much -pre-occupied in his presence, and as good-humoredly indifferent as -before. She treated him, as the friend of Sir Patrick, almost like a -brother, and was not in the slightest degree agitated, when he flew, -with fascinating _empressement_, to light the taper for her, to open -the door, or to pay any of the ten thousand little attentions with -which he was accustomed to dazzle and delight the hundred and one other -young ladies among whom he had hitherto divided himself. It was -absolutely insufferable to see her so perfectly self-possessed and -conversible, without a thought of being admired, always ready with a -reply when he spoke to her, and amused with his jests, but not -sufficiently interested by his presence, to attempt being either -attractive or repulsive. Seeing him approach the table one day several -times while she was writing, Marion said at last, - -"Is there anything here I can give you? anything you want?" - -"Yes!" said Captain De Crespigny, in a low, agitated voice. "I do want -more than I dare ask; more than I shall perhaps ever obtain." - -Marion at these words glanced with astonishment towards Agnes, and -privately thought her sister's lover must require very great -encouragement indeed, if he were not satisfied with all he got; but -unwilling to interfere in any differences that might have arisen -between them, she calmly resumed her employment, unconscious that the -eyes of Captain De Crespigny were fixed upon her with a look of -disappointment and pique, because she had not so much as favored him -with a conscious blush. - -Nothing surprised and amused the young mind of Marion half so much, as -the light raillery and gay persiflage, which continually passed between -her brother and Captain De Crespigny, whose conversation was enlivened -with sallies of good-humored malice against each other, and lively -satire, which sometimes approached the verge, and often even passed the -verge of civility, while each seemed to have conferred on his friend -the royal privilege of saying or doing no wrong, so that the pointed -arrows they levelled at each other became feathers before they reached -their aim. - - -"I must give the Abbey people a ball!" exclaimed Sir Patrick one day, -after whistling for some time with his back to the fire. "The Children -of the Abbey, as we gentlemen in difficulties are called! A dance of -ruined people! What a capital hit!" - -"Like Holbein's dance of death!" observed Marion. "Our creditors would -all come, I suppose, and take out a dividend in cakes and ices! You -are, of course, not serious, Patrick!" - -"Why not? You are always ready with an opinion, like a lawyer expecting -a fee; but remember, Marion, the attorney waits at least till he is -asked! I am as serious now as I ever am about anything. Let me make the -neighbors and the neighborhood expire with envy and admiration! You -know the last kick of a dying horse is always the strongest. Agnes, -fetch your visiting book, and we shall get up a splendid impromptu, to -be paid for with my surplus income! Ah! here comes De Crespigny, as he -always does, at the very moment we were wishing for him." - -"Because there is never a moment, I suppose, that you are not wishing -for me!" replied he, fixing his expostulating eye on Sir Patrick. "I -owe myself to society, and make a duty of paying visits from pure -benevolence, because in every house I find people perfectly dying for -my arrival. If I had three hands to shake, I would divide them equally -amongst you; but I have only one to offer," added Captain De Crespigny, -with lively emphasis, as he extended his to Agnes, who stood nearest -him. - -"You belong, I believe, to the Modest Assurance Company," said she, -with a blush and a smile. "But after this little outbreak of vanity, we -really do want your advice." - -"That is a thing I never either give or take. The word should be -drummed out of the English language." - -"Then," added Sir Patrick, "pray lend us your opinion." - -"No, Dunbar! I lend you nothing! Remember our agreement. Can't afford -bad debts! Better give you half-a-crown than lend you a shilling." - -"De Crespigny, your wit is as sharp to-day as that American scythe, the -shadow of which cut a man's leg off! I owe you one for the last hit!" - -"Ten to one you never pay me! I have serious thoughts of taking rooms -in the sanctuary myself soon, because it displays beauties and -attractions beyond any other part of the world. Positively, I see no -place like it, and no people like its inhabitants." - -Sir Patrick's hearty laugh rang through the room, while Agnes smiled -with conscious triumph; and Marion, who had been for several minutes -planning an escape to the Granvilles, thought this a favorable -opportunity to steal off unobserved, and had safely reached the door, -when Sir Patrick hastily summoned her back. - -"Marion! where are you shying off to so hastily? Are you under a vow of -solitude? There is no keeping you in the room for a minute now." - -"Never mind me!" said Captain De Crespigny, assuming a tone of -good-humored conceit, to disguise a great deal of real pique. "I am not -so bad as I look." - -"No!" replied Agnes, laughing. "That is exactly what the keeper at the -Zoological Gardens says of the ourang outang!" - -"Don't be put out of countenance by her, De Crespigny! you'll do," said -Sir Patrick. "I've seen worse looking people in the world! I knew a -gentleman once, much plainer than you are, who got on very well!" - -"Sir Patrick Dunbar, for instance, or some other, with no pretensions -whatever! Really, old fellow! I am much the best looking of the two, if -people would only think so. It is astonishing the sort of men who pass -themselves off upon the world for being handsome--quite an imposition." - -"Quite!" replied Sir Patrick, and the two gentlemen laughingly glanced -at each other. "I am quite obliged to you for that remark; but as I see -the watch of your wit is wound up for a reply, pray let it strike." - -"No, I am not revengeful! As somebody said to somebody, some day when -they were talking about something, I have 'a soul above buttons.' But -positively," continued Captain De Crespigny, gazing around, as if he -had made a sudden discovery, and letting his eye rest upon Marion, "to -do ourselves justice, Dunbar, we in this room are a remarkably good -looking party." - -"To be sure we are! You never said a truer thing!" replied Sir Patrick. -"So obvious, indeed, that it was scarcely worth remarking. I remember -the time, De Crespigny, when you used to copy me--to imitate the -inimitable; and positively, with such tolerable success, that I very -nearly bowed to myself one day for you." - -"Well, Patrick!" said Agnes, "I do think you are like nobody else, and -like nothing human I ever saw; and yet I have a great turn for finding -out resemblances. How very like Wednesdays are to Thursdays!" - -"Astonishingly so!" replied Captain De Crespigny, adding, with one of -his most indescribable looks, "but I see not the slightest resemblance -between your sister and you." - -Agnes smiled one of her brightest smiles at what must, she thought, be -intended most unquestionably as a compliment; but though the difference -appeared obvious enough, the superiority, judging from the direction -and the expression of Captain De Crespigny's eyes, was not by any means -so decided a point as Agnes seemed willing to believe. - -"De Crespigny!" said Sir Patrick, with one of his most satirical looks. -"Do you really now, in serious earnest, call yourself dressed? It is -very well as a joke; but you are surely not got up in that style for -the day? In the name of all that is hideous, who is your tailor, that I -may avoid him? Does he call that thing you wear a coat?" - -"No!" - -"Then, pray, what does he call it?" - -"A surtout! and such a one as you never had since you wore a cap and -cockade! It is a real original Dodds! I could bet the amount of your -bill, whatever that may be, probably with several years' interest--a -few hundreds--that you will never be half so well fitted. If you want a -coat--a real undeniable, irreproachable coat, fit for a gentleman to be -seen in--employ my tailor in St. James' street; he will make a man of -you!" - -"From a certain cut of tigerism in the collar, I guessed he lived in -Cheapside or the Strand! Never employ him again! I would not allow him -to dress me if he offered to do it for nothing! Have more regard for -yourself, De Crespigny, and never be betrayed into trusting him again. -He is totally incapable of his business! You might as well expect a -Whig Ministry to form a tolerable Administration. The thing is not upon -the cards!" - -"Pray, attend now to my cards!" interrupted Agnes. "If you are got upon -politics, there will be no slipping in a word edgewise about my ball; -and the joy of planning it quite turns my head." - -"You turn every other head, so it is but fair that your own should -share the same fate!" observed Captain De Crespigny, with a light and -careless laugh; but what he said was neither lightly nor carelessly -received by Agnes; for the color rushed in vivid brilliancy to her -cheek, while she bent her head to conceal a smile of pleasure; yet when -Marion looked up suddenly from her drawing, the eyes of Captain De -Crespigny were again fixed on herself, as he added, "I wish those I -admire the most had a few imperfections to make them human." - -"I should not think any one thoroughly liked me who saw them," observed -Agnes, in a tone of gratified vanity. "And now for business, Pat! Here -is a correct list of our acquaintances!" - -"But I want an incorrect one!" replied Sir Patrick, jocularly seizing -the catalogue of names. "I hate anything correct! Let me see! Here are -some tolerable people enough! This is not a bad world, after all, if -one could pick out those who are ornamental, and pass an act of -extermination upon all who are objectionable in manner, appearance, -circumstances, or disposition. In such a case, it might really become -fit for a gentleman to live in!" - -Agnes' visiting-book was now carefully revised, while the party seemed -to think they had met only to pass sentence on all their acquaintances. -No subject appeared so exhaustless as the faults and follies of their -particular friends; their poverty, wealth, avarice, or extravagance; -while the liveliness of their conversation, instead of emanating, like -that of the Granvilles, from the gay fancies and spontaneous sparklings -of their own minds, was almost entirely derived from the follies and -personal defects of others; and Marion could not but remember with a -smile the country clergyman, who said once from the pulpit, that -"people should never speak ill of their neighbors,--except among a few -friends!" - -"Let us invite only the tolerable-looking girls in each family, and no -chaperons with turbans and large caps to overshadow the room," said -Captain De Crespigny, drawing a broad dash of his pen through the name -of Lady Towercliffe. "Her large, featureless face, looks like a wax -doll which had been put before the fire till it melted; and she is as -dull as a dormouse." - -"We did enough for her in going to that heavy turn-out of a ball," -added Sir Patrick. "I very nearly 'struck work,' on finding myself -expected to dance with one of those plain, elderly daughters. Lady -Charlotte is quite a _laide ideal_." - -"I was pressed into the service, too!" continued Captain De Crespigny, -in an injured tone, "and did not recover the annoyance till--till my -last quadrille!" added he, glancing expressively at Marion. "If one -must dance with plain girls at their own parties, I wish they would -wear veils." - -"Poor Lady Charlotte's figure is a perfect pyramid, narrow at the -shoulders, and becoming thicker to the ankles," observed Agnes, -laughing. "She got no partner the first half of the night, but being -very fond of dancing, she stood near the corner of every dance, and was -turned sometimes by mistake!" - -"Very good for an impromptu, Agnes! The old girl gets a partner once -a-year, I believe," added Sir Patrick. "If people will not be beauties, -I can't help it; but I wonder at any one who had such a foot as Lady -Charlotte's, would wish to live. It is so enormous that the eye cannot -take it in all at once! The gout is nothing in comparison! De -Crespigny, if you are ever shipwrecked at sea, you could desire no -better boat than one of her shoes, and a paddle!" - -"Her hand, too!" exclaimed Captain De Crespigny, shrugging his -shoulders, and admiring his nails. "Mine is ashamed to look so -insignificant beside it! Positively I awoke one forenoon, after my hand -had been stung by a wasp, and seeing something so large, red, and -swelled, I never recognized my own, but seized hold of it in the most -friendly manner, saying, 'Ah, Lady Charlotte Malcolm!----'" - -"I have heard," observed Marion, "that the celebrated Hogarth often -lamented how completely his sense of the ridiculous had destroyed his -sense of the beautiful; so that even in the face of an angel he could -not avoid observing something to caricature; and I think some of us, if -we do not take care, will soon be in danger of a similar calamity." - -"Well!" exclaimed Sir Patrick, eagerly, "Let me enjoy a jest to-day, -even if I were to die for it to-morrow." - -"You, gentlemen, are both too bad!" said Agnes, lazily extending her -own beautiful foot on a footstool. "Charlotte Malcolm has already a -whole tier of double chins; her throat must have once belonged to a -flamingo, and her complexion is like the models we see from abroad in -terra cotta; but then, to do her justice, she dresses to perfect -desperation; and," added Agnes, in her most amiable voice, for she -always assumed the affectation of extreme candor in discussing other -young ladies, "I am told Charlotte is very good tempered; at least so -Lady Towercliffe says." - -"And pray, what does that signify to me!" exclaimed Sir Patrick, -contemptuously. "If there is nothing better to be said for your friend, -then, Agnes, for ever hold your tongue. Amiable qualities are quite at -a discount in general society! What does it matter to a man dancing a -quadrille with any girl, that she is miraculously amiable, if she be -miraculously ugly too! She may be a perfect termagant at home, for -anything I care, provided she bring plenty of small talk into the -ball-room; and I would not give a single sous to know whether her -milliner's bills be paid, provided only she is well dressed. I would -not take such a looking girl as Lady Charlotte Malcolm for my fifth -wife!" - -"You have quite burned her in effigy, now," observed Marion, looking up -from her work. "Suppose we start some person, for variety, whom -everybody must admire and praise!" - -"That should be yourself, then!" said Captain De Crespigny. "Who else -could answer the description?" - -"I remember visiting at old Vivian's last summer, where the girls were -all terrifyingly plain; their faces, like the dairy-maid, and their -figures like the churn," said Sir Patrick. "One day I could not resist -asking their old governess, in confidence, what could be the reason why -the fourth daughter invariably took precedence of all the others, when -she whispered in a confidential tone, 'because she once had a -proposal.'" - -"If young ladies take precedence on such grounds," observed Captain De -Crespigny, with a glance towards Agnes and Marion, "I know who ought -soon to leave all others behind! My cousins here have the game in their -own hands; four by honors and the odd trick." - -"Young ladies had much better gain precedence by accepting offers than -by refusing them!" said Sir Patrick, whistling himself off to the -window. "She's daft to refuse the laird o' Cock-pen!" - -"I once saw a man who had been refused!" said Captain De Crespigny. "He -should have kicked himself out of the world after such an adventure! -From that day to this I have lived in a nervous horror of being -rejected! I am the most marrying man in the world, but I never can -venture to make an offer. I do wonder how people set about it! The -author who published a complete letter-writer, should give us a -complete manual of proposals for all occasions! I am so horribly -diffident! Even coming into a room you have no idea how much I suffer -from shyness!" - -"It is astonishing, then, what a good face you manage to put upon it," -said Marion, dryly. "I never guessed you were at all shy!" - -"No! nor that I am a lover out of place, in want of a situation! Would -it be a good plan, Miss Marion Dunbar, to advertise? You, being pen in -hand already, shall write the advertisement. Describe me as made of -every creature's best! How would it do to make a raffle of me? Twenty -thousand tickets at one guinea each. How many will you take?" - -"I have no money to waste," replied Marion. "But perhaps some young -ladies with more, if they could be quite sure of a blank, might venture -on one ticket, out of charity, hearing you are so anxious to go off." - -"I do wonder if anybody would take me," continued Captain De Crespigny, -in a tone of careless conceit. "I have the greatest mind to try Lady -Charlotte Malcolm! Do you think, Miss Dunbar, I might have any chance?" - -"Not the slightest!" replied Agnes, laughing. "I could bet my longest -ringlet that she would reject you at once. Charlotte complained to me -long ago how forward gentlemen are--always proposing, on the slightest -encouragement." - -"Remarkably true! I am positive that nine out of ten were refused last -winter. We are a most unfortunate set of old fellows, Dunbar. Nobody -appreciates us. I had made myself a promise to go off this season! -positively my last appearance. But," added Captain De Crespigny, -dropping his voice into a low tone of apparent feeling, "the more I am -desirous to recommend myself, the less I succeed. If it were possible -for either of you ladies ever to see me indifferent about pleasing, -then you would be astonished at my success. Did Dunbar never mention, -that in the company of those I do not care for, I am quite another -man?" - -"No!" replied Agnes, blushing and smiling. "Patrick is aware that we -always judge of people's merits for ourselves." - -"What would I not give to hear that verdict pronounced! If you have -tried me by a court-martial, you may at least let me know the -sentence!" - -"It would do you good, De Crespigny, to hear those girls discussing -your demerits! Your vanity requires lowering a peg or two!" said Sir -Patrick, with a mischievous laugh. "You owe me countless thanks for -putting in a word of defence now and then to protect you, for -positively they are too bad. On the score of conceit and extravagance, -I undertake to be your champion. Such faults are like the spots upon -ermine, rather ornamental than otherwise; but if any one says you dress -ill, I have not a syllable to say. Let me advise you, as a friend, to -discard that tailor. He is atrocious. It would be the utmost stretch of -my friendship to be seen with you anywhere to-day, except in some rural -parts of the country; so now for our walk." - -"Dress as you may, Dunbar, you will never look like me!" replied -Captain De Crespigny, as they lounged off together. "It was a problem -of Euclid, which we settled at Eton long ago, and may demonstrate now, -that A B C can never be equal to D E F. Good morning, ladies! _au -revoir!_ we must fly. In your society I resemble the gentleman we used -to read of in our school books, whose wings were melted because he -ventured too near the sun." - -The more Marion saw of Captain De Crespigny, the more astonished she -became at the multiplicity of his talents for conversation, and at his -universal craving to be admired, while all the _petits soins_ which he -lavished on herself, she, as a matter of course, set down to his -extraordinary vanity, which could not allow the most insignificant of -mortals to escape his fascinations; but to have supposed his attentions -to be indications of love, she would have considered as absurd a -blunder as to mistake an oyster-shell for an oyster. - -Captain De Crespigny sketched caricatures with inimitable humor, sung -with taste, and with every appearance of feeling, and his versatility -of powers in talking were almost incredible. He discussed science -occasionally with any blue-stocking, like a philosopher--looked dismal -upon politics with members of Parliament--talked agriculture and fat -cattle with country gentlemen--could describe the state of New Zealand, -as if he had visited the country, to old ladies, with large families of -enterprising sons. He was musical with the musical, sentimental with -the sentimental, and apparently at home equally in poetry or -metaphysics. With a smile for one, a sigh for another, and a jest for a -third, his small-talk for young ladies might be minced into the -smallest grains of sense or nonsense; while at the same time he could -even get up a very plausible religious conversation, on the most -approved model, when in company with any one like Marion, to whom he -thought it might render him more acceptable. The true secret of Captain -De Crespigny's almost universal popularity, lay in his appearing so -flatteringly interested by whatever occupied the attention of others; -and whether it were the last snowstorm, or a newly discovered star in -the firmament--an old pedigree or a new bonnet, he seemed equally ready -to follow the lead of any young lady, being sufficiently delighted in -his own private mind, to imagine how every word he said, and every look -he looked, would be afterwards treasured and remembered by those whom -he had no particular intention of remembering himself. - -Marion observed narrowly and anxiously Captain De Crespigny's conduct -to Agnes; but even her discernment, quickened by the most affectionate -solicitude, could bring her to no conclusive decision respecting his -intentions, though she could not but feel sanguine at one time, and -justly indignant at another, according as the thermometer of her hopes -and fears rose or fell; yet she strongly suspected that Captain De -Crespigny was but indulging his own ambition--that he wished to be -thought of and talked about--to become devotedly loved--to be necessary -to the happiness of another--to constitute that happiness for a short -time, and then to destroy it as a useless toy, which had amused him for -an hour, and might be broken without remorse. "How different! oh! how -very different from Richard Granville!" thought Marion, with a glowing -smile. "To him the peace of no living mortal is insignificant; and when -loved or trusted, who ever was so considerate, so totally unselfish, so -free from vanity and caprice! No Christian can doubt that happiness and -principle are one." - -The name of any individual more than commonly interesting is apt to -occur often in conversation, _a propos_ to everything or nothing; -and Captain De Crespigny's penetration very soon discovered, that -the Granvilles were never heard of or mentioned by Marion with -indifference; therefore being anxious to fathom her secret, and to -ascertain the extent of her intimacy with them, he tried the experiment -one day, by professing an enthusiastic admiration for the extraordinary -eloquence of "Dick Granville!" in whom he appeared suddenly to have -discovered a thousand new and unheard-of good qualities, while with -humorous pertinacity he defended him from all the satirical cuts with -which Sir Patrick tried to lower his importance in the eyes of Marion; -but Captain De Crespigny, unconscious of the lead which he was expected -to follow, rattled on in his accustomed way, - -"Granville always was one whom nothing could spoil! So different from -young Meredith, who used one short month since to go about with a quiet -country-curate look, but since he has become rather popular in the -pulpit, he enters a room with his chin in the air, and all the -self-confidence of a great lion. Weak heads are easily intoxicated." - -"And people here do all in their power to ruin those they most admire, -by very overdone adulation," added Agnes. "It would be a very strong -fortress of humility that could withstand all the absurd mobbing which -Mr. Granville has to undergo." - -"As Lady Towercliffe said to me yesterday, in her usual slip-slop style -of talking, 'Mr. Granville is so very eloquent, so benevolent, so -learned, so pious, and has such a neat foot!'" continued Captain De -Crespigny, laughing. "Really, Dunbar! if you and I quarrel with -everybody better than ourselves, we shall find no one left to associate -with! I have but one weak side on earth, Miss Marion Dunbar, and it is -that of always standing up for the absent." - -"They very often require it; and whether in jest or earnest, I am glad -you do," replied Marion, finding herself obliged to speak, while her -look of agitated consciousness, occasioned a thrill of jealousy in the -heart of Captain De Crespigny, which brought a sudden flush into his -countenance; but he assumed a careless tone, to conceal his real -feelings, and turned to Sir Patrick, saying, "_a propos_ of absence, -the Granvilles are never here now! I remember the time when that pretty -sister and my cousins were like the three graces, perfectly -inseparable!" - -At these words, Sir Patrick colored to the very temples; and instantly -afterwards becoming pale as marble, he stooped to pat his dog, and then -impatiently whistled Dash, along with himself, out of the room first, -and finally out of the house; while Marion's eye was turned towards -Agnes, with a deep and searching look of enquiry and astonishment. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII. - - -Nothing had ever surprised and annoyed Captain De Crespigny more than -the unadmiring indifference with which, week after week, Marion -received his visits. Her easy, good humored courtesy of manner was -unpardonable! No peculiar consciousness became visible in her manner, -when he addressed her; no accession of sensibility in her voice; no -agitation in her smile; no increase of her natural timidity; no desire -of captivation, nor the slightest coquetry in displaying her own -fascinations. - -To be thus treated like a cousin or a brother was mortifying in the -extreme, and appeared to him perfectly unaccountable, because he little -guessed the contrast which incessantly presented itself to Marion's -mind, between the low, every-day tone of his thoughts, on all the -essential objects of existence, and the elevated sentiments or generous -feelings, to which she had lately become accustomed in the society of -Mr. Granville. Captain De Crespigny's conversation always diverted her -on account of its eccentricity; but in the selfishness and vanity he -inadvertently betrayed, she saw how little he could know the real -nature and value of that happiness springing from principle and -affection, which alone could satisfy her heart. - -Formerly, Captain De Crespigny would have gloried in surmounting -difficulties, if he had ever found any difficulties to conquer; and now -he was determined not to become discouraged, though he felt, if such a -thing could be possible, almost humbled. His eye followed Marion -wherever she turned, and he was now for ever by her side, though she -evidently made it her continual business to avoid him, as she had -latterly become more aware than before of his assiduity. - -Fortified by the consciousness of her own secret engagement, and by the -knowledge that Agnes had a well-founded belief in his attachment to -herself, Marion's countenance, which told every transient emotion of -her heart, never betrayed a thought of love; and it seemed to Captain -De Crespigny as if her heart must be of granite, so cold and hard -beneath a smiling stream. She was long of even suspecting the worst, -and would not fully believe when she did, that his volatile fancy had -really changed; yet a spell seemed over her, that she could not escape -from Captain De Crespigny's society, without giving offence to Sir -Patrick and Agnes, who both, for different reasons, insisted on her -being present when he called, though, unlike her sister, who would have -sacrificed every one to herself, she would have sacrificed herself for -every one, and only thought with considerate affection, how she could -best spare the feelings of Agnes, and at the same time escape from -occasioning any jealousy, the fear of which now haunted her like a -perpetual night-mare. - -One morning, when Agnes was seated in a state of exceedingly full-blown -satisfaction, expecting Captain De Crespigny's usual visit, and -considering him as much her own property as either her reticule or her -work-box, she observed Marion, who had occupations for every hour of -the day, hastily gather up her drawing materials, and glide towards the -door, evidently anxious to escape without observation, but in vain. - -The barometer of Agnes's countenance had become exceedingly stormy, -while watching Marion's progress; and being one who rather enjoyed the -excitement of a quarrel than otherwise, she asked Marion in a voice -raised an octave higher than usual, which sounded as sharp and cutting -as an east wind, where she was about to go, adding, in her most -sarcastic tone, - -"Pray inform me, Marion, why I am to be left in solitude here, when -everybody knows that in a place like this I cannot possibly receive -visitors alone. One would suppose that you wished to prevent me from -seeing Captain De Crespigny this morning." - -"By no means, Agnes. But is there any occasion for me to remain, when -Patrick of course accompanies him here as usual?" - -"Nonsense, Marion. You know perfectly well that Patrick may or may not -be here, for that all depends on whims like your own, and nothing -renders it correct to receive gentlemen in the morning, except there -being two of us at home. I expected more friendship and consideration -from you; but people never will think of any one but themselves!" - -"You are like a Hebrew scholar, and always read me backwards, Agnes. I -have only to know your wishes in order to comply with them," replied -Marion, good-humoredly re-seating herself, and adding, with a beautiful -timidity of manner and voice, "I cannot but think that, until you are -actually engaged, it would perhaps be better if--if--Captain De -Crespigny's attentions were not to--to be at all divided." - -"Divided!" exclaimed Agnes, looking perfectly sublime in her anger. -"What can you mean?" - -"Excuse me, Agnes," replied Marion, trying to steady her voice, and to -hide her confusion. "I mean that Captain De Crespigny has the -reputation of being a confirmed flirt; that I hope and trust, if it be -really for your happiness, he is, as you think, irretrievably attached -and engaged to yourself; but if a housemaid enter the room, he cannot -resist attempting to look handsome, and to attract her admiration; -therefore you cannot but suppose he will endeavor to waste some of his -fascinations occasionally upon me, and till he is my brother, I would -rather avoid any such absurdity." - -"Your meaning is plain enough now, and requires no interpreter!" said -Agnes, with an angry toss of her head. "Every one must see and know, -that Captain De Crespigny is exclusively and entirely devoted to me." - -"That is a point, Agnes, of which no third person can be an adequate -judge," replied Marion, evasively; "but I am as anxious to believe it -as yourself." - -"If you entertain any fear of causing me a disappointment, make your -own mind perfectly easy, as mine is. If Captain De Crespigny could -hesitate a moment between us, I should scarcely think him worth living -for, and still less worth dying for. Be assured I shall never endure a -moment's uneasiness on your account. Here he comes, regular as the -rising sun, and quite as welcome." - -After all the lively badinage of Captain De Crespigny's first reception -was over, Marion quietly retreated into the deep embrasure of a window, -where her work-table stood, and busied herself with answering some -notes, while almost entirely shaded from observation; yet still Captain -De Crespigny's eye incessantly wandered to the place where she sat, -for there was something unintentionally _piquante_ in the total -indifference with which she thus secluded herself from his attentions -and civilities. Observing, at length, that Marion had begun carefully -pruning the dead leaves from a bouquet of rather drooping flowers, -which seemed still vainly affecting to look fresh and gay, he broke off -in the middle of a sentence from Agnes, and clandestinely approaching -the table when Marion was looking in another direction, he stole them -all away, and substituted one so fresh and fragrant that Marion uttered -an exclamation of rapturous admiration. She neither blushed nor looked -down, however; but as if it were no more than an every day civility, -held it up to Agnes for admiration, and endeavored to attract her -towards the table by the perfume of her beautiful flowers. - -"Nothing withered or blighted should ever be here," said Captain De -Crespigny, in his most sentimental tone. "I should like, in one -respect, to resemble flowers, which give nothing but pleasure to all -who see them. Are you writing prose, or is this Poet's Corner? If I had -the pen of Moore, I could find one subject for my muse more beautiful -than any he ever wrote upon, and feelings more deep than he ever -expressed! My eyes have ached for the last half hour with trying to see -you; and half my eye-strings are cracked with looking from so great a -distance." - -Marion was now seriously annoyed, and a glow of indignant vexation -mantled upon her cheek; but Captain De Crespigny, mistaking her blushes -and silence, began to flatter himself that the fortress was not so -impregnable as he had feared. A scrap of paper lay on the table, which -Marion had carelessly flung aside, after trying a pen, by writing down -several times her own Christian name, and Captain De Crespigny having -picked it up, laughingly added to it the name of De Crespigny. - -"How does this look?" asked he, showing her the signature of "Marion De -Crespigny," while a gleam of light shot through his dark eye-lashes. -"This is a valuable autograph, which I shall certainly preserve. The -signature is not yet a common one, but I hope it may become so, as no -other looks half so well to my eye--or to my heart." - -"There may be another that I should very much prefer," replied Marion, -decidedly, while the bright carnation mounted to her cheek, and she -turned her large eyes towards Agnes, who stood at some distance placid -and secure, in the certain belief that her own supremacy was -established, and that the conversation probably related to herself. -"Give me back that paper, Captain De Crespigny, for it contains a -mischievous forgery--a name that can never exist upon the earth." - -"But it may in fairy-land, and it shall!" replied he, with undaunted -pertinacity. "The fates are perpetually weaving people together, and -may do something for me! When we are unwillingly separated for a short -period, sometime hereafter, I shall every day see this name appended to -the most interesting accounts of your garden, your lap-dog, and----" - -"And my sister!" added Marion, coldly. "She is always the first object -of interest to me. Agnes! do come here and admire the last few stitches -I have added to this bible-cover." - -"How well it will look at Beaujolie Park!" muttered De Crespigny, -almost inaudibly, in that low musical voice which had been -irresistible, and with a significance of manner which Marion seemed not -to remark. "I hope one day to see it there." - -"I intend it as a present to Agnes," replied Marion, dryly.--"That and -the prayer-book are both for her dressing-table." - -Captain De Crespigny, assuming a look of respectful despondency, -examined the volumes during several minutes in silence; but having -accidentally opened the service of matrimony, he smilingly pointed it -out to Marion, saying, "he hoped this might be considered a good omen," -and doubling down the page, he placed the prayer-book opposite to her, -saying, "Let me request you will study that till we meet again, as I -wish to ask your opinion of it." - -Before Marion had time to reply, or to hurry away, as she had been for -some time projecting, Agnes advanced with an air of exceedingly forced -vivacity, while there was a perceptible flutter of anger in her tone, -and Marion felt as much confused as if she had been guilty of a real -indiscretion, when she saw that her sister's face had become as white -as the wall, her eyes glassy, and her manner unusually excited, though -she tried to assume a careless tone, saying: - -"What is all the world talking about here? Captain De Crespigny, you -must have learned the whole mysteries of worsted work by this time!" - -"I was merely showing your sister that most interesting of all -compositions, the marriage service," replied Captain De Crespigny, -throwing as much meaning into his voice as it could carry, "and -mentioning that the fashionable blacksmith for these occasions now is -my cousin, the Dean of Chester." - -Agnes looked down with an interesting blush, and Marion looked up with -a start of astonishment, at the hardened intrepidity of manner in which -Captain De Crespigny carried on his double game, adapting his tone -equally to suit either or both of his companions; and it was with a -sensation of extreme relief that she saw him at last rise to take -leave, looking most charmingly distressed; but he had glanced at his -watch, "never being able to measure time at St. John's Lodge," and an -unlucky engagement obliged him to depart. - -"All engagements are unlucky," observed Agnes, impatiently. "I never -made one yet, without afterwards finding it a tyrannical restraint." - -"There is only one engagement I ever wish to make," replied Captain De -Crespigny, in a sentimental voice, but carefully looking at nobody. "I -hope soon to make an engagement for life!" - -"What is all this!" exclaimed Sir Patrick, entering the room. "Can De -Crespigny not be persuaded into remaining with you two or three hours -longer, girls?" - -"We have not yet tried the experiment," replied Marion, seeing Agnes -unwilling to speak. "I intend to be busy this morning reading your -favorite character in Shakespeare, Malvolio. He had the very common -fault of over-estimating himself." - -"To some people that is impracticable!" replied Captain De Crespigny, -with a self-satisfied smile. "The world really spoils me for one." - -"Perhaps," observed Sir Patrick, "you flatter yourself, and that is the -most dangerous of all flattery." - -"Not to me! I only wish it were possible for me to think as much of -myself as every body else does." - -"I hear old Doncaster is likely to make a die of it soon; therefore -wait till you are established at Beaujolie Park, and then you shall see -how much we all think of you!" replied Sir Patrick, laughing. "I hope -you mean to be the most hospitable Marquis in the whole peerage of -England?" - -"Most undoubtedly! Hospitality is my weakness, if I have any! Dunbar, -my very dear friend, I make a point of your coming to dine with me once -a-year at Beaujolie Park! I am sorry it will not be in my power to -offer you a bed; but the Highflyer passes my door at nine every -evening. I wish for a very long visit from you! We are old friends, my -good fellow! so I must really stretch a point! I am quite serious! -therefore come by the early mail for breakfast, and take the evening -one for your departure! I always was, and always shall be the most -hospitable man upon earth! Have you half a moment to spare to-morrow? I -want you to help me in my bargain for a bay horse with Duncombe of -ours. He has the prettiest sister in the world, if that will be any -inducement to come. I wish he would throw her into the bargain! Good -morning! I could not stay a minute longer to save all your lives!" - -"How I do sometimes hate Captain De Crespigny!" exclaimed Agnes, with -angry vehemence, after he had made a very conceited exit from her -presence, accompanied by Sir Patrick, while she watched him from the -window, as he sprang upon his horse, and galloped out of sight. "I know -he is perfectly devoted to me! I cannot allow myself to doubt it! My -whole happiness in life is cast on that die, and must not be lost! No!" -continued she, speaking to Marion in a tone of unwonted perplexity, "it -would indeed be a disgraceful triumph, to awaken in my heart affections -which, if they must die, I shall die with them. My hopes and feelings -appear all frozen into icicles this morning; yet I can scarcely tell -why! A sensation of utter discouragement torments me! What is man, and -what is woman that trusts him? If all my happiness is now torn up by -the roots, I shall never again incur the grief of forming any earthly -plan! I shall continue for life a bankrupt in hope and peace! Do not -speak to me, Marion! Do not look as if you believed the worst! I will -not hear it! I know you wish to say and do all that is kind; but I -detest sympathy! I abhor being pitied! and I will not be advised." - -Even after she had retired to the gloomy solitude of her lonely room, -Agnes buried her face in her hands, as if she would hide herself from -the whole world, and struggled to banish thought; yet the suspicion -would force itself into her mind, that Captain De Crespigny intended to -treat her as she had seen him treat others; and though formerly she had -often laughed at the credulity of those girls who believed half the -rubbish he talked to them, now she repeated to herself all his -professions of admiration, his looks, smiles, innuendoes, implied -flattery, and openly expressed interest, till her cheek regained its -bloom, her eyes their brightness, and she looked into her mirror with -perfectly restored self-complacency, and with renovated confidence in -the truth, honor, and sincerity of Captain De Crespigny. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII. - - -One of the best receipts for happiness in this world is, to make the -utmost of small pleasures, and the very least of small vexations, which -was the plan on which Marion invariably lived; and it often seemed as -if all the duties of affection and friendship were written with a -sunbeam on her mind. She now resolved, with characteristic kindness and -good sense, that as her presence at St. John's Lodge could do no good -to her sister, it should at least do no harm; therefore she determined -if possible to obtain leave of absence for a few weeks from home, and -to explain in writing to Agnes, her own opinion of Captain De -Crespigny's conduct, and the reasons on which it was grounded; being -convinced that in all the important affairs of life, perfect frankness -between friends is, however painful, an imperative duty, and that no -one, on any occasion where he has to act or to feel, should be left in -the dark as to his own actual position. - -With a somewhat tremulous voice, and heightened color, Marion proceeded -next morning into her brother's private sitting-room, where, surrounded -by a perfect armory of rifles, double-barrelled guns and pistols, she -found him selecting his weapons for a pigeon-match to "come off" that -day, between himself and Captain De Crespigny, of whose arrival he was -in momentary expectation; and he seemed by no means inclined at first -to lend her much of his notice. - -"I came to mention, Patrick, that if you have no objection, it is my -wish to spend a fortnight now, with uncle Arthur," said Marion. "We -have met very seldom of late, and Henry De Lancey is going off soon to -join the army. Did you hear that a commission in the same corps as -Captain De Crespigny, has been sent to him lately by his unknown -friends. The regiment is going soon, I am told, to Canada, but he is to -join the depot for some months at Portsmouth." - -"Well! but what does all this matter to you! I shall not give my -consent if you ask me till midnight!" exclaimed Sir Patrick, peevishly; -for he felt by no means disposed that his house should lose the -attraction of Marion's resplendent beauty. "If Sir Arthur in his -dotage, chooses to make himself ridiculous about this anonymous youth, -is that any reason why the whole family should go wild about him? -Besides, Marion, you confessed long ago, that Mr. Granville visits at -our uncle's; and I am determined that you shall learn to know your own -value better than to take him! What has he to offer you but that -trumpery little cottage, like a Tunbridge-ware work-box, a kitchen -garden stocked with cabbages, or gooseberry bushes, and to live upon -brown bread and water. But I begin to suspect, Marion, that you are one -of the very few people in this world who like their own way; therefore -it is my duty to keep you here out of danger." - -"I wish to escape a danger, rather than to encounter one," replied -Marion, with an ingenuous blush. "You know, Patrick, that I consider -Agnes almost engaged to Captain De Crespigny. It would be a very great -disappointment to me, and I think to yourself, if, after all that has -passed, he become merely general in his attentions--showing no -preference to one of us more than for another. You always wish me to be -in the room when he calls,--and--and----" - -"Oh! I understand!" exclaimed Sir Patrick, fixing his hawk's eyes on -Marion, and trying to conceal a smile beneath a look of stern -interrogation. "Agnes is jealous!" - -"No! not in the very least! I trust she has no reason--that she never -can have any. It seems like vanity in me to mention the subject even to -my own brother in confidence, but I will be perfectly honest. You know, -Patrick, I saw no society at school. I am not at all aware what is -customary; but your friend often says things to me that I am sure he -would not like Agnes to hear." - -"You are young and green in this old world, Marion, if you fancy that -Agnes is ever to catch such a will-o'-the-wisp as De Crespigny. _Il -s'aime, et n'a point de rival._ He plays with hearts as if they were -shuttlecocks; and indeed some hearts are little better. It is an absurd -affair of vanity on both sides, and the sooner the thing goes off the -better. I know you are a perfect coward in giving pain, and that Agnes -considers herself sole proprietor of De Crespigny's attentions; but who -made her so? That bubble will burst ere long; and if he is inclined to -try a little harmless flirtation with you, what occasion is there to go -off in a tangent about that, I should like to know! I must insist, -Marion, on your doing all that is possible to make this dull, -out-of-the-way house of mine, agreeable to my friends, for it is -impracticable to exist here without society, which is the best weapon -to kill time with. I shall take it as a mark of your sisterly kindness, -to receive De Crespigny as all other young ladies receive him -everywhere. If he only opened his mouth wide enough, I know at least a -dozen girls who would jump down his throat, and '_il faut jouer le jeu, -selon les regles de la societe dans laquelle vous etes force de -vivre_.' My deepest resentment shall rest on either Agnes or you, -Marion, if my most intimate companion be banished from our society, -either by the one liking him too much, or the other too little." - -"But, Patrick! if you think Agnes lays too much stress on Captain De -Crespigny's very marked attentions, and lover-like language, why do you -not warn her against becoming really attached to him?" - -"Pshaw! nonsense! She will come to her senses soon, if she has any -senses to come to. Agnes' hopes are all certainties; and she expects by -shutting her own eyes, that everybody else shall become blind; but she -or any one might see with half an eye, that De Crespigny cares no more -for her than the poker does for the tongs. Agnes has been given to -expecting impossibilities from childhood, when she used to be angry at -her wax doll for not answering her when spoken to. If she did not -flatter herself so egregiously, the flattery of De Crespigny would do -her no harm. His love affairs flame up and go out again like a -lucifer-match box." - -"Yet, Patrick," replied Marion, trying to steady her voice, and to look -excessively firm, "I must make a point of going for one week to uncle -Arthur. If Agnes is to be disappointed, let me not have any part of the -blame, either from her, or from myself." - -"My good Marion! what trash you talk! It puts my mustachios out of curl -to hear you! Agnes is no more engaged to De Crespigny than I am to Mrs. -Penfold! There is no necessity on that score for your becoming a -porcupine, and setting up your quills at my friend. _Il n'a fait, que -remplir son role de jeune homme._ Agnes thinks every partner at a ball -would gladly become a partner for life, and if any one of them were to -mention the ring of Saturn, she would consider it a proposal; but her -lovers all drop off like nine pins at last. Many a time she has seen -the 'decline and fall' of her empire already, and it will be the same -thing now in De Crespigny's case. 'Old birds are not caught with -chaff.'" - -"You mean that the chaff is Captain De Crespigny, of course," replied -Marion, with reproachful gravity. "But the subject might have been -illustrated with a more graceful allusion to Agnes' lovers." - -"As for Agnes' lovers, no one can tell who they are; yet depend upon -it, De Crespigny is not in the number. As usual, she is always flirting -with the wrong man! Agnes has about as much chance of him as the man in -the moon!" continued Sir Patrick, with increasing vehemence. "She might -as well attempt to overtake last year! Open the door of your -understanding, Marion, and listen to me: De Crespigny will no more -propose to her than you will to the Archbishop of Canterbury! Anybody -may see he is merely amusing himself!" - -"Then he deserves to be hanged!" replied Marion, indignantly. "Surely, -Patrick, you should not have allowed this to continue so long, and to -go so far, under your own eyes, unless you really believed that Captain -De Crespigny was as much attached to Agnes as she is certainly to him." - -"Or at least to his future title and estates! My dear friend, one would -suppose you had swallowed a whole circulating library this morning! Are -you a believer in broken hearts? My good Marion, they were exploded -long ago, like ghosts and witchcraft! Nobody now dies of love except on -the stage. You do not actually suppose Agnes will expire with the -disappointment! She knows better. Why, Marion, you must expect to go -through half-a-dozen such affairs before you get safe into the harbor -of matrimony." - -"I hope not! My heart would not stand quite so much breakage," replied -Marion, coloring and laughing, while she added, in a lower tone, -"besides which it is already in very safe keeping. I have given it -away, you know, Patrick, once for all." - -"Pshaw! Marion, none of your sentimental vagaries! Your attachment is, -of course, to be a _chef d'oeuvre d'amour_; but nothing lasts for ever -now. If there were no disappointments in such a love-in-a-cottage -affair as yours, what would become of poets and novel readers! Agnes -understands the game of life better than you do. In her estimation, it -is like a rubber at whist, where hearts are trumps, and the prize a -good establishment in common with the first partner who offers. De -Crespigny knows all this, and cannot be expected to place any great -value on a second-hand heart, much the worse for wear. The intimacy -between them has chiefly arisen from our relationship, he being her -cousin only once removed." - -"I wish he were removed altogether. Captain De Crespigny ought to -suffer all the bitterness of disappointment himself, when his -insatiable vanity inflicts it so heartlessly on others." - -"Suppose you take that method of revenging Agnes," replied Sir Patrick, -with a penetrating look. "He is the best catch going, and very civil to -you. De Crespigny's attentions are an honor to any one, and would be -quite a feather in your cap." - -"So he seems to think; but I have no desire for such feathers. I make -it a rule," said Marion, archly, "never to refuse any gentleman till he -has proposed; but the honor of making him miserable for life never can -be mine, though he so well deserves it. I suppose, being a Roman -Catholic, he has bought an indulgence for deceit, or I should rather -say falsehood." - -"What old-fashioned bread-and-butter ideas you have, Marion! Everybody -has been ill-used by somebody, and nobody minds it now. Agnes will -continue incurably heart-broken, til some new lover pays his devoirs, -and then you will understand her better, Marion. _On garde long temps -son premier amant quand on n'en pas un second._" - -"I judge of her by myself; and if once so cruelly deceived as she is, -Patrick, my heart could never venture on any second attachment--never! -Once awakened from such a dream, I neither could nor would attempt to -dream it over again. My ideas of mutual attachment are not borrowed -from novels or poems, because I never had time to read one at Mrs. -Penfold's, but from conceiving what it might be to have a companion for -life, from whom no thought should be concealed, and all my happiness -derived. Who could ever place such trust in Captain De Crespigny, if he -has really, as I may say, swindled Agnes out of her time, thoughts, and -affections, without intending amply to repay them with his own? I am -rapidly disliking him, Patrick; and the longer we talk, the more -anxious I become for your leave to be out of his way entirely. Depend -upon it, I shall be excessively rude to your friend the next time we -meet. So, pray, let me go to-morrow." - -Hearing a slight noise, Marion looked round, and she would have felt it -rather a relief at the moment if the floor could have opened under her -feet, when, with a gasp of consternation, she beheld Captain De -Crespigny standing in an attitude of perplexity and irresolution near -the door, evidently, for once in his life, feeling almost awkward, and -very nearly abashed, though a moment afterwards he regained his usual -matchless intrepidity of countenance and manner; when Sir Patrick -advanced, with extended hand, to welcome him, saying, - -"Ah! De Crespigny! is that you?" - -"The same and no other," replied he, bending his riding-whip till it -nearly broke; but assuming an Irish accent to conceal his annoyance. -"The top of the morning to you both. How is every inch of you?" - -"Very tolerable, indeed! It always does me good to be astonished, and -certainly your apparition came rather unexpectedly. It made my -mustachios perfectly stand upon end; and Marion will not require a -stroke of electricity for some time after this! She seems rapidly -petrifying into stone!" - -"Miss Marion Dunbar! if my presence be unwelcome, I wish it were -possible to dissolve away in the likeness of a sigh!" said he, with a -comic smile. "Shall I invite myself to sit down, or will any one else -do so?" - -"If you are so exceedingly ceremonious, perhaps Marion ought to reach -you a chair," replied Sir Patrick, while his face became perfectly -crimsoned with trying to suppress a burst of laughter, when he observed -the graceful timidity of Marion's manner, contrasted with the easy -assurance of Captain De Crespigny's, who looked at her with undisguised -admiration. "I had been inwardly betting with myself for the last half -hour that you would drop in exactly as you did. Here is an undeniably -fine day, so that ends all discussion of the weather, and now for our -pigeon-match." - -"Any match you please in this house. I have been sitting for the last -ten minutes tuning your sister's guitar, and she sent me here for the -strings. How much her dog Darling has improved in the tone and -expression of his barking." - -"Agnes is perfectly dog mad since you gave her that pert ill-tempered -little animal. As Lord Byron said, 'nobody need want a friend who can -get a dog.' She wears a lock of his hair set in gold--has got a supply -of sheets and towels for him, marked with his name--helps him before -any of us at dinner--teaches him to bark Toryism--and says dogs have -all the good qualities of mankind, with none of the evil. I wish those -who preach sermons against cruelty to animals, would also say a little -against over-indulging them, especially in the case of lap-dogs." - -"It is an amiable weakness," observed Captain De Crespigny, in a tone -that sounded very like contempt. "I suppose your sister would scarcely -be outdone by Queen Henrietta Maria, who rushed through a shower of -bullets to save her favorite lap-dog. I envy the whole canine race. -They have, like ourselves, fox-hunting and grouse-shooting for -amusement; and moreover, they are such favorites with the ladies! -Horses are slaves and drudges from youth to age, bearing a yoke from -which nothing can deliver them except death; but dogs generally meet -with some return for their attachment, and are always believed to be -sincere in what they profess. What do you say, Miss Marion Dunbar? Have -I not reason to envy your estimation of Darling?" - -Marion colored to the very temples, embarrassed by the consciousness -of all that Captain De Crespigny had evidently overheard, and after -saying a few inaudible words, she would have hastened out of the room; -but on looking round, Sir Patrick, who privately thought that on the -present occasion there might be one too many, had strolled off to the -drawing-room, and as Captain De Crespigny continued speaking, she could -not, without actual rudeness, withdraw. A blush is one of the most -beautiful phenomena in nature, and so thought Captain De Crespigny, -when he perceived Marion's color flitting like an aurora borealis, -while for a moment she remained completely abashed, and then, with a -look of apprehensive timidity, re-seated herself. - -"Excuse me, Miss Dunbar!" said he, in a tone of unwonted gravity and -respect, while his usual self-confident audacity seemed entirely to -have forsaken him. "I became inadvertently a listener to-day, when my -name was mentioned by you in terms of which I must entreat an -explanation. You will think me perhaps rather too much of the -free-and-easy school, if I take this liberty; but the value I place -upon your good opinion and cousinly regard is such, that I shall -neither eat nor sleep till you have enlightened me respecting the -offences for which I am to be thus condemned unheard." - -"Pray forget all that was said! I am unaccustomed to--to conceal my -thoughts!" replied Marion, trying to look particularly firm; but seeing -that Captain De Crespigny still waited with an obvious resolution to -obtain something more explicit, she felt herself urged on to say what, -under ordinary circumstances, she would have sunk into the earth rather -than utter; therefore assuming a certain haughty dignity of manner -quite unusual with her, she added, "If I did not almost consider you a -brother, I should not remain in the room now; but I do most sincerely -regret that your name occurred in our conversation at all, and -particularly in a way for which I ought to apologise." - -"As for my name, Miss Dunbar!" replied Captain De Crespigny, in a -rallying tone, "make any use of it you please. Take it yourself, or -give it to your dog, and I shall feel honored; but pardon me for being -desirous that you, more than any other person in the world, should -understand how perfectly unfounded is the idea of my being engaged -to--to any lady." - -"From all that has passed, Captain De Crespigny, and from what I have -myself heard you say, I could scarcely have believed it possible that -there could be any mistake," replied Marion, indignantly. "I shall -never pardon myself for having betrayed such unfounded expectations; -but let it be understood, that I spoke only my own thoughts, in which -no other person is implicated." - -"And the misapprehension was most natural--perhaps unavoidable, Miss -Dunbar, considering how little you are yet accustomed to the -_persiflage_ of every-day society," replied Captain De Crespigny, -looking perfectly irresistible. "But allow me the privilege of a -cousin, to give you some little knowledge of the world as it is." - -"You have done that already," replied Marion, coldly; "and I mean to be -as long as possible of learning more. It certainly does not improve -upon acquaintance." - -"We have all much to complain of, undoubtedly! If the gossiping world -here had its own way, I should be married to as rapid a succession of -young ladies as the Sultan in the Arabian Nights. Reports grow here -like hops. Old women round a tea table make up their budget of scandal, -without giving due allowance to the altered customs of society, and my -name is for ever going about the world like a cricket-ball. Every -gentleman asks his partners to dance now, as nearly as possible in a -tone as if he were engaging a partner for life, and says all that words -can express, without attaching any permanent meaning to it, provided he -has never asked that one conclusive question, which I have never yet -ventured to put, though most anxious soon to do so, if I had the -slightest encouragement from one whom, above all others, I -admire,--Madam, will you marry me?" - -Captain De Crespigny said these last words very much as if he meant -them now to be serious, and fixed his eyes--eyes accustomed to do -wonders--on Marion, who felt the color rushing painfully into her -cheek; but angry at herself for blushing, she turned away in silence, -while he added more energetically than before, - -"I would not, for all the worlds upon earth, lose one iota of your good -opinion. That really is precious to me. Allow me, irritated as you -evidently are, in some degree to justify myself respecting my cousin -Agnes. Strike, but hear me. She knows the world, having already smiled -on hundreds of admirers, and blushed for dozens; therefore I am but one -in a crowd, who, like the kings in Macbeth, 'come like shadows and so -depart,' being scarcely missed in the rapid succession which follows; -and, to use a vulgar proverb, 'there are some ladies with whom one -shoulder of mutton very soon drives down another.'" - -Captain Be Crespigny paused; and had Marion been less agitated, and -less anxious to terminate the interview, she could have smiled at this -unusual fit of humility, which made him willing, for once, to suppose -that his attentions could be insignificant; but seeing that she was now -about to make a hasty exit from the room, he rapidly continued, with a -slight relapse into his ordinary tone of conceit: - -"I am vain enough to think that I deserve to be preferred for something -better than the mere accident of birth and fortune, with which the very -meanest of mankind may be endowed; but there are ladies--observe I name -nobody--who, if they were informed that a gentleman waited in the next -room ready to marry them, with double my income, rank, and property, -would ask no other question, but put on a veil, get up a fit of bridal -hysterics, and proceed to chapel. Such intimacies as mine with your -sister are like a tread-mill, always apparently getting on, but never -advancing, while neither of us ever dream of going a step beyond it. -Agnes is formed to be gazed at with wondering admiration--to make -conquests, but not to keep them. I would no more think of being -seriously in love with her, than with a piece of Dresden china in a -shop window. She should be shut up in a glass case, to be admired and -forgotten every day. It is not the mere symmetry of form or features -that could permanently interest me," continued Captain De Crespigny, -looking a million of things; but Marion's eyes were fixed on the door, -while her whole countenance was in a glow of indignant vexation, and he -continued to speak with increasing ardor. "There is beauty in an -icicle, and beauty in a sunbeam; but how different. Can you wonder--can -you blame me--that I see the disparity in mind as much as in appearance -between yourself and your sister. She is like an amusing book, -destitute of interest, to be taken up with pleasure, but laid aside -without regret. She might beguile a weary hour; but you would prevent -the possibility of any hour ever becoming so." - -"Captain De Crespigny, I know not what the _persiflage_ of society -entitles you to say, and it would be well for the happiness of others -if they understood your ideas upon that subject as well," replied -Marion, with restored firmness--and never had she looked so tall. "You -forget the confidence that subsists between sisters, and that I am -aware you generally express very different feelings, which I must still -hope, for your credit, are the real truth, otherwise nothing you can -say shall ever convince me that Agnes is not extremely ill-treated. I -only wonder very much that she cares for you at all. I have been -betrayed into speaking on this subject--I shall regret having done so -as long as I live--but I must be true to my sister now, in saying what -I think of your conduct, that it has been most heartless and most -unjustifiable. Let me request you never again to speak to me as you -have done to-day." - -"No! not till the next opportunity. You should be angry often, Miss -Dunbar, for it becomes you, and is the only thing that can bring you to -the level of an ordinary mortal; therefore, let me detain you by the -right of cousinship, if by no other, even against your wishes, one -moment longer to propose terms of peace. I am going next week to do -penance at Beaujolie Park with my very long-lived and not very much -respected uncle, who insists on my escorting him to Harrowgate. He may, -perhaps, be unreasonable enough to detain me two months, during which -it would have amused me beyond measure could I act the invisible -gentleman and observe your sister; but what I cannot do myself you may -and must. If Agnes does not flirt in a young-lady-like manner with -every man she meets, then I make you a very safe promise, that the rest -of my life shall be devoted to her, and nothing you ever read in a -romance shall exceed my devotion and constancy; but you must be honest, -and if the day after my P.P.C. cards are left, you perceive her quite -as happy to see Captain Digby, or Lord Wigton, or Sir Anybody Anything, -as ever she was to see me, then I am to be honorably acquitted; and you -will consider me entitled," added Captain De Crespigny, with one of his -most expressive looks, "to seek for happiness where I could be sure of -finding it, if only fortunate enough to be thought deserving; but, -unless a preference be reciprocal, the expression of it is little -believed or valued." - -"Captain De Crespigny," replied Marion, looking a thousand ways to -avoid meeting his eye, "whoever you may hereafter prefer, I can wish no -greater happiness to any one than I enjoy myself, being engaged to one -in whom I can place the most perfect reliance. My brother has probably -told you already, what I am always proud to acknowledge, that your old -friend Mr. Granville, is attached to me, and we await only Patrick's -consent to our marriage, having fortunately obtained my uncle's." - -The color mounted in brilliant hues to Marion's cheek when she spoke, -for it was evidently a strong effort to do so at all, and her eyes were -fixed on the ground, or she would have been astonished and shocked at -the effect her words produced on Captain De Crespigny, who bit his lip -till the blood nearly sprung out, while his face became for a moment -pale as death; but, after fixing a long scrutinizing look on Marion's -countenance, to read its expressions, he said, in a voice so altered -from his usual tone of gay hilarity, that she could scarcely have -recognised it: - -"Dunbar will never consent. Impossible! He knows your value better. It -cannot be. A parson with nothing but his pulpit! I never dreamed of -such a thing--never. A life of Sunday schools and clothing societies in -that bauble of a cottage. Pshaw! No girl ever ends by marrying the -first man she likes, and no more will you. I shall make you prefer me -in a month." - -"Probably not, as I rather dislike you now," replied Marion, -suppressing a smile. - -"That will wear off. It is best, as Mrs. Malaprop says, to begin with a -little aversion. You will at last like me beyond any one in the world." - -"Extremes meet sometimes; but I must explain myself once for all now, -Captain De Crespigny, that no one may ever be led into a mistake. My -brother wishes us to be responsible for making this house, as far as we -can, agreeable to his friends, but only as Patrick's friend can I ever -now have pleasure in seeing you here, as, in another respect, I -heartily disapprove of your conduct, and I will not appear for one -moment to participate in the sort of farce you would carry on here with -myself,--and with others. Let us be on terms of cousinly civility for -the future, and never on more." - -"Well, then, I am satisfied to be received on your terms," replied -Captain De Crespigny, with an exceedingly dissatisfied look. "Let me be -welcomed on your brother's account, until I can make myself welcome on -my own. As for constancy in this world, it is all very right and very -desirable, but, as I hope one of your admirers may soon discover, - - "Rien n'est plus commun que le nom, - Rien n'est plus rare que la chose." - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV. - - -Captain De Crespigny remained in his sitting-room till a late hour the -following night, looking over papers and preparing for his departure to -Yorkshire, after which he seated himself before the dying embers of his -fire to muse, for the twentieth time, on all that had passed between -himself and Marion. More in love with her than he had ever believed it -possible to be with any one, he recalled again and again to mind the -thrilling tones of her voice, and the matchless loveliness of her -countenance, till at length his attention being roused by the clock -striking two, he looked at the candles burning dimly in their sockets, -and prepared to wish himself good night. - -When about to rise, his attention was suddenly arrested by a rustling -noise behind. The shadow of a figure became visible on the opposite -wall; it was distinctly outlined, and began slowly to move, when, -springing to his feet with an exclamation of astonishment, Captain De -Crespigny's eye fell on the tall figure of a woman enveloped in dark -draperies, who stood like a phantom close by his side, without speech -or motion. While his eyes were riveted in silent consternation on this -mysterious apparition, gradually the cloak was thrown aside, the veil -dropped, and a countenance became disclosed so white and rigid, so -soul-stricken in sorrow, so utterly without life or motion, that it -seemed as if nothing on earth could have looked so supernaturally -wretched. No moisture flouted over her large dilated eyes, which were -glassy and fixed, her parted lips were livid as death, a mortal -paleness was on her forehead and cheek, and not a sound became audible, -for the grave itself was not more silent. With her emaciated hands -riveted together, she stood the very image of woe; while nothing human -appeared in her face but its expression of mortal anguish. - -Captain De Crespigny gazed at this mysterious apparition, unable to -believe the evidence of his senses. A vital horror thrilled through his -heart; his eyes closed as if he would willingly have closed his vision -against a sight which blasted him; but at length, by a strong effort -compelling himself to speak, he said, in a low, doubtful tone, "Mary -Anstruther! Impossible! I was told long ago you were no more." - -A few quivering, inaudible murmurs, were for some moments her only -reply, as if unable yet to command herself, till at length, in a tone -so low, hollow, and concentrated, that it seemed scarcely human, but -resembled a dreary echo from the tomb, she said, fixing a ghastly look -on Captain De Crespigny, - -"No wonder you disown the wreck! I scarcely know myself in mind or -body. Ages of misery have made me the creature I am! Not want, nor -suffering, nor humiliation, though these are what you consigned me to, -but the bitter agony of being despised and forgotten by yourself,--by -you for whom I steeped my very soul in guilt! You start!--You would -deny this; but when the Abbe Mordaunt, to gain possession of his -niece's fortune, wished me to assist in getting her driven from the -house, was it to serve him that I did so? Was it for his offered bribes -that I lent my aid to that guilty work! Oh no! but her child stood in -your way, and therefore I consented. You never knew what I had done for -your sake; but was it not one of the many promises that you have -broken, that sooner or later you would declare me--even me, the -wretched Mary Anstruther, your wife. Madness and despair drove me on! I -slandered her to Lord Doncaster--got her driven from his house--made my -brother believe she had misrepresented me--that she had caused our -disgrace and banishment--and you know the fearful end of all. I never, -never thought of blood! Oh never! He was mad then! He has been mad ever -since; and who can wonder! Her cry rings for ever in my ears, the -sharpest on earth--a cry for life. It haunts me night and day! Go where -I will, the shadow pursues me. A shapeless horror is on my mind! The -fear of discovery follows me like a spectre! A whispering sound is in -my ears, desolate and dreary thoughts, and fearful dreams, darkness, -poverty, and solitude; my pillow is a pillow of fire; my brain is -scorched,--wherever I turn, dead eyes are staring in their sockets at -me. Oh! if rivers of tears could restore that murdered being, I might -have peace!" - -The wretched creature's words poured out like the rushing of a mighty -torrent, while her very reason seemed stretched to it utmost verge. She -leaned against a table, which quivered beneath her trembling form, -while her dragged and ghastly features were turned towards Captain De -Crespigny, and she fixed on him, with a look of dismal meaning, the -blackest eyes that ever vied with night. Vainly he endeavored to -withdraw his gaze from that wild and haggard countenance, or to shut -his ears against the tempest of her words; but there was a compression -at his heart, till his very breath seemed difficult to draw, while he -listened to her almost frenzied ravings. At length, in a voice of deep -and solemn import, he addressed her, while the color fled from his very -lips with agitation, and a cold shudder crept through his frame: - -"Tell me, Mary, I adjure you, what all this means! I have sometimes -suspected that Henry De Lancey might be the natural son of my uncle; -never till this moment did I fully imagine that the murdered woman was -actually married. I must know all. Rather than remain in this suspense, -I will ask Lord Doncaster himself. I am not a man who would inherit one -acre unjustly, or sit tamely down under the suspicion that I might be -swindling another out of his rights. Vague apprehensions have sometimes -crossed my mind; but give me only a certainty one way or other. If -beggary itself be the consequence, I shall act like a man of honor, and -let the law take its course." - -"Ask nothing! suspect nothing! The dark and dreadful story is buried in -her grave, never to be heard of more. It rests upon the Abbe Mordaunt's -conscience, and on him be the curse! Look here!" cried she wildly -throwing off her cap, while her hair, which streamed like a long banner -behind, was perfectly white and silvery. "This was the work of a single -day, and my heart is no less changed. The world itself has altered! Oh! -who can tell the unimaginable wretchedness that surrounds me! You -believed that I was dead! Would that it had been so! I wish it, and -well may you!" A strange smile gleamed upon her features for a moment, -and vanished. "When shall I become like the dust I tread on? When shall -I find beneath the green turf a chamber of darkness, of silence, and -perhaps of peace! Often, often do I ask myself why I consent to live, -when there are a thousand ways of escaping to my only refuge,--death! -It is a horrid thought, but it will come. There is no future in my -life! Houseless, friendless, penniless, and without hope,--a fiery -anguish is at my heart, as if hell itself were there!" - -"Mary Anstruther!" said Captain De Crespigny, in a hurried tone of -great agitation, "I wronged you once. I acknowledge it with sorrow and -remorse. We were young indeed then, and you had no cause, surely, to -complain of my liberality. I offered you----" - -"Yes! yes! yes!" replied she, with frantic vehemence, while her eyes, -glazed, and without moisture, were darkened by the shadow of deep -despair. "You offered me everything but what you had promised, and what -alone I would accept. You took from me every blessing of life, and -offered me money! I hated you for supposing me mean enough to accept -it. I would rather die in the street, or perish on a dung-hill, than -receive your alms. My name branded with infamy, not a roof to cover me, -and not a friend in all the earth to pity me; my brother now a terror -and a reproach to all who know him; crazed myself in mind and heart, -aloof from all earthly sympathy, branded and alone--what remains for -me? Yet I would rather die in an hospital than owe the very air I -breathe to you." - -"Why, then, do I see you here?" asked Captain De Crespigny, endeavoring -to steady the tremulousness of his voice. "I would serve you yet, if -possible. I cannot entirely forget former times!" - -"Former times!" exclaimed the miserable being, with a heavy sob, while -a rush of agony poured itself out in her voice, and clasping her hands -over her burning eyes, tears, such as she had not shed for ages, fell -like rain over her face. "Who talks of former times! You! who made my -whole life, past, present, and future, one long agony of suffering! Do -you remind me of former times! Oh! bring them back--those days which -now seem like a dream, when I was young, innocent, and happy! Who so -gay then as I--whose step so joyous--whose eye so bright--who so -admired; and," added she, her voice changing to a low, deep tone of -anguish, "who so loved? It was the delirium of an hour, and what am I -now? Of all the wretched outcasts on earth, the most wretched; while he -who has made me so thinks it degradation to waste a thought upon one so -lost." - -There was a pause for some moments, and she added, in a deep, -sepulchral voice, - -"A wide gulph separates us now. I know and feel that. I do not even -wish it otherwise. You are courted and admired in every house, while I -wander like a solitary ghost upon the earth! A furnace of guilt and -horror burns within me! No language is dark and dreadful enough to -express what I endure. The fresh green turf, and the blue sky above, I -dare not look upon; for they speak of days that are for ever past--of -that short summer filled with hope and joy, which has been followed by -this dreary, endless winter----" - -Captain De Crespigny's eye quailed beneath the look of chilling despair -fastened upon himself. The hurricane of her feelings had been -exhausted, but there was an unearthly fixedness in the eye of Mary -Anstruther. In her voice, too, a cold, calm, almost spectral solemnity -of tone had succeeded to the wild expression of her manner. Her -expression was that of a lull after a storm, the ground-swell that -follows the hushing of a tempest; and she again stood as at first, pale -as death, still and motionless as a corpse, while the long drapery of -her cloak hung as a winding-sheet around her wasted limbs. - -"If there be any thing on earth I can do for you, speak but the word, -and it is done," said Captain De Crespigny, with undisguised emotion. -"My purse, if you will yet accept it, is yours; but remember your very -life is at stake in coming here. I have shut my eyes already too long! -I cannot conceal from my own mind that the man who calls himself -Howard, and lives with Sir Arthur Dunbar, must be your brother. He has -hidden himself always from me, and I should scarcely even know him if -we met, but this shall not last. Tell him he must go! Once,--and once -only, I may for your sake connive at his escape from justice, but let -Ernest cross my path again, and no earthly power shall induce me to -neglect the sacred law that bids us deliver up the murderer to justice. -You also at St. John's Lodge, would once have followed the example of -your unhappy brother's crime. You escaped on that occasion, and I have -tried to convince myself it could not be,--that you were already in -another world,--but I will not, even for the sake of our early days, be -made a participator in crime. Go, then, to some distant country -together. The sword of the law is suspended over both your heads. Fly -for your very lives. The means shall not be wanting,--and tell your -guilty brother, as I tell you, that if he delays, cost what it -may,--and I know the cost to me will be great indeed, justice shall -have its course." - -"Let me then drink my cup of sorrow to the dregs!" replied Mary, in a -low deep whisper. "He will not go! No earthly power can rule him,--no -terror in life intimidates him. For myself; I dread nothing now but a -prolonged existence. The sooner it is ended by any hand but my own, the -better. Yours is indeed the fittest. That will only complete the work -which you began. Give us up then to justice. In remembrance of those -days when among the green lanes of England you promised to love me,--me -only till death,--deliver us up now to the rope and to the scaffold. -Yes!" added she, with a look of fevered anguish, and a frightful -hysterical laugh, "This is as it should be; cheated of innocence, -blighted in affection, blistered in heart, trodden down with contempt, -driven almost to madness, and delivered up to death. Such be the fate -of all who ever trust in man." - -"Leave me! leave me!" said Captain De Crespigny, visibly shuddering. -"If you desire vengeance, the sight of you, Mary Anstruther, such as -you are now, is more than I can bear. Leave me!" - -"Vengeance!--No!--It was for a good purpose I came, and let me not -forget it," said Mary, in a low, broken, bewildered voice, while a -gleam like sun-light on the stormy wave seemed for a moment to restore -the softness and beauty of youth to her countenance. "I would save you -from death. My wretched brother long ago suspected that you were the -author of my ruin. That secret he never could wring from me, and he -never shall. Oh, no! I ask no revenge on you. I am grieved, even once -to have reproached you; but it is done, and my tongue shall be silent -in the grave before you hear it again. Ernest swore an oath,--a deep, -deep oath, that if you had indeed deceived me, nothing should screen -you from his vengeance. Already he was irritated, believing you wished -to marry Miss Howard, and on that subject you know how long he has been -crazed. Ernest never forgives, and never forgets. He lives but for -revenge. He would make you drink a cup bitter as his own. On that fatal -night to which I never dare to look back, the knife he used was -yours,--yes! it was stolen for the very purpose, and you know its -peculiar form. He intended, if detected, to accuse you as an accessary -to the murder. His plans are skillfully laid, and he threatens thus to -hurl you from the eminence on which you now stand in society----" - -"Impossible! absurd! Nothing but derangement could make your brother -imagine any mortal would believe a fabrication so atrocious and -improbable!" - -"It will at least excite interest, and his plans are but too well laid. -My story might then become public; and little as the world thinks in -general of such sorrows as mine, there are some who would pity me. -Ernest has the cunning of madness; and he thinks if you and Henry De -Lancey were removed, he must succeed to Lord Doncaster. If I live, his -strange and deadly scheme of revenge shall be circumvented; yet beware -of Ernest! Your life is not safe for an hour! Night and day,--alone or -in company, at your table or in your bed, wherever you turn, and -wherever you go, beware; for none but myself can tell what his love or -his hatred are. I would prevent mischief for his sake, and--and even -for yours." - -A dark convulsion passed over the unhappy woman's countenance,--she -gazed for several moments at Captain De Crespigny in silent, disastrous -wretchedness, and with the livid smile of a broken heart, she -disappeared. - -Captain De Crespigny scarcely slept that night,--the moaning of the -wind sounded dismal as the cry of departed spirits in his ears, and -when at last his eye closed in feverish, restless slumber, he suddenly -started up, thinking his name had been called out with a shriek of -anguish in accents to which he had long been a stranger, and unable to -tell whether it had been a dream or a reality, he watched for some time -in agitated silence, and towards morning fell into a deep repose. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV. - - -When Captain De Crespigny called two days after this at St. John's -Lodge, to take leave before setting out for Yorkshire, he looked so -absent and so agitated, that Agnes became quite elated and flattered by -what she attributed to his unconquerable regret at being obliged to -take so long a leave of herself. She even forgave him for enquiring -almost immediately what had become of Marion, and answered with -careless vivacity, "She is gone to her favorite home at Portobello. -Marion perfectly idolises her uncle. I should require to attend a -series of lectures on naval tactics, and to take a course of nautical -novels for a month, before I could get on with the Admiral as she does! -My sister talks about the battles of Trafalgar and Camperdown, as if -she had fought at them herself, but really somehow or other, I never -can find a word for good, worthy sir Arthur!" - -"And yet," observed Sir Patrick, "you never seem very much at a loss -for conversation, Agnes, when I have the pleasure of seeing you! It is -years, countless years, since I have entered his house, or since he has -entered mine; but suppose we go down together some day, and cut out -Marion at once, by doing the agreeable in our very best and most -fascinating style!" - -"If my uncle Doncaster were such a man, I should certainly make up to -him greatly!" said Captain De Crespigny, in a tone more than commonly -in earnest. "It would be well worth your while to try." - -"Sir Arthur has nothing to leave! you are quite mistaken there!" -replied Agnes, inadvertently. "When we were perfect children, and all -on the very best terms, he used to say that it would be quite enough -for an old sailor like him, if he could bequeath us his watch and -enough to bury him! As Pat says, he might make his will on his -thumb-nail. Oh! rest assured he has nothing to leave!" - -"I did not suppose he had," continued Captain De Crespigny, gravely. "A -small income in his liberal hand has done more good than the very -largest in any other person's. It is an odd phenomenon in nature, that -the lightest purse always is the most open to others, while the heavier -a purse grows the more its mouth becomes contracted! A sort of -spasmodic affection, I think!" - -"I wonder if it will ever be engraved on people's tomb-stones how much -they die worth?" said Agnes. "That would be all the good many people -can ever get by their wealth, and what they are much more proud of, in -this mercenary world, than of any personal good qualities." - -"Young ladies are for ever working me purses, and I have nothing to put -in them!" exclaimed Sir Patrick, throwing his own up in the air, and -catching it again. "Sir Arthur and I are both fighting under the banner -of poverty now; and that one word expresses in a small compass all -earthly annoyance." - -"Oh, no! There are many things worse!" exclaimed Agnes magnanimously. -"What a vulgar, low, mercenary idea! so like you, Patrick!" - -"Thank you, Agnes! If your good opinion were worth a farthing, I should -grudge to have lost it!" - -"But Dunbar! _revenons a nos moutons_," interrupted Captain De -Crespigny, trying to look indifferent. "Surely there is no just cause -or impediment why we may not ride down to Portobello this morning, and -call on good, worthy Sir Arthur together. It is a perfect disgrace to -us both that we never go near his house, much as I always have -respected him, and always shall." - -"This is a very sudden fit of cordiality! When did you feel the first -symptoms coming on?" asked Sir Patrick drily, while Agnes began -vehemently winding some skeins of silk. "Let me feel your pulse, De -Crespigny. I am ready to bet your uncle against mine--and the odds are -considerable--that half an hour since, you would no more have thought -of paying a P.P.C. visit to old Sir Arthur, than to Lord Nelson's -monument. My dear fellow, I know you--and you ought to know me better -than to suppose me capable of paying a dull, penitential visit there!" - -"Well, be it so! This is no time for me to recommend disinterested -attentions, Dunbar, as I am on wing for Yorkshire, obliged during a -whole long dreary month to play the amiable! Did you ever try that -experiment, Miss Dunbar?" - -"Of being amiable? no, never! I am not come to that yet! Whenever -people mention a young lady as being amiable, you may depend upon it -she has nothing better to recommend her. I leave mere hum-drum good -qualities to such people as Clara Granville." - -"Omit her in your conversation altogether, Agnes! I told you already, -that she must never be named here," interrupted Sir Patrick, with angry -vehemence. "Why will you continually intrude that family on our -conversation?" - -"I do not, Patrick. I beg leave to deny the honorable gentleman's last -assertion! It is three days at least since I have so much as named -Clara Gran----" - -Before Agnes could finish her sentence, Sir Patrick, always afraid to -trust his temper when irritated, as he knew the hurricane to be fearful -if allowed to rage, had strode to the door, and burst out of the room, -as if the very house were scarcely large enough to hold him. This -_denouement_ Agnes had confidently anticipated, being perfectly aware -that her brother never withstood a second repetition of Clara's name, -therefore she had artfully tried the experiment of producing an -explosion, which might at any hazard expel him, and secure to herself a -_tete-a-tete_ leave-taking with Captain De Crespigny, from whom she -now confidently anticipated a formal declaration. - -When Sir Patrick's angry footsteps died away in the distance, it was -not without some real agitation, therefore, and a great deal more -assumed, that Agnes allowed her long, dark eye-lashes to droop over her -cheek, and called up a rather ostentatious blush, while she sat for -several minutes in silent embarrassment; but though Captain De -Crespigny assumed his most fascinating expression, he seemed resolute -not to begin the dialogue; and while affecting to be considerably -embarrassed himself, an arch smile nevertheless glittered in his eye, -and played about his mouth. - -"Is it true," asked Agnes, at length, in a subdued voice, and without -looking up, "that you are actually going for some months to-morrow? I -must tie a knot on my pocket handkerchief, not to forget you during so -long an absence." - -"I would much rather tie a knot of a different kind," said Captain De -Crespigny, in his usual rallying tone. "But necessity has no law. -Going, going, gone! Positively the last time! Knocked down to Miss -Dunbar. A great bargain. The best article on hand." - -"You are an admirable auctioneer, and shall dispose of me next," said -Agnes, laughingly selecting a rose-bud from her bouquet. "I must give -you something to take away, very beautiful, and which I am sure you -will like." - -"That must be yourself, then," replied Captain De Crespigny, looking -most cruelly charming. "I hear the young ladies are all to wear black -crape on their left arm after my exit. I did expect a public dinner -from them, but that is too common-place. My tailor received one lately -on removing from one street to another, and the waiter at Carlisle on -retiring from his profession. I wonder nobody ever voted me a -testimonial. My speech on the occasion would be exquisite." - -"Patrick thinks you very much addicted to make speeches," replied -Agnes, with sly emphasis. "I suppose, as you are setting out so -suddenly, that Lord Doncaster is seriously ill now. A number of old -people have died off lately. He must be two hundred at least, for I -have heard of him so long! I remember three years ago hearing that his -memory had failed." - -"Not at all--not in the very least. He thinks himself younger and -handsomer every year. He is actually addicted still to flirtation in -all its branches. He told me the last time we parted, that many ladies, -if he chose, would prefer him to me. Perhaps they might. I dare say he -was in the right. We never grow old in our family--never! and we have -all excellent memories," continued Captain De Crespigny, fixing his -dangerous eyes on Agnes. "Mine will be stored with many never-to-be -forgotten recollections of the last few months, 'remembered,' as public -orators say, 'till the latest moment of my existence.' Memory has put -all these scenes in her pocket for me, to be enjoyed hereafter; and how -delightful would a life-time be, made up of such hours as I have spent -in this house! I feel myself striking root in it, like a cutting of -geranium!" - -"Indeed!" replied Agnes, smiling most benignly; "geraniums are very -great favorites of mine--very great, indeed--so I wish you were -metamorphosed into one." - -"If all the events of life could be modelled on a plan of my own, what -a pleasant little place the world would be!" said Captain De Crespigny, -admiring the polish of his boots. "I might then continue here some time -longer, as a volunteer in the corps of your victims, who are as -numerous now as a disbanded army. Do pray let us call over the -muster-roll of your admirers and count them. I could die in my chair -with curiosity to know how many they are!" - -"Not above three or four cases of life and death!" said Agnes, -laughing. "But you jest at scars who never felt a wound." - -"I most heartily sympathize with them all," replied Captain De -Crespigny, with an extra-sentimental sigh. "I have gone through every -sorrow of life myself--outraged affections, and all that sort of thing. -You cannot conceive, Miss Dunbar, how like we victims are sometimes to -the frog in the fable, inflated with empty hopes." - -"I must shut my eyes to that." - -"Your eyes should never be shut. They are much too beautiful! With -respect to your admirers, they might say, like the weather-cock to the -wind, '_Si vous ne changez pas, je suis constante!_' The whole world -has been pulling caps for you all winter, and you pretend to have -limited yourself to three or four victims! Impossible! You are -concealing the half of them! Forgetting Captains A----, B----, C----, -and D----. I have as many young ladies as that dying for me. Now, do -let us run over an authentic list of their names. Show me all your -court-yards at once. I could bet the finest camellia at Loddige's, that -you do not name them all." - -"Who shall I say?" exclaimed Agnes, getting up an extempore blush, and -her archest smiles. "I have a most inhospitable memory for bores, and -shall forget two-thirds of them. Captain Digby, slightly wounded; -Colonel Meade, pierced through the heart; Captain O'Brien, slowly -recovering; Mr. Deveril, despaired of; Lord Wigton,----" - -"Killed outright!" interrupted Captain De Crespigny. "You mention him -in rather a more relenting tone than the rest, like Bonaparte, when he -wept over one wounded man, alter condemning hundreds to death. But you -are come to a period already. Is there no other worthy of remembrance?" - -"Only one, whom I cannot name!" replied Agnes, turning away. "Last, but -not least." - -"Ah! some poor fellow with nothing, I suppose--waiting, perhaps, for -the death of a rich relation; but those tiresome old bores always live -for ever, and a day besides. Whoever he is, let me advise you not to -think of him; a man should as soon ask the sun in the hemisphere to -wait for him, as a young lady in the full blaze of her beauty and -attractions. No, no, Miss Dunbar, take my advice. Be like time and -tide. I have a real cousinly interest in your welfare, and should be -delighted, on my return, to find this room fragrant with cake, and -glittering with favors. I shall come down on purpose, if you ask me! I -positively shall!" - -If a look could kill, Captain De Crespigny must have withered away -beneath the glance of Agnes' eyes, which streamed with indignant -flashes of anger and surprise; but unconscious, apparently, of being -otherwise than most agreeable, he continued, in his most captivating -manner. - -"I must be off now to Macleay's. Half a dozen friends are dying to -obtain a likeness of me, and a deputation of ladies made me promise -lately to sit for them. I wonder what can induce me to take so much -trouble," added he, with a gay, triumphant laugh. "The painter is quite -afraid he shall be robbed and murdered for it." - -"Humility is not certainly your cardinal virtue," said Agnes, with a -look of angry scorn, which few could have withstood. "You cultivate an -extensive acquaintance." - -"Very! I must really see whether people can be induced to cut me, for -it is exceedingly troublesome. I know sixty-four families with three -young ladies in each. It would puzzle the calculating machine to make -out how many that amounts to. But, meantime, I must unwillingly say the -most hateful of all words--farewell. I have been putting off time here, -expecting Dunbar for the last half hour, though little able to afford -so many minutes. My idiot of a watch must surely be too slow, or your -brother would have been back about the sale of mad Tom. I have twenty -minds to buy him, if Dunbar did not ask so very long a price." - -"You are intending, I believe," asked Agnes, "to enter him for the--the -Chiltern Hundreds?" - -"Not exactly! but the Doncaster St. Leger. He would be the first horse -in that line, though asses are perfectly accustomed to them. Good -morning! _au revoir!_ I mean to Londonize for a few weeks, then go to -Paris, and afterwards disperse myself over every corner of the -uncivilized globe. Can I do anything for you anywhere? Geneva velvets? -Parisian bonnets? Swiss muslins? I am at your service in every quarter -of the world. May I beg my very best regards to your sister." - -So saying, Captain De Crespigny bowed himself out of the room, with -very much the air of a popular actor who expects three rounds of -applause, and Agnes having, with a face as unmoved as if it had been -enamelled, coldly given him her hand, with an ill-supported smile on -her quivering lip, wished him a pleasant journey, and turned almost -haughtily away; a bolt of ice seemed to have fallen upon her heart, and -in that small moment was comprised the agony of ages; but the greatest -wonder in nature is the entire self-command given to many, and -especially to women, by means of which they can hear what involves the -happiness of a life-time, and yet betray no visible emotion. - -The strongest feelings on earth never are discovered. Feeble minds can -conceal nothing, but those who have strength of mind to suffer most -deeply, are those who have strength of mind also to hide what they do -endure. On slight occasions, Agnes was a most accomplished fainter; but -now, having stood, with a specious smile on her countenance, till the -door had finally closed, she rushed to the privacy of her own room, and -closed the door, then seating herself, in all the luxury of solitude, -she meditated with silent astonishment on all that had passed. - -No coroner's inquest can be summoned on a deceased flirtation, and -whether it die a natural death or a violent one never can be known, as -it may be caused merely by some trifling oversight, perhaps by the -cruel aspersion of an enemy, or simply by whim and caprice, as in this -case seemed the most probable, and to Agnes the most mortifying. -Wounded in all her most sensitive feelings, a crowd of angry and -depressing thoughts crowded into her brain, while she could not but -feel that the arrows which had struck her were most cruelly barbed and -most skilfully aimed. It was harrowing to her vain, proud spirit, to -imagine that Captain De Crespigny could really be indifferent. It -seemed, indeed, almost impossible! Could his carelessness be all -assumed! Had he, indeed, an honorable scruple of engaging her upon the -uncertainty of his uncle's demise. It might be so. Agnes felt that -entire despondency would come soon enough, if come it must; and anxious -to believe in Captain De Crespigny's attachment, she seemed now -resolved to keep up the farce with herself a little longer. She felt -certain that he had cast back a look of regret on leaving the room, -which spoke volumes, and these volumes she filled up according to her -own imagination. The parting had, perhaps, been as painful to Captain -De Crespigny as to herself, but what could he do if Lord Doncaster -always continued to be the "undying one," standing in the way of their -mutual happiness. Agnes now lived over every scene which had passed -between herself and her supposed lover. She could not imagine those -feelings expressed to any other which seemed created by herself alone. -She recapitulated all his civilities to herself, remembered how his -last sigh had been sighed, how his last look had been looked; and, -after a glance at the mirror, which proved as usual an effectual -safety-valve to any feelings of mortification, she became at last -restored to the agreeable conviction, that the most considerate, -self-denying, and constant of lovers was Captain De Crespigny. - -"And," exclaimed Agnes, with another triumphant glance at the mirror, -"as he said only yesterday, '_on peut fuir sans oublier_.' Let him -admire any other if he can!" - - I'll still believe that story wrong, - Which ought not to be true. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI. - - -The intellectual powers and literary acquirements of Henry de Lancey -were first-rate, and feeling a consciousness of ability, he ardently -longed to coin them into fame and distinction. Full of high -aspirations, there was something grand in the outline of his head, and -in the expression of his speaking eyes, while animated by his desire to -render himself worthy of Caroline, and to reward the care of Sir Arthur -by his own exertions. He longed now to run the race of life with -others--to be useful among men--to win for himself a place in -society--to write his name perhaps in the records of time--but above -all, to promote the cause of truth, religion, and holiness. He had -learned in the society of Mr. Granville to believe that true happiness -is not to be found in the temple of fame, nor in the temple of pleasure -or of fortune, but in the temple of God; and at one time his thoughts -and studies were turned towards the church, with a fervent desire to -take orders, till the tide of his plans became entirely changed by the -unexpected arrival of a commission in the 15th Huzzars, then quartered -in Canada, which he felt bound, from whatever hand it came, to accept. - -Henry had been deeply affected when first told all the peculiar -circumstances of his own history, but Sir Arthur accustomed him from -the first to discuss the subject confidentially, that every -recollection might be preserved which he yet retained of those earlier -days, now involved in impenetrable mystery, which none but himself had -witnessed, but the secret of which Sir Arthur still entertained a -sanguine hope of at last developing, while often, when gazing with -almost parental affection at his promising young _protege_, he -prophesied that his unnatural connections would yet be forced or -persuaded to acknowledge him. - -Though lines of deep thought were already riveted on the youthful -countenance of Henry, yet his manner became full of life and animation; -and in personal courage he was the boldest of the bold, displaying a -fearless energy of character, which caused the Admiral to express, on -the night when they were about to part, a confident hope that, though -the service of his country had not been his choice, yet he was well -suited to his profession, and his profession to him. - -"Let me only become another Sir Arthur Dunbar, and my utmost ambition -will be gratified!" exclaimed Henry, warmly clasping the hand of his -benefactor. "Often--oh, how often! I shall look back upon the only -home, and the best friend I have ever known!" - -They were to meet no more, as young De Lancey had engaged his place in -the earliest coach next morning, and Marion saw, by the paleness of his -cheek, and the compression of his lip, that though for worlds he would -not have compromised his manhood by weeping, yet, moved as much by Sir -Arthur's evident grief as by his own, he had the utmost difficulty in -suppressing a burst of tears. - -The aged Admiral grasped his young friend's hand in silence, and -leaning for some moments on his arm, he walked up and down the room -with heavy measured steps, his eyes cast down, his noble forehead -clouded with care, and his brows knit as in deep and painful thought. -He too seemed to dread the greatness of his own agitation, being little -fitted now to bear any, yet it seemed to Marion as if a tear had forced -its way into his glazed and nearly blinded eyes, though carefully -screening it from observation, and evidently unwilling or unable to say -a word. After several minutes had elapsed, Henry broke the long -silence, exclaiming, in a low, tremulous tone of incoherent agitation, - -"Before my voice fails, Sir Arthur, I must speak!--I must say -something, to tell you what I feel----" - -"No! no! my dear boy! I know it all! I will believe more than you say, -but spare yourself and me," interrupted Sir Arthur, in a tone of calm -and serious affection. "We know each other, Henry." - -"But once--only once let me say all that has been treasured in my heart -for years! Can I leave the happiest home which ever blessed a son with -his father, and not remember that but for you I should have been a -friendless outcast! Every act of kindness you have shown me, every -smile of regard, every token of confidence, crowds upon my memory now, -and increases the store of obligations which it is my pride and my -happiness to owe you. If you could but read my heart, Sir Arthur, I -need not speak; for there you would see love without bounds, and -gratitude which it shall ever be my delight to cherish! If I am better -than the brutes that perish, you are, under Providence, the cause; and -I shall be worse than the worst of them, if I ever for one hour -overlook what I owe to you, or forget the principles of honor, duty, -truth, and piety that you have taught me." - -Henry paused in speechless emotion, he clenched his hands together, the -youthful fire of his eye became dimmed, and he hurried to the window -for several moments, where, having in some measure recovered his -composure, he turned round, and saw, for the first time in his life, -tears rolling down the face of Sir Arthur--the tears of a good and -venerable man, of all sights upon earth the most affecting; and -overcome with emotion, Henry took his benefactor's hand in his own, -with an expression of the deepest solemnity and respect, saying, in -rapid but tremulous accents, - -"It might soothe the very bed of death, for you, Sir Arthur, to -remember what you have done for me!--more than almost any man can ever -do for another. The first of earthly blessings is to be loved; and yet, -but from your kindness to me from childhood, no eye would ever have -saddened at my departure, nor brightened at my return! With not a -friend upon the visible earth but yourself, the child perhaps of shame -and misery, I must have become lost indeed! The thought of this will be -nearest my heart when it ceases to beat! If I perish abroad--or if--if -we meet no more on earth, take all I can offer, Sir Arthur, my fervent -prayers that you may be rewarded." - -Sir Arthur mournfully held out his hand to Henry, who kneeled down and -kissed it with the profoundest reverence; then starting hastily up, he -seemed about to rush out of the room, when he was arrested by the deep, -solemn voice of the Admiral, whose eye had now become calm and steady, -while in a low and impressive voice he said, - -"It is true, Henry, we shall probably meet no more! I know, and so must -you, that this is our last interview on earth; but long after I am at -rest in the grave, may you remember, and may you deserve the fervent -blessing I now give you, trusting that both my children, yourself and -Marion, may hereafter enjoy as bright a destiny as any child of earth -can know in this suffering and sin-blighted world. In speaking of the -past, Henry, do not suppose that the obligation is all on your side! -No! your dutiful affection has more than re-paid me. It is something to -know that my aged years have not been spent in vain--that I leave a -record in your heart, where my name will be respectfully and -affectionately remembered! No man living can endure the thought of -being utterly forgotten; and to you, my young friends, I commit my -memory. The earth will lie lighter on my grave for the belief, that you -have loved me so well, and will so truly lament me. Your young spirits -have cheered my heart--your welfare has deeply interested me; and I -know that one day or other, my young soldier will do me honor in his -profession, and not forget to shed a tear over my remains." - -Many were the tears of both Henry and Marion at these words; but Sir -Arthur calmly continued in a firmer voice, - -"When I called you back, my dear Henry, it was not for any vain attempt -to express my feelings,--that would be impossible,--but to mention how, -in all probability, you may one day be able more than to return the -little I have done. It is easy for men to wrestle through the -difficulties of life, and with such talent and enter-enterprise as -yours, to conquer them all. For other reasons, too, I have no doubt of -your at last being most happily settled for life, but many anxious -thoughts beset me respecting Marion. The uncertainty of Richard -Granville's prospects, and the certainty that my nephew will refuse his -consent to her marriage, weighs heavily at my heart. I do trust that a -long life of happiness awaits you both; but if my worst anticipations -were ever to be realised--if your brother, Marion, a bankrupt already -in fortune and character, were hereafter to desert you--if your sister, -heartless and vain, should throw herself away, and leave you in bleak -and sorrowful loneliness,--then remember, Henry, my solemn and last -injunction is laid upon you, to act as a brother towards Marion,--much -may then be in your power--more than you now expect--and you must then -protect her, as I would have done myself, considering all that you may -ever do for her, as done for me." - -"It would be something to live for, if I had a hope of being useful to -Marion, Sir Arthur! Under any circumstances that would have been a -pleasure; but now it has become ten times more a sacred duty than ever. -Your injunction shall remain with me till my dying hour!" - -In the solitude and silence of his own apartment, Henry gave ample vent -to his long-suppressed anguish, while mourning over the sad conviction, -that he had now seen, probably for the last time, that generous and -noble-hearted benefactor, whom he loved with an enthusiasm to which no -words could do justice. Though every action of his life had been -actuated by grateful attachment, he now felt as if his existence had -been wasted without sufficiently testifying his ardent affection, and -he wondered to think that any opportunities were ever formerly -overlooked, of conversing with Sir Arthur, and attending on him. Henry -thought of his growing infirmities, of his solitary home, of his high -spirit, and of his resolute mind, now enervated by advancing years, and -mourned to think that in sickness, or even at the hour of death, he -himself must no longer be at hand, to console and support his -benefactor. - -Exhausted nature at length needed repose, and amidst the stillness and -darkness of a night which had already seemed interminable, Henry felt -himself slowly sinking into the calmness of slumber, when suddenly he -was awakened to consciousness by a slight rustling sound from beside -his bed, and the noise of some one breathing, as if trying in vain to -suppress it. Uncertain what this might be, he opened his eyes, and lay -perfectly immoveable; but gradually his heart almost ceased to beat, -and quailed with a feeling of supernatural apprehension, when the -curtains were slowly opened, and a dark form cautiously stooping over -him, gazed into his face, till he felt the warm breath upon his cheek. - -In the dead hour of the night, Marion was startled out of a dull, -heavy, unrefreshing sleep, by a sharp shrill cry for help, which seemed -to proceed from Henry's room, and was succeeded by stifled cries, and -the sound of a violent scuffle. Springing out of bed with an -instantaneous decision, Marion flew towards the spot, calling loudly -for assistance, and the instant she opened the door, some one, uttering -a wild and fearful shriek, rushed violently out, striking her what -seemed at the moment a severe blow on the arm, but an instant -afterwards she became deluged with blood. - -Henry was in the act of eagerly pursuing the rapidly receding figure, -when, seeing Marion stagger backwards, he caught her in his arms, -supported her to a chair, and hastily bound up her wound, which was -bleeding profusely. - -"Leave me! I am well! Look to my uncle," cried she, eagerly. "He must -have been alarmed! How was it, Henry? Are you hurt? Is Sir Arthur safe? -Oh! there he is!" exclaimed she, rushing into her uncle's arms, and -bursting into tears. - -"Here is Mr. Howard too!" added Henry, turning round, as that gentleman -entered with a calm but rather anxious look, while the paleness of his -cheek was almost startling. "You seem, Sir, to have dropped ready -dressed from the clouds!" - -"I seldom retire early to bed," replied he, with a quick, sharp, -scrutinizing glance at Henry. "Hearing a tumult in the house, I--I----" - -"You gave it time to subside before attempting to interfere," added -Henry, with a thrilling emphasis in his voice, while closely observing -Mr. Howard's countenance. "There is a strange and fearful mystery -here!" - -"There is!" replied he, gnawing his nails to the very quick, while he -shot a momentary glance of rancorous detestation at young De Lancey, -after which, his features became as passionless and immoveable as if -they had been fixed in a vice. "The whole affair is mysterious--very----" - -"What! you already know all!" - -"I do!--I--I met the man rushing out of the house," answered Mr. -Howard, with the air of one outfacing an accusation, but his voice -became low and suffocated. "I attempted to stop him, but----" - -"I am glad you did!" observed Sir Arthur, looking anxiously at Henry, -and then gazing intently on the sallow countenance of Mr. Howard, which -became gradually dyed with the deepest hectic; his lips were now -closely compressed, he raised his tall figure to its full height, and -closed his eyes, as if wishing thus to exclude some fearful spectre -from his mind, but after a momentary struggle, he became once more calm -and resolute, with a singular serenity of look and manner. - -"You met some one in the passage! The assassin must have escaped long -before!" muttered Henry, in a vague and dreaming tone; but his brow -grew darker, and there was an anxious intensity in his look and voice, -when he added in a tone of resolute determination, "Let me be plain -with you, Mr. Howard! Your expression of countenance when I saw you -last night, filled me with astonishment--almost with apprehension; it -was a look never to be forgotten! Your manner now perplexes me! There -is something amiss which I cannot understand, but for your sake as well -as my own, this very strange affair must be fully investigated!" - -"You suspect me!" exclaimed Mr. Howard, with a sudden laugh of terrible -mirth, and in a voice elevated into accents of indescribable fury, -while his eye throwing off the torpor in which it had been shrouded, -glittered with the fearful brightness of delirium, his veins became -swollen, and his figure dilated beyond its ordinary height, assuming an -aspect of rage and of almost supernatural strength, such as insanity -alone can give. "You suspect me, and you have dared to confess it. Many -a word lightly spoken carries weight. The arrow has been shot at -random, but you are right. Lightning rushes through my brain! I would -be destructive as a whirlwind to you, De Lancey, as I once was to your -wretched mother. She stood in the way of my advancement, as you may yet -do,--she accused, betrayed, and ruined my sister," continued he in a -rapid voice, insupportably shrill and piercing. "You too have injured -me, and you shall suffer for it as she did--she died!" - -With the spring and the strength of a tiger, he rushed toward Henry, -and a knife which he had plucked from his sleeve, gleamed like -lightning in the air, when suddenly Sir Arthur placed himself so as to -intercept the madman's career, and fixed upon him his commanding eye, -with a look of calm, stern, and lofty composure, while Henry vainly -strove to advance before him, and Marion, with frantic vehemence, -called for help. - -"Take my life, if you must have blood. I have trusted you, -Howard,--shown you kindness when no other hand was stretched out in -compassion, and through my heart only shall you reach that boy!" said -Sir Arthur, firmly. "I am old, and ready to die, but he is a son to me, -and shall not perish in my sight." - -"Your life! no! not yours," replied the maniac, in accents of vehement -horror, yet still fastening his glaring eyes on Henry, with looks of -deadly malignity. "May my hand wither before it injures one hair of -your venerable head! May my life be sacrificed first, and my limbs be -manacled in chains! But for him, his days shall be few! He bears a -charmed life, or he must have died long ago! I would extinguish all -mankind!--the whole human race, if I could; but there are two whom I -have sworn to destroy, and he is one! I have said it! The will and the -power are mine! I cannot fail! His life shall be hunted by night and by -day! This knife shall be plunged to the very hilt in his blood! I have -said it. One blow--one mortal blow, and it is done!" - -Having said these words, with gestures of outrageous madness, he -bounded towards the door, broke through every impediment with a -strength which ten men could scarcely have mastered, and giving a loud -delirious cry of insufferable wildness, he instantaneously vanished. - -Before long, the neighborhood was aroused, lights gleamed and reddened -in the opposite windows, shouts arose among the assembling crowd, and a -rapid search was made for the frantic and mysterious criminal, but not -a trace of any living being could be discovered, and when they paused -to listen, not a sound broke the stillness of the night. - -"This is my second preservation from a violent death!" said Henry, in -once more taking leave of Sir Arthur. "And most forcibly do all these -circumstances bring to mind the horrors of that fearful night which -first threw me on the care of my benefactor. It is exactly such a -shadowy form bending over me in the silence of midnight, which has -often from that hour haunted me in my dreams. I am ready, I trust, to -brave any danger in the open face of day; but there is something -terrible to me, I confess--something vague and appalling in the -stealthy, mysterious, death-like approach of an enemy evidently insane, -who has pursued me with remorseless hatred from childhood to the -present hour, breaking upon me in the darkest hours of midnight, and -invading me amidst the moments of helpless repose; but I am under the -care of one who slumbereth not, nor sleepeth, and to Him I confidently -commit myself." - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII. - - -Every man should be considered accountable to Providence, not only for -diffusing as much enjoyment around him as he possibly can, but also for -being as happy himself as is consistent with the many gifts bestowed on -him individually; and it is a duty to look back with self-reproach on -any hour of existence, which, on account of our ill temper or -discontent, has been less enjoyed by ourselves or by another, than it -might have been; yet it is an obvious truth, that all men might be -happier than they are, if mankind would but make the best of life for -themselves and others. Never had this remark appeared so undeniable to -Marion as now, in the case of Agnes, who alienated Sir Patrick more and -more by her peevishness, though the arrows of her satire had more -poison than point in them, and he was always ready enough to enter on a -skirmish in the diamond-cut-diamond style of conversation, while it -often blistered the very heart of their gentle sister, to hear the -bitter taunting remarks and repartees which they levelled at each -other. - -One day, Agnes, in a magnificent fit of ill-humor, had seated herself -at that universal refuge for idleness and discontent, an open window, -complaining that the dulness of Edinburgh was quite maddening; while it -became evident that the needle of her temper pointed in the most stormy -direction. It was a favorite doctrine with Agnes, that _ennui_ is -peculiar to intellectual beings, and that those who never suffered from -it were like cows or sheep, scarcely to be considered rational. On the -present occasion, therefore, she was relieving the intolerable tedium -which oppressed her, by delivering her opinion to Sir Patrick, in no -measured terms, on the unutterable cruelty of his leaving her stranded -in Edinburgh, while she understood he was going soon to amuse himself -abroad. - -She seemed inflated with ill-humor, like a spider, bursting with its -own poison, and her countenance had assumed not the most amiable -expression in the world, while Sir Patrick snatched up a newspaper, -which he began intently reading upside down. Having successfully and -distinctly proved that she was a martyr to the injuries which "patient -merit of th' unworthy takes," and her brother being apparently on the -point of falling asleep before her face, Agnes suddenly rose from her -seat, with an exclamation of annoyance and astonishment, saying, - -"I do believe here is that old formality, Sir Arthur, going to call! -Getting slowly and with difficulty out of a ragged, ruinous-looking -hackney coach, as frail as himself! I had no idea he was become so -aged and infirm! What a bore! I do wish we might enjoy the privilege, -after being grown up, of choosing our own relations. _J'ai pitie de -moi-meme!_" - -"What can bring the old fellow here?" exclaimed Sir Patrick, crumpling -up his newspaper, and approaching the window with an angry whistle. "He -looks, in those glittering spectacles, like a post-chaise, with the -lamps lighted. I must be grown quite respectable when the Admiral -honors me with a visit. Has anybody paid my debts?" - -"I declare," said Agnes, "Sir Arthur gropes his way along as if he came -from the Blind Asylum, and his dear, puckered old face looks as dry and -cracked as an old picture!" - -"Suppose I stay in the room _incog._, to hear all the civil and -agreeable truths our worthy uncle will say of me," said Sir Patrick, -laughingly throwing himself into a large arm-chair, in a distant corner -of the room. "I should certainty realize the old proverb about -listeners hearing no good of themselves. Sir Arthur is so blind he will -never see me, and it is certainly no bad joke for a rainy day." - -"I think it would be a very bad joke, indeed, Patrick," said Marion, -coloring. "But I am sure you would not play upon our uncle's -infirmities, and I shall certainly ask you some question the moment he -enters, to betray your ambuscade." - -"Marion! for a young lady who professes timidity, you exhibit a -tolerable share of decision!" replied Sir Patrick, looking with -surprise at the glowing countenance of his sister, whose voice quivered -with agitation. "However, since you are determined to make a scene -between Sir Arthur and me, I shall be off, not feeling in the humor for -one of his lectures to-day! He will be a whirlpool of rage at this -raffle I am making of the family plate and pictures. Perhaps he means -to take a ticket! Do not mention, for your lives, girls, that I am in -the next room, unless he be come on a matter of life and death! Exit -Sir Patrick in haste!" - -When Sir Arthur entered the room, there was a look of unwonted care in -his fine countenance, and less firmness in his step than usual. He -silently but cordially shook hands with Agnes, while a look of almost -compassionate kindness beamed in his countenance, and Marion, with -girlish delight sparkling in her eyes, and dimpling in her cheeks, led -him to a chair, on which he sat down for some moments without speaking, -apparently fatigued and agitated, while she filled up the pause which -ensued, by taking his hat and stick, placing her arm within his when -she seated herself by his side, and showing a thousand demonstrations -of her heartfelt affection and respect. - -"Uncle Arthur!" said Agnes, observing him at length glancing round the -room. "You have never been in this house before?" - -"No! nor I never expected to enter it!" replied he, in a tone of -profound sadness. "Never!--urgent duty brings me now! This then is the -family residence to which the Dunbars of Dornington are at last -degraded! Is your brother at home?" - -"No!" replied Agnes, with the most perfect intrepidity of countenance. -"You must have met him in the Park." - -"I did not perceive him, and it was as well," answered Sir Arthur with -melancholy sternness. "The seldomer we meet the better. It is a -disgrace to be in the room with Sir Patrick." - -"Uncle Arthur! you are growing angry and personal," interrupted Marion, -in a beseeching tone, while she shook his hand caressingly in her own. -"That is the harshest thing you ever said of our brother!" - -"May he never deserve more, or he shall have it," continued the -Admiral, with angry vehemence, while his neckcloth seemed growing too -tight for him. "Sir Patrick is, without meaning to flatter him, about -the greatest scamp I know. His last step in the regiment was purchased, -I am told, over the head of a young officer from whom he gained the -money at play! but, Marion, my dear girl, I am not come to quarrel with -you, the dearest niece in the world--nor with Agnes, though I could -wish that she came sometimes to see me." - -Sir Arthur held out his hand to both his nieces, and added, in a tone -of hurried agitation, "If you had witnessed, Agnes, the many long years -during which your father and I associated together on terms of more -than brotherly confidence, you could not wonder that now, living in an -empty world, the grave of all who started in life beside me, amidst old -remembrances, vanished pleasures, faded health, and lost affections, I -cling to whatever reminds me of him, and that nothing can make me cease -to love you all--all without exception--even that disgraceful scoundrel -your brother. I would close these eyes in death, only once to see him, -the man his father's son should be; but I might live for ever if I wait -till then!" - -Marion was grieved and alarmed to perceive her uncle's increasing -agitation, while he hastily turned away to hide it, but the breeze -which had ruffled his mind soon passed away, and though his hand still -shook with emotion, he added in a calmer tone of deep-rooted anxiety, - -"I have been told this morning, that Sir Patrick intends to cut his -stick, and take flight immediately to the continent, therefore I am -here to ascertain, my dear girls, what is to become of you?" - -"I scarcely know indeed!" replied Marion, in a tone of irresistible -depression. "Patrick seems to have no settled plan. He did talk of -hiring a lodging for us, and engaging some old lady for a chaperon." - -"And for such a scheme, my dear Marion, where in all the wide world is -he to get money--or even credit? Not in the name of Sir Patrick -Dunbar!--a name that, in my brother's time, stood proudly forward as a -warrant for everything honorable, soldier-like and generous!--a name, -till now, never sullied by dishonor." - -Sir Arthur's voice faltered, a hectic color burned on his cheek, he -remained silent for several minutes, and then continued, after a strong -effort to recover himself, - -"It is no matter! Patrick adds a nail to my coffin every day, but I am -the last wreck of an old generation, and have already outstaid the -period intended for man! My head is whitened by the frost of more than -eighty winters--my heart seared with the wear and tear of life--my very -existence a perpetual miracle! It would people a city if all could be -revived whom I have intimately known in those days when the dearest -ties of life were clustered around me, but now I am a scathed and -solitary ruin. How truly has it been said, that the remembrance of -youth is a sigh, yet all has been ordered as it should be, and that -wind is ever the best which will carry us most safely to the end of our -voyage." - -Sir Arthur paused with a look of solemn and inexpressible emotion, and -Marion pressed her uncle's hand affectionately, hot tears coursed each -other down her face, and she gazed earnestly at his countenance, while, -looking at her with his usual expression of benignity and kindness, he -continued, "You are the chief, or rather the only objects of my care, -for all my wishes and hopes on my own account might now be contained in -a nut-shell. I am a stranger in this altered world, soon--very soon to -depart. There is one heart in my brother's family, Marion, that feels -as his child ought to feel, and one eye that will be dimmed with sorrow -when I am no more. For your sake, and yours only, need I wish to live! -Well may the young weep for sorrow--they have long to endure it, but -for me, the end of all earthly things is at hand. Many a warning bell -has reached my ear already, and I would wish only to see you launched -under safe protection in the stormy ocean of life. With no guardian but -a brother worse than nobody, and an old, infirm uncle tottering into -the grave, my dear girls, what are you to do?" - -Marion glanced at Agnes, who tried to preserve her usual air of -consequential indifference, and pulled her _bouquet_ to pieces, with -an expression of silent and majestic impatience, but she neither looked -up nor answered. - -"While I live, you can always confer a pleasure by taking shelter with -me," continued Sir Arthur, in the warmest tone of kindness; "and all -that an old man can do to make you happy shall be done, though that, I -fear, is little or nothing." - -Agnes, evidently not much delighted at this unexpected proposal of -being located at what she always called "the Admiral's humdrummery," -now assumed a pre-engaged look, while practising a particularly -graceful attitude in the opposite mirror, and drawing out her long -glossy ringlets with a cold, artificial smile, she answered, "Thank -you, Sir Arthur! I am sure we are most excessively obliged. Probably -now that Marion is so well disposed of, my brother may take me with him -to Paris!" - -"Reckoning without your host, Agnes!" whispered Sir Patrick, entering -with a look of assumed bravado, but of evident embarrassment. "Wishes -cost nothing; but how could such an idea ever enter your ingenious -head? Pray strike a light and look for your senses! Ah! Sir Arthur! A -hundred thousand welcomes. I am happy not to have missed your kind -visit!" - -"That would have been a mutual misfortune!" replied the Admiral, drily, -and drawing himself up to his full height, while Sir Patrick bowed and -smiled with an air of sarcastic gratitude. "Certainly, for some years -past I am not owing you many visits." - -"Why, no! I hate to see people running themselves into debt; therefore -believing you might find it inconvenient to return my cards, I have not -been very troublesome in the way of calling; but," continued Sir -Patrick, stealing a look of laughing condolence at Agnes, "my sisters -are exceedingly delighted by your very considerate offer of a home -during my absence. The plan will suit admirably! They both want -sea-bathing, and--society, Agnes?" - -"In respect to society I can promise nothing. I would raise a regiment -of beaux if possible, but my house is a mere Greenwich Hospital for -years past, visited only by a few veterans as aged and broken as -myself." - -"I wish they had all gone down in the Royal George," muttered Agnes, -whose face now looked like a thunder cloud. "A set of resuscitated -mummies, with scarcely a complete set of limbs and features amongst -them. I would rather live in the moon, where there is at least one -entire man to be seen." - -"We instituted a club lately," continued Sir Arthur, "in which no -member was eligible who had not been deprived of one limb at least in -the service of his country. With many of my friends all is lost but -honor! That is what a man should die rather than lose! It was long a -hereditary heir-loom in our family, Patrick! entailed upon you, Sir! -handed down untarnished from father to son, generation after -generation! And where is it now? Lost in the kennel, the race-course, -the stable, the gambling house, and every receptacle of infamy and -shame, while I live to see the Dunbars of Dornington utterly ruined, -as well as utterly disgraced!" - -"Not as long as you live!" exclaimed Sir Patrick, advancing with sudden -emotion, and grasping his uncle's hand. "Your name, Sir Arthur, will -shed a lustre over our house after mine has been blotted out for ever -from the memory of man!" - -"Why should it be so?" asked Sir Arthur, speaking in a tone of deep -vehemence and solemnity, while his noble and serious countenance -assumed an expression of that affection which nothing could extinguish. -"Patrick! it is long lane that has no turning! Be like your father in -mind, as you are in person, and let me leave you my best blessing at -last!" - -"Too late! too late!" replied Sir Patrick, walking hurriedly up and -down the room, and then suddenly resuming his usual tone of reckless -gayety. "No! no! as Joseph Surface remarked, 'too good a character is -inconvenient!' You are unadultered gold, Sir Arthur, but I must only -set up for being a genuine Bristol farthing." - -"Yet, Patrick! even if honor were like truth, at the bottom of a well, -it is worth diving for; and the best throw on the dice is to throw them -away." - -"Your whole nature and mine are different, Sir Arthur! A wasp may work -his heart out, but he never can make honey," replied the young Baronet, -hurriedly. "I have neither wishes, plans, nor hopes for myself! Already -I am older in heart than you, and neither know nor care how short a -time I have to exist! _N'importe!_ It would not certainly be convenient -for me at present to fly off like a kite, with both my sisters at my -tail, therefore we are all most grateful for your kind invitation to -them, and shall accept the honor you offer with pleasure." - -"Be it so then," replied Sir Arthur, in a calm, dignified, but mournful -voice. "If my nieces will be content with little, they may be as happy -as if we had much. I am most anxious to invent anything which might add -to their enjoyment, and Lady Towercliffe tells me, Agnes, that your -whole heart is bent on spending a month at Harrowgate! If that would -really be any pleasure or advantage to you, tell me so, and I shall -endeavor if possible to go there myself, though now, in my old age, -very like Punch, who could act only in his own box." - -"Oh! not for worlds would we ask you to go, dear uncle," exclaimed -Marion, venturing in her eagerness to speak before Agnes, and shocked -at the idea of a journey, the fatigue and expense of which she knew the -Admiral was so little able to incur. "We shall be more than happy at -home! do not think of such a thing!" - -"But if I may be permitted to have an opinion, being the person -consulted, Marion, let me say that nothing on earth was ever more -enchanting than this delicious proposal. You have made me the happiest -person alive, Sir Arthur!" exclaimed Agnes, for once condescending to -look perfectly pleased. "I must endeavor not to go mad with joy! You -are our very best friend! My dear uncle, all I can say is, YOU ARE A -GENTLEMAN!" - -"Well, Agnes! That being the case," replied Sir Arthur, smiling, "how -soon can you be ready to start?" - -"To-night!--this minute!--wait till I put on my bonnet!" exclaimed -Agnes, in accents of the liveliest glee. "I am quite impatient to set -about forgetting Edinburgh!" - -"Well done, Lady Towercliffe! Harrowgate was a capital hit!" cried Sir -Patrick, laughing satirically. "Before taking a voyage to India, there -is no place like it for young ladies! Why, Agnes, it is a perfect -emporium of _beaux_! You will live there at the rate of twenty new -victims a-day! A down-pour of marriages takes place at the end of every -season. Several jewellers have made large fortunes at Harrowgate, -merely by providing wedding rings! and a confectioner is kept at each -hotel, with nothing else to do but to make marriage cakes! Sir Arthur -must take a dozen lessons in match-making, from some of the manoeuvring -mammas and aunts." - -"An unmanoeuvring uncle is all we shall require," answered Agnes, -looking daggers at Sir Patrick, in all the dignity of having been -extremely ill-treated. "In my humble opinion----" - -"Humble, Agnes!" interrupted Sir Patrick. "Did I hear aright? Where did -you ever learn the meaning of that word?" - -"As for manoeuvring or match-making, I leave all that sort of thing -to such persons as Lady Towercliffe," observed Sir Arthur. "She and -other old ladies have such an intense curiosity about weddings, that I -do think, even when laid in their graves, they would like to be told -who are going to be married. In such affairs I would be out of my -element, like a bear in a boat, not knowing how to proceed,--but at my -age----" - -"Your age, uncle Arthur! You are no age at all," interrupted Agnes, -in high good humor. "You are not a day older since we were first -acquainted! As Harrowgate is the greatest marriage manufactory in -Britain, I should not wonder if you were to pick up a wife there -yourself! Indeed, no single man ever escapes, and I shall make it my -business to get you off!" - -"By all means!" replied the Admiral, entering good-humoredly into the -jest. "I have no doubt some young lady will fall desperately and -hopelessly in love with me! Are those new spectacles becomingly put on? -My eyes are so fine, they must be kept under glass! My hair has had -rather too much of the bleaching liquid lately, but do you recommend a -wig, Agnes, or the vegetable dye?" - -"I would not alter a hair of your head, uncle Arthur," said Marion, -smiling. "And I am sure you will have more admirers at Harrowgate than -any of us. I should like to know," added she, after the Admiral had -departed, "out of the prodigious incomes enjoyed by thousands of -persons in Britain, how much is spent during the year in really -generous actions,--in actions of such disinterested liberality as our -dear kind uncle's, when putting himself to all this expense and -inconvenience for our sakes,--for ours, who never can make him the -smallest return." - -"To say the truth," replied Agnes, laughing, "I merely go to Harrowgate -for Sir Arthur's good. It will renew his youth to be forced into balls, -beguiled into pic-nics, and enlisted into dinner parties. A diet of ice -and lemonade is excellent for old people." - -"You are lucky girls!" exclaimed Sir Patrick. "A month at Harrowgate! -why! you might be married five times over in that time! It is not the -most impossible thing in the world that I may come there myself, to -meet De Crespigny! The matrimonial horizon looked rather dark and -unpromising in this quarter, Agnes; but your extraordinary merit is -quite unknown as yet in the English hemisphere. The world shall see -you, and you shall see the world now, under Sir Arthur's auspices. Good -worthy old soul! his very walking-stick is respectable!" - -"Then I wish you were like it," said Agnes, in her most stinging -accent. "Sir Arthur's respectability might be divided among a dozen of -people whom I know, and each would get a share larger than he had -before." - -"You will perfectly canonize him, now that he can be made useful! -Agnes! you jumped at Sir Arthur's offer as an ex-minister would jump at -a seat in the cabinet! You showered down thanks on the Admiral's -devoted head, like _bon-bons_ at the carnival!" - -"No wonder!" said Marion. "Think of dear uncle Arthur leaving his old -friends, his old habits, and his old home for us, when he has said and -thought so often, that his next journey would be that long and last -one, which we must all travel, never to return." - -"It is vastly kind, as you say, Marion!" added Agnes, flippantly. -"Leaving that old fireside, where he has so long been spinning -interminable yarns, spoiling old servants, reading old magazines, -dozing over antiquated newspapers, letting himself be cheated by -beggars, and getting convivial over very weak negus." - -"Agnes, how long is it since you lost your senses!" asked Marion, -indignantly. "Nothing short of that could account for your holding up -our venerable uncle to ridicule, even with no one to hear you but -ourselves, who know his inestimable worth and kindness." - -"Well, girls, the best reward you can give him, is to look delightfully -with all your might, and to waltz and quadrille yourselves into -husbands immediately!" said Sir Patrick, in a tone of lively -exultation. "Now, tighten the drums of your ears and listen, for I am -about to give you a popular course of lectures on the important subject -of match-making. Marion, you are a flower that has bloomed in the -shade, and must now be displayed in the sunshine; therefore you ought -to know that fortune is like a game at blind man's buff, where the -timid and retiring are forgotten, while the bold and forward alone put -themselves in the way of receiving her favors. Agnes has frittered away -her time only too long already on the mere minnows of society, danglers -and detrimentals of the younger species; but I must tell you -plainly,----" - -"Never tell me anything plainly," interrupted Agnes, laughing. "But you -are altogether mistaken, for I have often wished that people would get -rid of their younger sons now, as Tom Thumb's father wisely did, losing -them in a forest and leaving them to starve." - -"Then take my advice, and never dance with any. I warn you against -fashionable huzzars, all spurs and gold lace, with more bullion on -their jackets than in their purses; _attaches_ who are not to be -attached, ready to fall into flirtations but not into love; Honorable -Edwards and Honorable Fredricks, who never are, but always to be rich, -investing their whole fortunes in white kid gloves, and offering, -perhaps, to share their starvation with you; and," added Sir Patrick, -with a glance at Marion, who blushed deeply, but said nothing, -"remember, above all, I forbid reverend divines, young or old, -especially those who have no living and no prospect of a mitre. You -should each knock down a coronet for yourselves, and avoid the most -detestable of all poverty,--genteel poverty; at the same time, do not -gamble too deeply in life. Ascertain well, '_sur quel pied a danser_.' -In a sickly season, even a fifth son is not to be despised. Take a -smaller certainty rather than a greater possibility, and lose no time, -or the bridge may break down before you run across it." - -"Your advice to me is perfectly superfluous," replied Agnes, looking -very superb, and giving a contemptuous toss of her head. "I detest -economy, and abjure all penny weddings, having no genius for turning or -dying silk dresses,--putting servants on scanty allowance,--driving -about in hackney coaches,--locking up jellies,--counting out eggs,--or -measuring small beer! I am sworn at Highgate always to prefer the best -partners, and generally have them." - -"How would you like," said Marion, "to have been the young lady long -ago in London, who could not dance with the King of Prussia, because she -was previously engaged to the Emperor of Russia?" - -"That would suit me exactly. I should like to carry my head as high as -the Pope's tiara. But I have reason, as you know, to expect hereafter -one of the proudest coronets in Britain; and shall certainly not remain -a day longer than I can help dependent, Patrick, on the most singularly -generous, liberal, and considerate of brothers,--with the one only -fault of caring for nobody but himself. If I were drowning, you would -scarcely stretch out your little finger to save me, in case it might -become wet." - -"Quite right, Agnes, not to depend on me, or you would have little to -depend upon. My pockets are to let unfurnished now! I shall perhaps go -to Australia,--or probably measure the depth of the Serpentine some -evening; though, in the mean while, I may put up with life a little -longer, bad as it is. Now, therefore, Agnes, hear my last advice. You -have the world upon a string, and shall see a large assortment of -admirers to choose among. When torrents of proposals are pouring in -upon you, as they will and must do soon, get safely into the haven of -matrimony, or you will be shipwrecked for ever. Accomplished misses are -quite a drug in the market now; but you ought to be ashamed, Agnes, of -missing that little pigmy peer, Lord Bowater, two years ago, when you -had three days the start of every other young lady in making the -acquaintance. He treated you shockingly, to fall in love at first sight -with that paltry Miss Gordon. As for any other coronet you are ever -likely to wear, I know of none that even a telescope could give you the -most distant prospect of. Now wait till I am out of the room before you -faint!" - -"Marion!" said Agnes, yawning outrageously when her brother had -departed, and looking unspeakably forlorn, "How often I have laughed -ready to die, at the case of other girls, without ever dreaming it -could in any degree resemble my own! Every year that worthy, old, -respectable Lord Towercliffe, as fond of home as uncle Arthur or any -garden snail, suddenly breaks up his comfortable establishment in the -country, and comes to town with the declared intention of giving -Charlotte and Maria 'proper advantages!' The poor girls, then, see -their father obliged to undergo the wretchedness of frequenting a club, -to form suitable acquaintances, and suffering hourly martyrdom in being -absent from his farm, his stud, his improvements, and all that -interests him in life, while our active, energetic friend, Lady -Towercliffe, plunged into a wilderness of blond and feathers, rushes -eagerly from house to house, followed by her flock of disposable -daughters, whom she is perpetually puffing off, like Robins the -auctioneer. Then follow dinner parties, given at an expense which the -young ladies know to be ruinous, balls, soirees, flirtations, -disappointments, and at last the family coach trundling slowly back at -a funeral pace to St. Abbsbury, where the lodge-keeper despondingly -counts heads as they pass, to see whether their numbers continue still -undiminished! It is altogether horrid, and perfectly laughable, too!" - -"Not very laughable!" said Marion, coloring; "whether Lord Towercliffe -takes the affair good-humoredly or otherwise, it must be most degrading -and humiliating for the young ladies. I can fancy nothing more odious!" - -"A grand skirmish ending in defeat!" added Agnes, ironically. "I -remember formerly, when these Malcolm girls were in their school-room, -the chief bugbear hung over them, if they neglected the arts of dress -and fascination, was, that they would inevitably die old maids. They -were educated for the profession of matrimony, and were each taught to -expect a husband of rank and fortune, at the very least, equal to their -father's." - -"Yes," said Marion, "Lady Towercliffe would consider any one of her -very plain daughters as perfectly disgraced, either to marry in a grade -the least degree below her own, or not to marry at all, therefore they -are allowed no alternative. The position of young ladies during the -present time seems far from enviable. In these days of clubs, -money-making, and old bachelorism, not a third of those who grow up now -will be married at all, and perhaps not a third of those who do marry -will be happy! It seems to me strange and unaccountable that parents -who have any consideration for the happiness of their daughters, -inculcate no ideas into their minds and hearts unconnected with -matrimony, and, like Lady Towercliffe, drive them forward to the public -view, a mark for censure, gossip, and ridicule, till they find shelter -in some other home, where it is five to one that they will be -miserable." - -"Yes, miserable indeed," added Agnes, indolently, "men are all so -selfish. Husbands expect the whole time, thoughts, and affections of -their wives in return for the very little they choose to spare from -their horses, dogs, and clubs. On these their whole income is to be -squandered, while they keep to that favorite rule--'What is yours is -mine, and what is mine is my own.' The ladies must be invariably in -good humor and lively spirits at home, perfectly well dressed, with a -cheerful fireside, and a luxurious table; but, at the same time, we are -never to ask for money or to have any bills! our servants are all to be -first-rate on the very lowest wages, and our children in the best order -without ever being punished or thwarted!--a fairy's wand could not do -the half of it." - -"I am often amused now," said Marion, "to hear people say of the -dullest and most unprepossessing old bachelor in the world, 'I wonder -he never takes it into his head to marry!' while they observe, in -discussing any girl more beautiful and fascinating than another, 'How -very surprising that she has never got married!' when, at the same -time, there is not perhaps a single year of her life since she was born -that she might not have been established if she chose. I believe that -the vulgar consideration of money makes all the difference; for if -ladies had the fortunes, instead of gentlemen, they would be quite as -uncertain and capricious, off and on, about marrying or not marrying, -as--as even Captain De Crespigny!" - -"One of the last times he called here," said Agnes, "when lamenting, as -he often does, his unmarriageable state of poverty at present, Captain -De Crespigny said, in his droll way, that he would some day bring a -bill into Parliament, ordaining that every old bachelor who could -maintain a wife for himself and will not, shall be obliged to support -one for somebody else, who wishes to marry and cannot afford. Now, -Marion, let us put all our Harrowgate irons in the fire, and prepare to -be admired by all admirers next week at the Granby!" - -"You know, Agnes, though I do not tease you or Patrick by often -alluding to what you call my sentimental vagaries, that there is only -one person in the world by whom I have any ambition to be admired; -though our engagement must be postponed, till Richard is in -circumstances to marry with prudence. Without reference to that, -however, in respect to Harrowgate society, it is said to be more like a -low farce than a genteel comedy!" - -"A little of both! but we shall be in the best set. I hope Sir Arthur -will not be teasing us with any of his world-before-the-flood ideas, -about late hours, waltzing, and all the other enormities of fashionable -life! It is my duty, really, to give him a few presentable ideas now, -for he lived in the dark ages, when old Queen Charlotte used to keep -the ladies all so preternaturally precise and decorous. Most of the -Admiral's notions he had from his mother, who lived, I believe, with -Queen Elizabeth!" - -"But Agnes! even the prejudices of our uncle should be attended to. He -shows us greater kindness than we ever have known, or can know from any -body else, and the whole wealth of his affection is devoted to us." - -"Well, then! I wish his love could be turned into money! I often think -if our skins were made of gold, that Patrick would flay us alive! Of -course I shall not fly in Sir Arthur's face upon every trifle, for we -must humor him sometimes! One day, long ago, I took him in -delightfully, by saying that if he disapproved of waltzing, I hoped he -would not object to a galope! At Harrowgate, the military men will all -fortunately be out of uniform, therefore Sir Arthur need never guess -who or what they are, as he has a most inconvenient dislike to my being -so intimate with the army list, and one really cannot do without a few -tame officers running about the drawing-room." - -"But, Agnes! as Patrick says, you cannot live upon fried epaulettes, -therefore it would look much better not to be surrounded by so great a -variety of officers! It scarcely seems respectable to be, as Patrick -called you long ago, the member for Barrackshire!" - -"Marion! you are most ridiculously circumspect for your years!" replied -Agnes, in her most stately tone; "you have certainly commenced life at -the wrong end, and will be beginning to grow young, when I am thinking -it time to grow old--if I ever do!" - -"I wish not to buy experience at so dear a rate as most girls do, but -rather to benefit by that of others,--to reach the kernel at once, -without having any trouble in breaking the shell!" - -"Pshaw, Marion! I would feel myself a fool for a week, had I spoken -such nonsense! It gives me the tic douloureux to hear you. Who would -think of listening now to every old hack, worn out with the -vicissitudes of life, and only fit to make you melancholy before the -time! But take your own way," added Agnes, who allowed Marion her own -way, as the Vicar of Wakefield's daughters were allowed their -pocket-money, which was never to be used. "You go upon the impossible -plan of pleasing everybody; but remember the wise old proverb,--'Cover -yourself with honey, and the flies will eat you up.'" - -When Marion spoke from the heart to her sister, she was accustomed to -find herself talking to the winds, therefore she now concluded the -conversation with a lively good-humored reply, and sat down to the -pianoforte. Her music was as different as her conversation from that of -Agnes, who but little appreciated it, and generally left the room, -humming a tune as soon as Marion struck her first chord; but, on this -occasion, she for once remained stationary. - -The style of Agnes' singing was a brilliant bravura, which, in any -public performer, might have commanded whirlwinds of applause, but -while her clear soprano voice dazzled and astonished by its uncommon -brilliancy, Sir Patrick alleged that it cracked every glass in the -room, and that her taste had been cultivated till she had literally -none of her own,--Bellini's cadences, Rubini's shake, and Anybody's -graces, all acquired from every teacher except nature, to whom nothing -had been trusted. - -The rich full-toned melody of Marion's _contralto_ voice, often became -instinct with the simple suggestions of her own feeling, while her -music had that only one charm which never can be taught,--expression. -There was a depth of sensibility in her eye and voice, which riveted -the attention and awakened the sympathy of every heart, while it always -appeared that, if display had been her object, she could have done much -more than she attempted. No bird on a tree ever warbled its wild notes -with more perfect simplicity and real delight. The rippling of a brook -over its pebbly bed, or the sighing of the breeze amidst the summer -foliage, was not more entirely natural, and while Sir Patrick sometimes -protested that "every note was a tear," she yet reached even his -feelings, so that not a whisper could be heard from him till the last -cadence had melted away on his ear. Marion having seldom yet had any -audience except her school-companions, remained almost unconscious of -her own singular gift; but this day she sang with deep enthusiasm, and -the last thrilling tones of her voice had died inaudibly away, when she -looked round and saw young Lord Wigton standing near the door beside -Agnes, in an attitude of intense and speechless admiration, with all -his faculties, if he had any, apparently suspended,--his lips -apart,--his eyes beaming with delight,--and his whole expression full -of wonder and ecstasy; while Sir Patrick was lounging on a sofa near, -exhibiting a smiling, frolicsome expression in his eye, full of fun and -mischief. - -"This is hardly fair," exclaimed Marion, laughingly starting up with a -brilliant blush of astonishment; "you know, Lord Wigton, stealing into -a dwelling house is punishable by law." - -"Whatever be the penalty, I am sufficiently rewarded," answered he, -with a shy diffident look. "My flute will be happy any day to make you -an apology." - -Those who love music, and those only, can estimate its power over the -feelings, and for several minutes afterwards Lord Wigton remained -silent, then, suddenly awakening as if from a dream, he uttered some -incoherent exclamations of rapture, and in tones of unaffected -animation entreated Marion to sing the same air once again; while she, -amused and surprised at his extraordinary _empressement_, prepared to -comply. - -"My song is not worth asking for twice, and still less worth refusing, -therefore you shall have it in my very best style!" said Marion, -playing the prelude, for she had none of that giggling affected shyness -assumed by most girls during their first winter. "This note is pitched -so high, you should go up stairs to hear it!" - -"How strange that one so gay as you, should have a voice of such -melting sadness!" exclaimed Lord Wigton. "It awakens fifty thousand -thoughts and feelings I never knew before! I shall become an -improvisatore, when listening to melody 'so rare and enchanting!'" - -"You must have heard it through the key-hole!" said Marion, laughing. -"I had no idea that my trash could reach any ears but my own." - -"It did more, for it reached my heart! Your voice is the very essence -of nightingales. I shall follow you to Harrowgate, for the chance of -hearing that air once again." - -"Perhaps, then, it has some peculiar interest," said Marion, surprised -at the warmth of his enthusiasm. "The chief delight of music certainly -is, the associations it brings out, the remembrances of bye-gone hours -it recalls, and the million of little phantoms it creates of past or -future times." - -"Marion! your voice is by no means equal to that song, and your style -is very amateur-ish indeed," interrupted Agnes, bitterly. "I do not -wish to boast," added she, laughing, to conceal her irritation; "but -Grisi never ventured to sing that air after hearing me, and Delvini -said his fortune would be made, if he could engage me for his Prima -Donna. I only mention this among friends. Keep it secret, for I hate to -cause jealousy and mortification! Few people understand music like my -old master Delvini, who said that my god-mother must certainly have -possessed the wand of a fairy, and gifted me with music." - -"Ah! Delvini is the man who plays a whole concerto upon one note of the -piano, or something wonderful of that kind," observed Lord Wigton, -looking impatiently for Marion to begin. "I hate the helter-skelter -school in music! people scampering through their songs with a thousand -miraculous flourishes, which set one's teeth on edge." - -"Such performers," answered Marion, "give me no more pleasure than to -see Van Amburgh thrust his head into the lion's mouth, which is very -surprising, and what I could not do myself, but it excites no sympathy, -and raises no emotion better than wonder." - -"Your voice is like some fairy spirit that would lead me to the world's -end," said Lord Wigton, with an air of eager expectation. "And now, -Miss Dunbar, I am all ears." - -"So I think, and very long ears too," muttered Agnes to herself, angry -beyond all bounds at the young Peer's attention to Marion, when -hitherto she had been the principal, or rather the only object of -interest to him whenever they were in the same room. Agnes, without an -assiduous lover, ready to put on her shawl, clasp her bracelets, and -carry her boa, was like a ship without a compass, not knowing which way -to turn, and though nothing could make up for the want of those -graceful flatteries, amusing quarrels, and ambitious hopes, to which -she was accustomed with Captain De Crespigny, yet should he disappoint -her, Lord Wigton had been recently promoted to the character of a _pis -aller_ in the list of her admirers, as she was heard to remark, that -"it is better to have a donkey that carries you, than a horse that -throws you." Though usually the object of her unbounded ridicule, yet -the young Peer had recently become of so much importance to her, that -it was indeed an unpardonable affront when he spared one moment's -attention to Marion, while at the same time she considered his taste on -the occasion, quite as questionable as that of the bird which preferred -a barley-corn to a diamond. - -Next morning, to the increased indignation of Agnes, Lord Wigton's -servant left at the door of St. John's Lodge, two splendid bouquets, -both equally rare and beautiful; but when they were presented, Agnes -looked angrily at Marion's, and plucked her own to pieces, saying, -"That absurd little man! it is worth while to hear him talk of being in -love, he makes the subject so thoroughly ridiculous! I like all my -lovers till I tire of them, and his Lordship's reign was over last -Tuesday. He has the stiffness of the poker without its occasional heat, -and no more individuality of character than a leaf upon a tree. I -wonder where we could have him measured for a cap-and-bells. He has so -little vivacity, that he now wears the fool's cap without the bells. He -did so weary me! I think Lord Wigton must be the man Rochefoucalt had -in his eye when he said that many people would never have known how to -fall in love, if they had not first heard it talked about! His -sentimental speeches are so thoroughly ridiculous, they often remind me -of Liston's meditation in the farce, 'There stands my Mary's cottage! -and she must either be in it, or out of it!'" - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII. - - -If happiness will not come of itself, most very sagacious people set -forth in search of that enjoyment which none are willing to do without, -though many plans are generally tried, before the right one be -discovered. Agnes now declared that she was "ridiculously happy," while -plunged in a whirl of preparations for Harrowgate, trying on every -bonnet at every milliner's, and discussing the tone and coloring of -silks or satins, with as much care and science as an amateur in -paintings would devote to the study of a Titian or a Vandyke, while her -spirits were restored to their highest pitch, by a letter she had -accidentally seen from Captain De Crespigny, expressing the greatest -delight in the prospect of seeing Sir Patrick and "his charming sister" -once more, and mentioning that he was about soon to arrive at the -Granby, in attendance on his uncle, who had already preceded him there. -Agnes at once restored herself now, to the pleasing certainty of -Captain De Crespigny's sincerity, and every ribbon she chose, or every -costume she ordered, had an immediate reference to his taste. "_La -toilette est une belle invention_;" but Marion's dress, without causing -half the trouble and _fracas_ occasioned by that of Agnes, seemed -invariably to fit better than any other person's, and the colors she -wore were always in the most perfect harmony. - -Agnes never became wearied of the pleasurable bustle in which she was -now engaged, till at length, when the imperial was packed, and the last -box with extreme difficulty closed, she declared herself to be quite in -love with life, and sprang into Sir Arthur's carriage, radiant in all -the joy of a thousand anticipated triumphs. It might have been a study -for any artist wishing to sketch a frontispiece for "The Pleasures of -Hope," to see Agnes indulging all her own impossible expectations and -ineffable wishes; but unlike the Goddess of Hope, she required no -anchor whatever to rest on. Her drafts on the bank of futurity were -unlimited by a single consideration of reason or probability, and like -the Chinese plant that lives without requiring any nourishment from the -earth, she existed upon a diet of airy nothings, and in a pleasing -delirium of unreal fancies, wherein Captain De Crespigny generally -acted the principal part. In the mind of Agnes--or rather in the empty -space where a mind is supposed to be--she hung up a splendid -picture-gallery, grouped and painted according to her own taste, -displaying shadows as vivid as realities; and ignorant apparently that -ever "hope told a flattering tale," she seemed scarcely to have a past -or present period in her existence, the whole being formed into one -bright futurity, glittering with splendid impossibilities. - -If those who waste and enervate their intellects by building castles in -the air, could be supposed able to create scenes in reality, as easily -and rapidly as they do in imagination, it would, perhaps, be the most -vivid conception man could form of omnipotent power. Agnes' _chateaux -en Espagne_ were in a most florid style of architecture, but scarcely -lasted long enough to become finished edifices, as the phantoms came -dashing through her mind in ceaseless variety, all apparently -fragments, or slight sketches of future greatness, but without a -probable access except the fool's ladder of hope. Her own visions were -all, certainly, to be realised, and those of every other person -disappointed, for the mortifications of even her intimate friends -enhanced the pleasure of anticipated success; and while her plans were -like the portraits of Queen Elizabeth, without a single shade, or like -temples of spun sugar, all sweetness without solidity, the crowning joy -of all was, to be envied, even more than to be admired. - -While Agnes thus piled hope upon hope, her wishes were dedicated to -very solid possessions. In childhood her world had been a world of _bon -bons_ and rattles, and now the kaleidoscope of her imagination was -filled with an ever-changing galaxy of jewels, titles, equipages, toys, -gold, bijouterie, and coronets, among which the Marquisate of Doncaster -owed some of its prominence to the distinguished place it claimed in -the herald's office. Conscious that she had been born with a peculiar -genius for fine ladyism, Agnes considered the world as a large easy -chair, wherein she might lounge away life in a perpetual gala, enjoying -all the luxuries, and amused with all the trivialities of life. Having -an idea that her undoubted birth-right was distinction and happiness, -she considered it an undeserved injury to be deprived of a single -delight on which her heart was set. Carelessly despising the duties or -affections of life, she coveted only its diversions, and her favorite -consolation, amidst its actual annoyances, was frequently to - - Blow sportive bladders in the beaming sun, - And call them worlds. - -Sir Arthur had always been one of the few old people who would ever -allow himself to be considered well and happy, but he cultivated a -placid, cheerful good-humor, which enabled him now to prepare with -apparent equanimity for exploring his way through the unknown seas of -Harrowgate society, though he entered the carriage to be conveyed there -with very little more inward satisfaction than he would have felt on -stepping into a cart which was conveying him to Newgate, being fully -persuaded that no fish had ever been as much out of water in the world -before, as he was about to feel himself. - -Impatience only lengthens the hours which it seems desirable to -accelerate, and time appeared to have become entirely motionless; while -Agnes peevishly thought, during her journey, that the minutes passed -like drops of lead, and that every day had some additional hours, till -that day of days should at last arrive which was to rise the curtain -and display Harrowgate to her view, though she almost ceased to repine -at any present inconveniences while bewildered and lost in gay hopes -for the future. - -Sir Arthur good-humoredly whispered to Marion, as they drove along -through Yorkshire, that with such a mute as Agnes beside him, he felt -almost afraid of the bow-string, and that she was the mere _tableau_ of -a travelling companion, who seemed, like Lady Macbeth, to be literally -walking and talking in her sleep. While Marion and her uncle beguiled -their long journey with agreeable discussions and lively remarks, -Agnes, perfectly absent during most of the way, and out of humor during -the rest of it, uttered a thousand consequential complaints about the -cold, the heat, the sun, the dust, the air, or the closeness, while Sir -Arthur smilingly remarked, that Agnes' life seemed to be a sea of -troubles, but hope served as a cork jacket to support her through them -all. - -Like the fairy who turned a gloomy grove into a crystal palace, Agnes -had now, in her private mind, metamorphosed the Admiral's old green -chariot into a glittering saloon at Harrowgate, filled by a crowd of -admirers, each gifted with almost superhuman merit and distinction, who -were to fall prostrate at her feet, making proposals which sometimes -she gracefully accepted, and sometimes as gracefully declined. Nothing -was real around Agnes at present; but as the picture of a friend -supplies the want of the original, so the imaginary attentions of -Captain De Crespigny and other victims, consoled her for their being -absent, and her life became a lively comedy, where the curtain never -fell, and she was herself always the principal figure on the stage. - -Neither Alnwick Castle nor Harewood House attracted a moment's -attention from Agnes, who cared no more for the magnificent landscapes -they passed, than did the post-horses that drew the carriage; and when -the party stopped at Caterick Bridge to dine, she had just put on the -family diamonds of the Duke of Kinross, who waited to conduct her to -the altar. It was a favorite speculation with Agnes, that she was to -become acquainted in the public room at Harrowgate, with some handsome -_incognito_, the sort of perfect Adonis whom alone it would be possible -to marry; and after dancing, flirting, dining, and supping with him, -he was to turn out the Duke of Somebody, who should make her a -long-sighed-for declaration of undying attachment, while Barons, Earls, -Viscounts, and above all, Captain De Crespigny, should be plunged into -the depths of despair by her accepting him. - -Agnes' lovers were never estimated according to the qualities of their -head or heart, but according to the trivialities of their dress and -appearance. Like the Grecian artist, in love with an image of his own -forming, the description of her intended lovers, with which she -occasionally favored Marion, resembled a lecture on comparative -anatomy, so emphatic was she on the necessity of his being neither too -tall, nor too short, too dark, nor too fair; while she would evidently -have considered a bad temper less objectionable than a bad complexion, -and was ready to tolerate a man who was dissipated, rather than one who -was awkward. - -In the estimation of Agnes, "good society" was composed entirely of -lords and ladies, while her fancy very seldom strayed out of the -peerage; though she did sometimes take the trouble to fancy herself -admired by some distinguished commoner of more than ordinary celebrity, -merely for the pleasure of rejecting him, and swelling her right -honorable triumph, when she exchanged her wreath of roses for a -coronet. Those who had been proverbially inconstant to other ladies, -would now become unchangeably devoted to her; and if she heard of any -individual more than commonly fatal to the peace of other ladies, her -fertile mind suggested scenes of romance and rapture, where the -injuries of others would be more than revenged by the distracting -suspense in which she meant to hold her intended victim. - -While the world thus ran upon castors in the imagination of Agnes, no -novel could be nearly so interesting as her own rose-colored dreams, -because in none could she be herself the heroine; but when reading the -most romantic romances, they served occasionally to suggest new scenes -of emotion and pleasure, which could be adapted with variations to her -own case, while all she saw in books flitted like a gay phantasmagoria -from her mind, except what could be in any way applied to herself. The -business of life, in short, was, she thought, to make every man living -in love with her, and to get through existence like a party of -pleasure, crowding into it the greatest possible variety of amusements, -and ending the whole with orange flowers, Brussels lace, wedding-cake, -and favors. - -None of the sacred duties or home affections ever entered into Agnes' -calculations. She lived merely for the triumphs of society; while -Marion existed for the happiness of home, seeking only the redeeming -points of life, and absorbed in a prevailing desire to deserve and to -obtain the attachment of those who were by nature nearest and dearest -to herself. As the proverb says, "A long road or a bad inn teach us to -know our companions;" but all that a generous person can do for others, -and all that a selfish person fancies he could do, Marion did, with -unobtrusive attention, for Sir Arthur and Agnes during the journey; -while her sister sarcastically remarked, that even if Dash wagged his -tail to her, she seemed grateful for his regard. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIX. - - -It was on a pleasant evening towards the end of August, that Sir -Arthur's chariot stopped at the Granby Hotel, which looked to the -travellers more like an entire street than a single house; and Marion -thought that accommodation might be prepared in it for all the invalids -in Great Britain. Her ears were instantly deafened by a noisy clamor of -bells, while the carriage was surrounded by a cluster of shabby -waiters, in second-hand looking clothes, dishevelled hair, soiled -cotton stockings, and dusty shoes, who were vociferous in their -protestations that the house was already more than full, and that a -hundred and fifty guests dined every day at the ordinary. In the mean -time, however, they hurriedly dismounted Sir Arthur's baggage from the -chariot, and at length ushered him into a sitting room, with a promise -of finding sleeping apartments for the whole party, up three pair of -stairs, in a lodging across the common, a tall old building spotted -over like a plum pudding with windows, where they must be ready to -abdicate on a moment's notice, if necessary, the whole house having -been bespoke some weeks before, for Miss Howard Smytheson, the heiress, -and suite. - -No place is so little changed by lapse of time as Harrowgate, during -the last two centuries which have elapsed since first its unpalatable -waters were tasted. There the same three great hotels flourish supreme, -as in the days of Smollet, holding their crowded ordinaries, and -distinguished by their former designations, as the House of Lords, the -House of Commons, and the House of Drs. There, during three months of -every successive year, an equal crowd assembles in search of health for -their disordered bodies, and excitement for their stagnant minds, while -time and money are frantically squandered, as if both were dealt out in -unlimited portions among all who thus emulously seek with wearied -eagerness for frivolous amusements, idle flutter, and all those -relaxations of an unsatisfied existence, which soon became intolerable -to those who can amuse themselves, but necessary to those who cannot. - -The very same rooms and furniture, the very same tables, knives, -glasses, and spoons, and the same hours of eating and drinking, which -were used during the time of old Humphrey Bramble, are still in -existence, while every thing remains as much unaltered as the blue -firmament above, except the company. Year after year has, at -Harrowgate, even more, perhaps, than elsewhere, testified the ceaseless -mutability of human affairs, where, amidst light laughter, mirth and -music, the young have become married, the old have died, and, as days -roll on in that little world of eager excitement, the names of all are -soon alike forgotten. At Harrowgate the visitors seem scarcely more -permanently interested in each other than in actors on the stage, or in -characters represented by a novelist. Any lounger who appears in the -public saloons a second year, becomes completely naturalized in the -house; after a third season, it is ten to one he may be considered a -bore; and during the fourth or fifth, he is completely superannuated. In -these gay rooms, how much of human life and feeling have existed! how -many of its joys and sorrows been experienced! and how many of its -deepest interests have arisen, amidst the gay dance, the ringing laugh, -the lively coquetry, the frantic dissipation, and the vows of endless -attachment! With many a past generation, the fever of frivolity is -over, and the dust of death now shrouds every remembrance in oblivion: -but a new race yet successively arises, to exist, like their -predecessors, in an atmosphere of music, dancing, flirting, riding, -driving, feasting, and gayety, - - "Smiling as if earth contain'd no tomb." - -"I cannot but think, when arriving at any new place," observed Marion, -"what solitary desolation must frequently be experienced by those -'citizens of the world,' who are for ever on the wing, from country to -country, throughout the habitable and uninhabitable globe! We who live -only for social companionship, would feel perfectly lost in arriving at -a perpetual succession of places, where not one human being depends -upon us for comfort or enjoyment--where not a single genuine tear would -be shed by any living individual, if we dropped down dead at their -feet!" - -"You are right, Marion," replied Sir Arthur. "Once when taken -dangerously ill abroad, I was surrounded by those only to whom my very -language was unknown, my features strange, my name unheard of, and my -whole feelings indifferent. It was dreary and desolate indeed! A new -place may divert us for a time, but we do not live to enjoy mere -scenery or mere amusement. To find real happiness we must look within -the circle of home feelings, home duties, and home enjoyments." - -When the very aristocratic and distinguished-looking Sir Arthur Dunbar -first appeared in the public room at the Granby, leading in his two -radiantly beautiful nieces, the babbling murmur of conversation became -suddenly hushed, while a general whisper of surprise and admiration -circulated round the tea-table. Many an eager inquiry was rapidly -promulgated who they could possibly be, and from whence they came; -while Lord Wigton, to produce some amusement, secretly announced that -it was the Duke of Lincolnshire and his two eldest unmarried daughters. - -The better half of pleasure was its novelty to Marion, whose half-shy, -half-amused looks, as she entered among a score or two of perfect -strangers, found a pleasing contrast to the criticising, examining, -fastidious air with which Agnes, in the full swell of magnificence, -glanced her brilliant, haughty eyes round the tables, and muttered -contemptuously to Sir Arthur, that the living furniture in the room -seemed little better than a zoological garden--a human menagerie of -tigers, bears, and monkeys, varied by a large proportion of red -inflamed strawberry-colored faces belonging to the water-drinkers. By -no means satisfied with the commencement of her Harrowgate existence, -Agnes established on the spot a little whispering gallery of satirical -discontent, while she ridiculed to Marion those of the company who were -unlucky enough first to attract her notice and her disapprobation. - -Though the room appeared abundantly peopled with _dramatis personae_ of -many kinds and degrees, yet, instead of seeing, as she had rather too -sanguinely anticipated, a society of distinguished-looking personages, -as select as if they had been introduced at a drawing-room in St. -James' Palace, the saloon was encumbered with groups of people as -ridiculous as any that Agnes ever remembered to have seen at a country -theatre. Old _beaux_ of half a century's duration,--two or three -remarkably conceited, overdressed officers in full-fledged -mustachios,--crowds of busy, bustling, managing-looking mothers,--four -or five over-dressed Irish fortune-hunters,--a knot of agricultural, -kill-your-own-mutton country gentlemen,--one or two widows of not very -doubtful age, but _rouged_ to excess,--a few Oxonian professors, who -were F.R.S. and the whole alphabet besides,--a multitude of -whist-playing clergymen, reverened only on their visiting cards, who -bore no symptom of their profession except a white neckcloth,--many old -people to be made young, and young people to be made younger,--besides -nearly an acre of very un-Almacks-like young ladies, showily attired in -pink, blue, or yellow, like a bed of tulips, all in very gay spirits, -or pretending to be so, who seemed to lead a life of perpetual smiles -and good-humor, as if all the troubles of existence were unknown or a -mere laughing matter to them. - -Sir Arthur was not long in having a delighted recognition with an old, -wooden-legged messmate, Captain Ogilvie, who introduced to Marion his -"three head of daughters," pretty animated girls; and Agnes hastily -seated herself at the tea-table, disappointed beyond measure in the -first chapter of her adventures, and half determined already to set -about hating the whole party. Though deceived only by her own too vivid -anticipations, she felt in some way or other imposed upon, in being -unexpectedly introduced to such very third-rate society, and for -several minutes she maintained a petulant silence, so very unlike her -usual volubility, that she began, before long, to wish for some one -with whom to enjoy a laugh at the whole circle of whimsical-looking -oddities. - -Close beside the seat on which Agnes had accidentally placed herself, -she very soon observed an old gentleman considerably past the meridian -of life, who nevertheless dressed with very obvious pretensions to -youth, wearing a fashionable, well-contrived wig, a perfectly startling -set of teeth, and a gouty black velvet shoe. His figure was well built, -and he had altogether a look of individual eccentricity peculiar to -himself, with an air of supercilious haughtiness, which testified that, -like Agnes, he thought himself too good for his company. - -"Who can he be?" thought she, finding his eye fixed upon herself with a -fastidious look of connoisseurship, such as that with which he might -have examined some doubtful copy of a Vandyke or Titian, while an -expression of complacent approbation gradually stole into his features. -"Probably some eminent artist! He may perhaps ask leave to do my -picture for the exhibition!" - -Having reached this conclusion, she was almost startled to hear herself -addressed by her unknown neighbor, in a consequential, rather -patronising voice, and with an air of unembarrassed distinction, while -he evidently watched her countenance with the same look of criticism as -before, so that she felt certain if there had been a flaw in her teeth, -or a single hair disarranged on her head, it could not have escaped his -notice. So fastidious a personage seemed almost worth the trouble of -pleasing, and Agnes, after replying rather graciously to his first few -remarks, became exceedingly surprised to discover that there was a tone -of well bred command in his dry, cynical manner, united with the most -perfect polish, which both awed and surprised her. His assumption of -superiority and importance seemed almost unconscious, but he evidently -entertained not the fraction of a doubt that his conversation was a -singular honor and an agreeable acquisition to any one on whom he -condescended to bestow the slightest attention. - -"I have lived here lately at the rate of twenty new acquaintances a -day, and am happy this evening in adding another to my usual allowance. -One must enter into the humors of a place like Harrowgate, and do at -Rome as Rome does," said he, in a somewhat haughty, supercilious tone. -"This is the only spot in all the earth where English people attempt -the ease and sociability of foreign manners, and we must acknowledge it -fits rather awkwardly. Nevertheless, being in my own neighborhood, I -make a point every year of lending my countenance for a short time to -this house." - -Agnes gave an undervaluing glance at her companion, and privately -thought his thin, dry countenance, with every vein like whip cord, -might well have been dispensed with, but though he appeared to be -unpardonably ugly, she prudently sipped her tea in silence, looking -somewhat askance at the little consequential gentleman beside her; -while he took the opportunity of examining her profile with his keen, -observant eye, after which, having apparently satisfied himself that -she was worth the honor of being spoken to, he continued, in a hard, -croaking voice, like a door grating on its rusty hinges: - -"The company here is nearly of the same calibre as you might probably -encounter in a Margate hoy, or in a second-class train on the -Birmingham railroad." - -"Or at Bartholomew fair," added Agnes, determined not to be outdone. "I -feel as if we were dining for once at the second table. There should be -doorkeepers at Harrowgate to keep out the _canaille_! I wonder Captain -De Crespigny misinformed my brother so much about the society here; but -he would have said anything to make us come." - -"No one would ever dream, in his wildest moments, of visiting -Harrowgate for society. Mere knife-grinders from Sheffield, and country -curates," replied her fastidious companion, in a short, abrupt tone. -"Are you acquainted with Louis De Crespigny?" - -"Yes; everybody who is anybody knows him, and those who do not often -pretend they do," replied Agnes, indignant at the easy, almost -contemptuous manner in which her companion named one whom she -considered as her own peculiar property. "Not to know him would argue -ourselves unknown." - -"I certainly am unknown," said her companion, with a strange little -conscious laugh, which seemed to Agnes quite unaccountable. "Has De -Crespigny so universal an acquaintance? People must be more at a loss -for society than I had supposed!" - -"You know," replied Agnes, in an unanswerable tone, "he is the future -Marquis of Doncaster." - -"Is he?" answered the old gentleman, with another short, dry laugh, and -a proving shrug of polite non-conviction. "So much the better for him. -You are quite sure of that?" - -"Perfectly certain! His uncle is a rich old quiz, who never thought -anybody good enough to marry till now, when nobody would accept of him. -The old peer could not get a girl to marry him now if he sent the -bellman round to advertise for one. Captain De Crespigny's succession -is as undoubted as anything can be which depends on the life of a -whimsical, superannuated uncle, these many years past in the last stage -of infirmity. He has the wrinkles ironed out of his face every morning -with a smoothing iron, and I am told his very bones rattle whenever he -moves!" - -"Indeed!" exclaimed the stranger, in a hard, withering tone, and with a -cool sneer on his lip. "How very singular!" - -"Poor, dear old man! he was handsome once, and never can forget that; -but it is a century since he lost any looks he ever had, and I am told -he is quite preternaturally old, withered, and whimsical. Quite -ingeniously ugly! _laid a faire peur!_ I should be afraid to go near -him, in case his ugliness might be reflected upon me; but I hear he -fancies himself quite captivating still. Patrick tells me that the old -Marquis invested so large a sum of money lately in a new set of teeth, -that his nephew is quite uneasy lest he should be robbed and murdered -for the gold they are set in. He scratches his wig sometimes to look as -if it were his own hair; and he had an ossification of the leg last -year, in consequence of a disappointment in love!" - -"Very remarkable!" - -"Yes!" added Agnes, encouraged by the attention she had evidently -excited, and happy to vent all her long accumulated antipathy. "The -oldest man who ever lived certainly died at last, but I believe nobody -ever before existed so long in this world without doing one atom of -good either to himself or others. He keeps a Roman Catholic Abbe to -think for him; and once his wig turned grey in a single night with -distress of mind when they had a quarrel. The Marquis is so afraid of -apoplexy, that when he walks out the Abbe Mordaunt always carries a -lancet to bleed him instantly, in case he has a fit." - -"How very considerate! You have all this authentic intelligence on the -best authority of course?" asked the stranger with a submissive bow. -"De Crespigny's entire! I understand the nephew has not inherited his -uncle's antipathy to marrying! If this very whimsical old relative -could be safely packed into his grave,--let me assure you he is even -more whimsical than has been represented, though not quite so -infirm,--I suppose Captain De Crespigny would very soon dispose of -himself and his coronet." - -"Certainly!" replied Agnes, unable to repress a conscious smile and -heightened color. "In that case we should all probably see before long -a Marchioness of Doncaster!" - -"I might not, perhaps, live to be introduced," answered the old -gentleman demurely. "And I could lay a bet that, as long as I exist, we -shall never have Captain De Crespigny in the peerage. If you happen, -however, to know any young lady at all impatient to become Marchioness -of Doncaster, let her consult me, and I could, perhaps, suggest a -shorter cut to that situation, than by waiting for Louis De Crespigny." - -"How!" exclaimed Agnes, with a bewildered look. "Quite impossible!" - -"Unless by accepting the present Marquis, who ought, by your -description, to go very cheap, old, whimsical, and infirm as he is!" -replied the stranger, with a sly smile, and a graceful bow. "The report -you have heard of Lord Doncaster is such, that I feel almost tempted to -forswear my own name!" - -Agnes never in her life approached more nearly to a genuine fainting -fit, than on hearing these words, and to have been swallowed up in an -earthquake would have been quite a relief. She felt now like Abon -Hassan, when he made the vizier bite his finger to ascertain if he were -really awake, while, with a look of vacant wonder, she became aware -that the middle-aged, nearly good-looking, and very elegant man beside -her, was actually the old, worn-out, almost dead, and all but buried -uncle, whose demise Captain De Crespigny had led her daily or hourly to -expect for the last two years. If his ghost had appeared, she would not -have been half so much astonished, while he seemed evidently more -amused than he chose to acknowledge, at having created such a -sensation, which he was by no means inclined to diminish, while -silently admiring the beautiful fluctuations of expression in Agnes' -resplendent eyes, fixed on himself with almost incredulous amazement. -At length he rose to take leave, with a smiling, supercilious bow, and -beckoned in an authoritative manner to a clerical-looking gentleman at -some distance, to follow him, who spoke in a voice of almost feminine -softness, though Agnes thought the expression of his countenance -peculiarly sinister and forbidding. - -"That, then, must be the Abbe Mordaunt!" exclaimed Agnes, almost -aloud, while she gazed at his stern, sallow countenance, his shaggy -eyebrows, low forehead, and artful-looking smile. "He might act the -villain in any melo-drama! I would rather not stand between that man -and any earthly object he may set his heart on! He is the most -Jesuitical-looking Jesuit I ever beheld!" - -Though Agnes' first recontre with the Marquis of Doncaster had been so -calamitous, and her first prejudice against his shadow, the Abbe, had -seemed most inveterate, she yet spent much of her time for the next few -days in their society, and was delighted to engross the attention and -the evident admiration of the two most distinguished-looking personages -at the ordinary, while, without scruple, she flattered the Marquis most -flagrantly, by laughing to excess at her own very mistaken ideas of him -previous to their meeting, and hinting that this had rendered her -subsequent surprise the more agreeable. Lord Doncaster in return amused -himself with talking to her in a style suited to the female society in -which most of his own time had hitherto been spent, though it should -not certainly have suited any young girl educated like Agnes, who -stretched her complaisance, however, to the utmost for a nobleman, and -the uncle of her intended, Captain De Crespigny. - -Marion's refined and delicate feelings shrunk at once from the -libertine freedom of look and manner which she could not but observe in -the old Marquis' tone to ladies, and though he repeatedly tried to -engage her in the flippant and almost dissolute conversation which, in -a low lover-like tone, he addressed to her sister, and made an -ostentatious display of his admiration for both, Marion, disgusted and -shocked at what seemed so utterly unsuitable to his years, gently but -decidedly evaded all intercourse, being of opinion that the coquetry -which was dishonorable in the nephew, became ridiculous and -contemptible in the uncle, therefore she behaved to him with distant -politeness, and a degree of gravity by no means natural to her in -general. Marion devoted herself almost exclusively to Sir Arthur, -leading him about in his walks, and enlivening his conversation with -old Captain Ogilvy, while she could not but frequently compare the age -and respectability of her venerable uncle, with the almost equal age -and very opposite character of the Roman Catholic Marquis, whose thin -skeleton figure, hollow ghost-like laugh and old stories, as broad as -they were long, formed as unsuitable a contrast to his juvenile dress -and manners, as his withered aspect did, to the fresh and fragrant -flowers he constantly wore in his button-hole, and of which he lavished -a splendid profusion on Agnes. - -Marion observed with increasing surprise and regret, that the lively -_persiflage_ of her sister with the Marquis, was varied very frequently -by long and apparently grave discussions, with the Abbe Mordaunt, and -at the end of a week, she became startled to observe that Agnes wore -round her neck a black ribbon, from which hung conspicuously suspended -a large gold crucifix of very beautiful workmanship. On many former -occasions, Marion had found reason to dread the bitter vengeance of -Agnes' tongue, but at no loss to guess the source from whence this -unusual ornament had been derived, she inwardly resolved not to let it -pass unnoticed, but warmly to remonstrate with her sister on the -growing influence of the Abbe, which seemed surprising and -unaccountable, while an undefined feeling of alarm respecting the -rapidly increasing intimacy of Agnes with Lord Doncaster, caused her to -long impatiently for the arrival of Sir Patrick, as she felt unwilling -to distress her uncle on the subject of Agnes' extraordinary conduct, -trusting that the whole affair was a mere girlish whim--a piece of -missyish coquetry to please Lord Doncaster, who in the mean time -laughingly boasted that never before had he made a proselyte so young -and beautiful. - - - - -CHAPTER XXX. - - -"Patrick," exclaimed Agnes, hurrying into Sir Arthur's sitting-room the -morning after her brother's arrival at the Granby, while a brilliant -color lighted up her cheek, and her eyes sparkled with animation, "Lord -Wigton is coming in a few minutes to hear me sing that new song of -Bellini's, therefore pray tell the waiters we are not at home to any -living mortal, and do hold this music till I give a last touch to my -ringlets." - -Agnes impatiently held out a large roll of paper, but almost screamed -with astonishment on looking up, to perceive that she had addressed -Captain De Crespigny, evidently that moment arrived from a long -journey. - -"Good morning, Miss Dunbar. We are well met!" said he, with rather -satirical emphasis. "I am in a very cut-throat humor to-day, and shall -certainly put an end to little Lord Wigton!" - -"You have nearly put an end to me," replied Agnes, unable to steady her -voice; "but I am rather glad to see you! Perhaps you may be allowed to -remain here, though that tiresome man does so teaze me about singing." - -"Wigton told me he was coming to see, or rather to hear Marion!" said -Sir Patrick, emerging from a distant window. - -"To hear me!" exclaimed Marion, with unfeigned surprise and perplexity, -while thunder and lightning both lowered on the forehead of her sister. -"That must be a mistake! I heard nothing of any appointment, and have -not had a minute's conversation with Lord Wigton since we arrived at -Harrowgate. He heard me only once by accident, and probably never will -again." - -"Unless by design!" whispered Agnes, angrily. "Marion, you have -certainly some underhand way of getting on with people, which baffles -my comprehension!" - -Marion turned away, and silently resumed her place beside Sir Arthur, -who had been amusing himself by standing at the window, while she told -him what carriages came round to the door, what parties of pleasure -were setting out or returning, and what travelling equipages appeared -in sight, of which seldom fewer than ten or twelve arrived in a day; -and by ascertaining the coat-of-arms or coronets emblazoned on the -panels, she sometimes formed a tolerable accurate guess who might -probably be their occupants. After talking together with great vivacity -for some time, Sir Arthur suddenly felt the arm of Marion on which he -was leaning, give an almost convulsive start, while she seemed with -difficulty to suppress a half-uttered exclamation of delighted -astonishment. She now leaned eagerly out of the window, to examine a -travelling chariot which had driven up to the door, from whence a lady, -apparently in the utmost extreme of weakness, was carefully supported -out by a gentleman, and before another moment could elapse, Marion had -rushed down stairs, and was clasped in the arms of Clara Granville. - -"Did you get my letter?" exclaimed her friend, in feeble and agitated -accents, while, after the first rapturous greetings, they had retired -alone into a sitting-room. "No! is that possible? How could the post -have been so long delayed? But perhaps it may be as well, for there was -grief as much as joy in it." - -Marion observed now with alarm, that the appearance of Clara, always -interesting, had become almost painfully so. The summer bloom had -entirely vanished from her face, and not only had her form shrunk, but -there was a deep and settled sadness in the expression of her eye, when -she added, - -"The doctors have ordered me to go by easy stages abroad, but they -recommended me first to try a few weeks here. The sight of you will do -me more good than any medicine, and I had little difficulty--very -little indeed, Marion--in persuading Richard to take the Granby on our -way to the south of France, where we are to go health-hunting and -scenery-hunting during the approaching winter; but you must see now, as -I do, and as everybody does, except my dear brother himself, that I am -hastening fast to that country where the sun always shines, and the -flowers never fade." - -A start of indescribable emotion now shot through the heart of Marion, -for in the pallid, emaciated countenance of Clara, she already read a -sentence of death, and she gazed upon her friend with a growing -conviction, which filled her heart with anguish, that soon, very soon -they must be separated for ever! but Miss Granville, observing her -emotion, affectionately added, "Few have more reason to value their -lives than myself, Marion, and mine I shall do all in my power to -preserve. We ought to be perfectly and cheerfully satisfied with every -event as it comes, and while I have such a brother as Richard, my -existence is precious to me. I know, however, that at all events -another will reward him for his kindness to me, and one whom he values -even more than his sister has happily learned to appreciate him as I -do! Indeed, how could it be otherwise? My home will soon be an eternal -world, and if I might have a choice, the sooner, perhaps, the better. -It grieves me to take my brother now from his duties, without a single -hope of my own restoration. I know that, for I feel it here! Change of -air and scene can do no permanent good, and I wish we had been allowed -to remain stationary, as it matters little where I die, compared with -the importance to many of where Richard lives." - -Marion's voice, the faithful index to her feelings, trembled with -emotion when she replied; but a moment afterwards, a smile of pleasure -lighted up her dark speaking eyes, when Mr. Granville hastened into the -room, with a look of animated happiness on again meeting Marion, and -his whole countenance had that look of deep sensibility which becomes -externally visible, when the whole mind and heart have been awakened to -those affections which end with life, and only then. To cover their -confusion, and conceal her own feelings, Clara assumed a tone of -unwonted vivacity, saying, with an affectation of extreme gravity, -"Allow me to introduce my brother,--Miss Dunbar, Mr. Granville! I can -recommend both as desirable acquaintances, and hope you may find each -other out by degrees! My duty is done, and now it is your own fault if -you are not speedily friends!" - -Marion became every day more conscious that no one can appreciate the -real joys and the real sorrows of human life but those who live for its -friendships and attachments, while she would have thought wealth or -rank, without affection, like a body without a soul; but Agnes cared -comparatively little by whose means she obtained her title, equipages, -and diamonds, provided they were likely to excite envy and admiration. -In her estimation, the coarsest materials of happiness were the most to -be coveted, and the marriage contract, instead of being anticipated in -the light in which it would have appeared to Marion, as giving her the -privilege of devoting a life-time to the happiness of the person she -loved best on earth, was merely contemplated as entitling her to an -expensive _trousseau_, a large establishment, and a set of family -jewels. In the mind of Agnes, Captain De Crespigny seemed only an -appendage to his future rank and future expectations, while she -rehearsed over her own coming greatness with exulting anticipations; -but Mr. Granville might have lost all that mortal man can lose, even -life itself, and still retained the same place as at first in Marion's -affection. The depth of her feelings was tempered, however, by the -supremacy of yet higher and holier duties and hopes, those of sound and -enlightened devotion, in which it was her greatest happiness to think -that she had at length secured "a guide, philosopher, and friend." - -No man knew the world more thoroughly, or had viewed it on both sides -with more careful scrutiny than Captain De Crespigny, who often boasted -that he saw the working of people's minds as if their heads were like a -glass bee-hive, and yet he was completely perplexed, on arriving at -Harrowgate, to account for the extraordinary intimacy which had sprung -up so suddenly between the beautiful Agnes and his whimsical old--, but -certainly not venerable relative, Lord Doncaster. It seemed to him at -first a laughable jest, but before long he became struck by the -increased coldness of his uncle's manner, which was, if possible, more -cynical and repulsive than ever, since the time when Agnes had -inadvertently irritated the vanity of Lord Doncaster by her incautious -jests during their first interview. - -Curiosity now induced Captain De Crespigny, in some degree, to resume -that intimacy with Agnes, which he came intending entirely to -discontinue; for he had meant that his attentions should be solely and -exclusively devoted to the captivation of her still more fascinating -sister, whom he was intent upon adding to the list of his conquests; -but Marion continued to receive Captain De Crespigny with careless -civility, resolved apparently to forget all that had hitherto been -unpleasant or pleasant between them, while every moment she could spare -from attending to her uncle was dedicated to the Granvilles. Clara -never left her private sitting-room, partly from bodily weakness, but -chiefly to avoid meeting Sir Patrick, whom she had not expected to find -at Harrowgate,--and his name never passed her lips except once, when in -answer to a remark of Marion's, she said, "I shun another meeting with -your brother, not from indifference,--very far from that. If I were -only more safe from the attachments and delusions of this world, it -would be unnecessary to avoid him as I do; but I am consoled for my own -sorrows, Marion, by thinking of my brother's happiness, and by -believing that you will hereafter value and experience together the -affection of reason and principle, with a sufficient tinge of romance -to give it some flavor." - -"In that case," replied Marion, frankly, while a bright color glowed on -her cheek, "I should think myself gifted with the largest share of -happiness that the world can offer, and much more than the whole world -could bestow, if unaccompanied by the hope of that felicity we are -promised beyond it." - -"And which I shall share with you at last, though the joy of this world -I cannot remain to see and to partake of, with those who have all my -affection and all my prayers," replied Clara, solemnly, while her lips -trembled with a smile such as floats sometimes on the countenance of a -Christian at last, "when all the mortal dies." - - - - -CHAPTER XXXI. - - -It was late one fine evening toward the end of August, when, though the -rooms at the Granby had been brilliantly lighted, several windows were -open to admit the soft radiance of moonlight, and the whole -miscellaneous party of ladies and gentlemen resident at the great hotel -had assembled, full of gay excitement, in the public saloon, where the -buzz and laughter of merry voices might be heard on every side. Various -agreeable excursions had taken place throughout the morning. Pic-nics -had flourished at Studley, Ripon, Bolton Abbey, and Harewood House, -while even Plumpton rocks, very little higher than the cut for a -railway, had not been without admirers who called them sublime, and the -petrifying well at Knaresborough had petrified many with admiration. - -A day of amusement seemed likely now to end, as such days too commonly -do, in weariness and ennui. Several very old gentlemen sat down to -cards,--those who still made any attempts at being juvenile, flirted -with the more elderly misses, and Agnes, seated between Lord Doncaster -and the Abbe, seemed industriously exerting herself to fascinate them -both, while, though generally careful of her smiles, she now lavished -them on each side with apparently heedless profusion. - -The scarcity of _beaux_, so often remarked and lamented in most -societies, could hardly be a legitimate cause of complaint on this -occasion, but, as Sir Patrick remarked to Marion, "in every family -there is but one eldest son, while there are at least three-and-twenty -daughters, each educated and prepared to take her place at the head of -a brilliant establishment; therefore, seeing in this room sixty-five -young ladies, every one of whom expects to marry on at least L2000 -a-year, it would require L130,000 per annum to satisfy them and their -expectant mammas!" - -Lord Wigton's fortune alone might have been sufficient, if divided into -suitable portions, for at least ten such happy couples; but his whole -heart seemed bent on bestowing it, with himself, on Marion, who found -that she was pursued with assiduity so persevering, not only by him, -but also by Captain De Crespigny, who had now openly abandoned Agnes -for her, that, annoyed and perplexed how to act, rather than become -repulsive and forbidding, which was always repulsive to her nature, she -silently retreated with Sir Arthur to the quiet domestic fireside of -the Granvilles, where she enjoyed the peaceful reality of happiness, -instead of that noisy and glittering imitation of it which she had so -gladly forsaken. - -In the public saloon, Mrs. O'Donoghoe, a superannuated _jeune femme_ of -about thirty, more or less, in a dress as bright and red as a -blacksmith's forge, hammered on a decayed piano-forte a sort of tune, -which might be an Irish jig or a Scotch strathspey, while several -mournful-looking gentlemen had been persuaded to dance with three or -four very affected, over-dressed partners, giggling young ladies, most -of whom were on the shady side of five-and-twenty, dressed in stiff -muslin frocks _a l'enfant_, bare shoulders, rouge, and very pink -stockings. - -Mrs. O'Donoghoe's marriage, ten years before, had been a true -Harrowgate match--a mutual take-in--the lady being a reputed heiress, -without a shilling, and the gentleman endowed with an imaginary estate, -which turned out to be situated in the moon. Since her widowhood, she -had affected extreme youth, excessive wealth, and extraordinary -vivacity, being of opinion that liveliness is the most universally -popular of all qualities in the gay world, and that those who are not -gifted by nature with light and joyous spirits, should assume them, -though, if the exact degree of any person's happiness were distinctly -marked by a thermometer on their foreheads, the reality might seldom -coincide with the external appearance, and the pre-eminence would -seldom be awarded to those who are blazing the brightest in a crowd. -The most malevolent persons could scarcely wish their worst enemy to -lead that life of anxiety, mortification, and misery, the inevitable -doom of ladies who will not consent with a good grace to grow old--who -desire to seem what they are not, and never can be again--who, instead -of cheerfully advancing to meet advancing years, attempt to _rajeunir -leur beaute passee_, and who, vainly endeavoring to stem the tide of -time, catch at every straw which affords a hope of impeding their -career into oblivion. If it be indeed true, as all who have experienced -it acknowledge, that a worldly career, decked with all the glare and -glitter of success, is yet a weariness to the spirit, what must such a -life be to those for whom it does not even assume the tinsel of deceit. - -Mrs. O'Donoghoe had appeared during nine successive seasons at -Harrowgate, where she shone like a moving rainbow, dressing of course -younger as she became older, and being considered now quite a part and -parcel of the Granby establishment. Though it had been remarked that -she always appeared about the same day as Lord Doncaster, yet her usual -place of habitation and means of existence were perfectly unknown; but -as, on her arrival, she generally entered the public room about the -same hour as the post bag, it became shrewdly conjectured that she -might perhaps condescend to travel per mail, while, nevertheless, she -boasted long and loudly of her enormous jointure. - -Sir Patrick alleged, that on a former occasion, when the house was -crowded, Mrs. O'Donoghoe ordered a bed to be made up for her on the -billiard table, and that now she had bespoken one, after the dancing -was over, in the orchestra, while she gladly dispensed with a -sitting-room, as the deficiency formed an adequate pretext for -constantly frequenting the public room, which she greatly preferred, -alleging at the same time, in the most emphatic terms, that saving six -shillings a-day for the hire of a parlor was not of the slightest -consequence to her, money being "no object," as poor Mr. O'Donoghoe had -left her more than she could ever hope to spend. - -Mrs. O'Donoghoe's name appeared regularly in the weekly printed list of -company at Harrowgate, and she was certainly by no means a dead letter -in the brilliant circle. She sang a little, played a little, and talked -a great deal, while no topic of conversation ever came amiss to her. -The gay widow floundered through anything or everything, making a -thousand blunders, and adapting herself to each individual who -conversed with her in succession, being ready and anxious for the -admiration of all. She seemed willing to compensate for the want of -silver in her purse, by having plenty on her tongue, and apparently -thought, if she thought at all, that conversation resembled a game at -whist, where each individual should implicitly follow his partner's -lead. - -In every carriage going to races, balls, pigeon matches, or steeple -chases, Mrs. O'Donoghoe generally manoeuvred to get herself a place, -either inside or outside, she seemed by no means particular which; and -whenever the master of the ceremonies became perplexed at balls, by an -application for a partner from some heavy elderly gentleman in yellow -gloves, who desired to risk his tendon of Achilles by dancing, he was -sure to be rapturously welcomed by Mrs. O'Donoghoe. She had been always -hitherto the favorite flirt of Lord Doncaster; and her bold bravura -manner amused Captain De Crespigny, who called her "Fountain's Abbey," -on account of her being so picturesque a ruin on so very large a scale. -Though not quite so "wither'd, auld, and droll," as he and some -refractory officers had alleged, when entreated by the master of the -ceremonies to dance with her, yet Mrs. O'Donoghoe's best friends -allowed she was thirty--her enemies protested she was forty--and the -truth lay, as usual, between both extremes. Forced almost to -acknowledge at last that she had arrived on the debatable ground -between youth and that uninteresting period, middle age, too old for -dancing, too young for cards, and not quite beyond the excitement of -love-hunting, she still eagerly hoped to forget, in a brilliant -establishment, the blighted hopes of former years. No unmarried man was -too elderly or too juvenile for Mrs. O'Donoghoe to try her -well-practised fascinations on; and whether they were majors or minor, -Lord Wigton, Captain De Crespigny, Sir Patrick, or the Marquis, she yet -continued to hope for their admiration. Still she retained a firm -conviction that every gentleman arrived at Harrowgate with the full -intention of marrying within a month or two--that happy couples, at the -end of every season, were to be paired off like pairs of gloves or -shoes--and that every gentleman among her numerous assortment of -intimate acquaintances, would at last make his own selection; but the -most sanguine hope of her sanguine mind was, that the attentions shown -to her during many a successive season by Lord Doncaster, which had -gone so far as even to excite some scandal, might at last ripen into an -offer of his coronet; in which very ardent expectation she had recently -suspended her dancing propensities, and diligently exercised on the -Marquis her talents for listening, when his society could be had, or in -his absence, she even tolerated his shadow, the Abbe. - -"Mrs. O'Donoghoe," exclaimed Captain De Crespigny, throwing himself -into a seat beside the piano during the interval of a quadrille, "only -look at your old superannuated admirer and Miss Dunbar. People laugh at -the susceptibility of seventeen, but that is nothing to the -susceptibility of seventy. Your ears have generally been the best of -listeners to Lord Doncaster's prosing, but you are fairly outdone -to-night. How all you young ladies must be tormented by that old -fellow's button-holding propensities." - -"Quite the contrary! His conversation, though not always perfectly -correct, is, it must be confessed, very amusing. Men in general are a -queer set, but I like Lord Doncaster's old-fashioned compliments--quite -of the _vieille cour_--one might fancy he had lived some centuries -ago!" - -"I heartily wish he had! I could back old Doncaster against the world, -for being the dullest proser in the United Kingdoms of Great Britain -and Ireland, with the Colonies besides. He will die talking, for he -talks everybody else to death! The Abbe, too, has no more mind than a -sparrow. His conversation should be filtered every evening to purify it -from bad taste of every kind. He picks up half a dozen stories every -morning at the ordinary, and retails them to any wearied victim who can -be forced to listen at night; when these are done so is he--his barrel -organ has run down--and you may know when the Abbe has come to an end, -by observing the hurry he is in to be off." - -"You are an habitual hater, Captain De Crespigny, and have put on your -black cap to condemn us all this evening; but I will not have our good -Abbe hissed off the stage in this way." - -"Good! Look out that word, Mrs. O'Donoghoe, in the dictionary -to-morrow, for you cannot know its real meaning!" - -"Your criticisms on his conversation are like a shower of sleet this -cold night, but I assure you the Abbe started a perfected new story -yesterday, and I have sometimes heard him say very good things!" - -"Then you have the advantage of everybody else, for I have known him -since the time of William the Conqueror, and who ever heard of his -saying or doing a single good thing? He cannot even understand one. The -whole pattern of his conversation is egotism in all its branches, and -you must positively permit me to enjoy my detestation of the Abbe in -peace." - -"I allow that he is in bad taste occasionally," whispered Mrs. -O'Donoghoe, confidentially. "The Abbe can say very shocking things -without causing one to feel shocked. If he has any hypocrisy, it is in -trying to appear worse than he is." - -"Could any one be worse? That seems to me impossible. No human being -would think of calling me strict, but of all the odious, revolting -sights I know, none can go beyond an irreligious clergy-man. The Abbe -always looks to me like a person who had something very heavy upon his -conscience--a guilty, suspicious expression of countenance. I have -occasionally wondered, Mrs. O'Donoghoe, to see you out-laugh him at -some of his own abortive attempts to be witty; but you can do many -things that no other person can, and that is one of them." - -"Captain De Crespigny, we must now and then laugh at other people's -jokes besides our own!" - -"I never laugh! I am the gravest man in Europe. I do sometimes give a -bewitching smile, but never more." - -"Did you ever try an ineffable look?" - -"Perhaps I may some evening, when anxious to cut out old Doncaster! -Miss Dunbar must find her two hours' conversation with him a serious -grievance; but what would a life-time be! The ideas which proceed from -the inside of my uncle's wig are certainly not of the most original and -amusing. Fancy him day after day _toujours_ Doncaster! Dunbar says he -would dismiss the best servant he ever had, if the fellow so much as -admitted him to a morning visit. If I had an ill-will at you, Mrs. -O'Donoghoe, which is luckily not the case, I should certainly wish you -were married to my uncle! Ladies and gentlemen may laugh; but I can -assure them it would be no laughing matter!" - -"Well, say what you will; but I may perhaps think my rose-colored satin -has done its duty if I have an offer from the Marquis of Doncaster, old -as he is!" - -"Ah, Mrs. O'Donoghoe! If you had worn that red satin when we were first -acquainted, there is no saying what might have happened. Another day of -it now, and I should be perfectly done for! With a train, you would be -fit to appear at St. James's! You alone, in the whole world, never -alter! You must have been born a century old, and become younger every -day!" - -Though Mr. Granville and Marion, with the good-humored connivance of -Sir Arthur, now spent many delightful hours in rational and animated -intercourse, their happiness became gradually clouded with anxiety -respecting the lovely but fragile Clara, who evidently drooped and -faded. Her mind was stronger than her body; while resigned and gentle, -she never caused a moment's distress to others that could be avoided, -though the bright eye, and brighter cheek, which might have been -mistaken for the glow of health, were but too evidently caused by -fever; and her brother's heart occasionally misgave him, on observing -that a vivid flush, and a deadly paleness, chased each other on her -countenance when she spoke. There was a nervous tremor in her manner, -and a deep sensibility in her smile, which saddened the eye that looked -on that form of almost ethereal delicacy, while she tried, but tried in -vain, to conquer the wasting sorrow with which she thought the vices -and follies of Sir Patrick had forever divided them. - -Several transient rencontres with the young Baronet, accidental on her -part, but preconcerted on his, had renewed the conflict of her -feelings, and unable to sustain the nearly frantic reproaches of one -whom she loved only too well, Clara became now almost entirely a -prisoner in her own apartments. It was the power of principle over -feeling which caused her to reject, with gentle sorrow, the expression -of attachment once so precious, and the fascination of Sir Patrick's -manner to her was such, that his very errors she could not utterly -hate, though day after day, she schooled her heart afresh with the -remembrance how unjustifiably her own best hopes of lasting peace would -be endangered by trusting her affections to the keeping of one who had -betrayed others, and who would have but too baneful an influence over -her own mind were they united, as he could so little sympathize in the -emotions, occupations, and duties of the Christian life. While she -might have said, like the poet, "I but know that I love thee whatever -thou art," Clara felt that if her life were to be the sacrifice, he -must be rejected; therefore, day after day, with pious resignation and -fortitude, she endured the slow but agonizing martyrdom of -extinguishing from her memory one whom she had so deeply loved. Sir -Patrick contrived to testify by a thousand indescribable assiduities, -only too gratifying to her nature, how constantly she was the object of -his solicitude. Every morning Clara's sitting room was adorned with -flowers from an unknown hand, which she felt and knew must be sent by -Sir Patrick, though it was an attention he had never shown to any -other; and the rarest fruit was frequently produced at her solitary -dinner, though the waiter neither could nor would give any clear -account of whence it came, while not a day passed that Clara did not -see Sir Patrick's graceful figure lounging beneath her windows, -conversing in an animated tone, with everybody except herself, or -throwing himself on horseback, and galloping almost madly out of sight. - -Every evening Mr. Granville urged upon his sister the importance of her -being speedily conveyed to the continent; but every morning Clara -postponed their preparations, feeling too much enfeebled for the -journey, and unwilling to lose the delightful fascination of Marion's -society, who sat beside her couch all day, and every day, making hours -seem like moments while they conversed together. Clara knew nothing of -ennui, and never had occasion to kill time, for she valued it as time -ought to be valued, at an inestimable price. She had no weariness to -dissipate, as every hour was occupied in improving her own mind and -heart, while she exerted herself for the happiness of others, and never -laid her head on the pillow at night without an anxious examination -whether she had done all in her power for the real advantage of herself -and others. It was the opinion of Mr. Granville, frequently expressed, -that the very essence of earthly happiness is found in exertion,--that -"while a right discharge of religious duty is in itself the greatest of -all exertions, even the trifles or the essentials of life must all be -gained by making existence one great struggle against nature. Study, -integrity, good-humor, benevolence, early rising, and moderation are -all exertions that must be made upon principle,--a principle of -Christian obedience; and, as difficulty is the condition of success, -our frame is strengthened by exertion, our skill by practice, our -reasoning powers by opposition, and he who wrestles most will wrestle -best." - - - - -CHAPTER XXXII. - - -Little of what is really going on in society can be traced on its gay, -sparkling surface, where, amidst laughter, music, jesting, and smiles, -a deep current may be flowing on of anger, envy, mortification, and -disappointment. Agnes had lately allowed herself to suspect that her -preference for Captain De Crespigny was by no means mutual; and though -it still lingered in her mind, out-living all that coldness and caprice -which had superseded the persevering ardor with which he once -endeavored to engross her attention, the indignation of her feelings -drove her now to seek relief in any counter-irritation, and especially -in cultivating, beside Lord Doncaster, the society where he was most -depreciated, and where she heard many a story of him from the Abbe, -which filled her with angry misgivings. - -Captain De Crespigny now perceived, with almost bewildered -astonishment, that the beautiful Agnes remained stationary the whole -evening with Lord Doncaster, wishing, he conjectured, to propitiate the -uncle as a preliminary to securing the nephew, and that she actually -made him a secondary object in society, while it was evident the -Marquis observed and enjoyed this very visible alteration. It became -particularly conspicuous at last, when Captain De Crespigny having -spoken, one evening, a few words to Agnes, strolled away in momentary -pique at the careless inattention of her reply, after which the vacant -chair, beside her and Lord Doncaster, was immediately occupied by the -Abbe, who talked down both his companions, while a long discussion -ensued, of evidently deepening interest, during which the eyes of all -three were frequently directed towards Captain De Crespigny. Those of -Agnes now assumed an almost unnatural brightness, and her cheek became -dyed with a hectic flush of excitement. Then, for the first time, he -perceived the gold crucifix which she held carelessly in her hand, -while the Abbe spoke with an air of artful and subdued earnestness, and -Lord Doncaster, looking like winter beside spring, watched, with -evident admiration, the changes of color and expression which flitted -like an aurora borealis on her beautiful features. It occurred to -Captain De Crespigny, that his uncle, believing, perhaps, in some -degree, the report of his marriage to Agnes, and being an enthusiastic -admirer of beauty, might wish the Abbe first to convert the young lady -to his own faith, before bestowing him upon her, and as the idea -flitted through his mind, he smiled inwardly to think how they would -all be disappointed. Still the ceaseless conversation continued, and -Captain De Crespigny, apprehending it might never come to any -particular end, resolved, for his own amusement, _coute qui coute_, to -break up the _coterie_. - -"Miss Dunbar," said he, advancing, and in a matter-of-course way -offering his arm, "allow me the pleasure of this quadrille with you!" - -Agnes seemed almost to awaken from a dream at these words, but, after a -moment's evident perplexity, during which she assumed an air of -dignified indecision, Lord Doncaster having turned away to converse -with Mrs. O'Donoghoe, she slowly rose, and silently took her place in -the dance. - -Captain De Crespigny had hitherto been to Agnes like the sun to the -dial, causing the lights and shadows of joy or anxiety to flit over her -countenance according to his own pleasure, but now he became piqued and -astonished to perceive that he could not even command her most -transient attention, and with a satirical glance at her absent -countenance, he emphatically exclaimed, - -"A delightful party this!" - -"Yes, delightful!" echoed Agnes, mechanically. - -"And delightful music too!" added he, observing with increased surprise -the total absence of her thoughts. - -"Delightful, indeed!" repeated Agnes, in an almost dreaming tone. - -"And what a delightful partner I have secured!" added Captain De -Crespigny, with some asperity of tone, while gazing more and more -curiously into her countenance. "I am so well pleased, that really it -was fortunate I did not shoot or drown myself yesterday! We are -excelling ourselves to-night, Miss Dunbar! I never saw you so -agreeable, so particularly facetious! Your spirits are perfectly -turbulent!" - -"That is the more surprising, as I have done nothing this evening but -yawn and be yawned at," replied Agnes, resuming her gay, bantering -tone. "I have been plastered to the wall like Warren's Japan blacking, -looking as grave as an old gate-post, while you were generally so far -off, that I borrowed a good telescope at last, to try whether it might -be possible to see you!" - -"I could not approach within a mile, you were so barricaded with Abbes -and Marquises, but you of course occupied all my thoughts. Shall I ever -forget my vexation on beholding my fossil specimen of an uncle -depositing his bones in the very seat I intended for myself. He is -really becoming a formidable rival!" - -"Very true!" replied Agnes, forcing a laugh. "Lord Doncaster is so -agreeable, that I am all but captivated, and if this were leap year I -might, perhaps, use the lady's privilege and propose!" - -"Take care, or I shall tell him so!" - -"Pray do! It will save time, and he has but little to spare!" - -"I am very certain, if the old boy were ninety years younger, he would -make you an offer! But certainly marriage is a juvenile indiscretion, -only for young people like us!" - -"Lord Doncaster says, he is any age I like, and pledges himself always -to continue so!" replied Agnes, laughing, though she became agitated to -the very tips of her fingers, while, trying not to seem embarrassed, -she hastily drew her gloves on and off, adjusted her necklace, and -betrayed, by other nervous manoeuvres, that her mind was not quite at -ease under the observant eye of Captain De Crespigny, who looked at her -with satirical surprise, and at last exclaimed, in accents of wonder, -"May my bridle be too long, and my stirrup too short, Miss Dunbar, if I -ever dreamed of jesting with you in earnest, about the old veteran -amateur in flirtations, my uncle! That is rather beyond a joke,--and as -for the Abbe, you ought to put him down in your private list of -detestables, being a bad and dangerous man for young ladies to form an -intimacy with. Let me be your father confessor to-night, Miss Dunbar, -and tell me when, under his auspices, you mean to take the veil!" - -Seeing Agnes become more and more embarrassed, Captain De Crespigny's -politeness now induced him to change the subject, though still unable -to conjecture any probable cause for her confusion; therefore assuming -his usual tone of careless conceit, he added, "Mrs. O'Donoghoe tells me -there are two singularly handsome officers in the room to-night; but I -cannot see the second. We can be at no loss for No. 1. There is a -strange-looking mortal opposite in black! He skips about in the -quadrille like an industrious flea! Does it not seem like a frightful -dream, that we are expected to find steps for such music as this? What -would Monsieur D'Egville say, if he saw me, his favorite pupil, -blundering through the figure to such discord?" - -"He would still be proud of his scholar! I mistook you for Duvernay -last night when you danced with Mrs. O'Donoghoe at the Crown ball. Her -dancing-master must have been St. Vitus! She was as light as----" - -"As a cork flying from a bottle of champagne! You seem perplexed for -once to find a simile!" - -"And you are not particularly happy in yours! I have been puzzling my -head for the last two seconds who that gold man is opposite in uniform. -He looks like a clever caricature of an officer on leave!" - -"That is Charleville of ours! Mrs. O'Donoghoe considers him the first -of men! almost superhuman! because, as she said to me yesterday, 'he is -quite the thing! drives a tandem--rides races in a bonnet and -habit--can back his horse down the steepest hill in Low -Harrowgate--writes occasionally in the Sporting Magazine--and smokes -more cigars in a day than the whole regiment in a week!'" - -"There is an officer of that description in every regiment, who is -generally called 'Jack' or 'Tom.' I detest these hunting, racing, -smoking, and betting men; but you may introduce him to me when the -quadrille is over." - -"That is a ceremony I never perform, and never undergo! It is too -solemn an affair for me to engage in! I never mean, as long as I live, -to be introduced to any one--never!" - -"Then if your present list of friends is to last for life, I hope it -musters pretty strong?" - -"Pardon me! We are not so particular at an ordinary as in an opera-box! -There are ways and means of becoming acquainted without my making -people conceited, by asking to be introduced! I tread on a lady's gown -in passing, look shocked, beg her pardon, receive the very sweetest of -smiles, enter into conversation, and am intimate in a moment!" - -"Very easy and convenient! I never could imagine till now why officers -had all become so awkward at parties lately, in tearing my dress with -their spurs!" - -"Believe me, nobody is ever introduced to anybody now, and ladies have -become equally ingenious with myself in picking up acquaintances. At -Almacks last season, Lady Sarah Wyvell, having the good fortune to be -next me in a quadrille, though we were not acquainted, asked, with a -modest diffident air, if I could possibly tell her the hour. I politely -took the trouble of answering her, and mentioned, that the key of my -watch had been for some time mislaid, and therefore it was not wound -up; but next evening, when we met at the Russian Ambassador's fete, -would you believe it, she walked up to me, and, with a fascinating -smile, begged my acceptance of a watch-key, beautifully set in -turquoises!" - -"Which fitted exactly, of course!" added Agnes, laughing. "I like a -round unvarnished tale, and admire a ready invention, especially when -the story is perfectly credible, and betrays no personal conceit -whatever. The world certainly grows more ridiculous every day!" - -"You never said a truer thing! It is a good plan in conversation always -to say what nobody can contradict! Never certainly was there a more -ludicrous medley of people shuffled together, than here at this moment! -Nothing but old Doncaster's whim could have brought me to such a -snobbery and tag-raggery! Harrowgate is like death itself for levelling -all distinctions! You may glance down the dinner-table, containing a -hundred and thirty odd-looking guests, and each individual has the same -quiet, little, unpretending bottle of sherry placed at his elbow, and -labelled with his name. Even the great millionaire, Mr. Crawford, who -might, if he chose, drink liquid gold, fares no better, though he has -brought home the sort of nabob fortune people used to make long ago. -The art is lost now!" - -"You might find it, I dare say, in some of the Useful Knowledge books." - -"Yes! but I manage still better, by spending a fortune without -possessing one, which does quite as well, and gives me less trouble. -The hat is his who wears it, and the world is his who enjoys it." - -"What a pity that very good people like the Crawfords are so often -atrociously disagreeable," observed Agnes, listlessly. "We must allow, -that in this world rogues are the majority; and as their good opinion -is the most easily gained, and the most easily kept, I wonder less -every day that some men are satisfied to secure that, and live upon -it." - -"I wish I had either!" said Sir Patrick, laughing. - -"The whole tribe of Crawfords are, in my opinion, seriously unpleasant, -with their airs of condescending stiffness and ineffable superiority," -said Agnes, "never vouchsafing to appear, except at dinner, and -huddling out of sight the instant we rise. Those who desire to be -exclusive should take private lodgings, and not spoil a place like this -by any purseproud finery! They almost live with Marion and the -Granvilles; but I abhor that whole set!" - -"So I do!" exclaimed Sir Patrick. "I hate their very parrot! He sits in -a golden cage at the window, looking over his nose at one in the most -exclusive manner imaginable. Old Crawford was a shop-boy in some -green-grocer's once, I believe; therefore, it really amused me -yesterday to hear him in the loud authoritative tone of a connoisseur, -finding fault with the sherry. I never pronounce upon any wine till I -have drunk a few dozen of it; but it is credibly reported, that the -Crawfords at home indulge in nothing but Cape Madeira and water. We, -who have been brought up upon claret, conform to custom with a better -grace. I should never think of putting the cellars here out of fashion, -by saying what I really think of them; but _entre nous_, the whole -contents are perfect poison. Of the two, I would rather drink the -Harrowgate waters, because they have at least the one merit of being -wholesome." - -"Lord Doncaster seems to find the sherry drinkable," said Agnes dryly; -"and, as you say, 'he has cracked a bottle or two in his time.'" - -"Very true! a really aristocratic man is so accustomed to everything of -the best, that he tolerates or enjoys the inconveniences of an inn or a -steamboat as an amusing variety," said Mrs. O'Donoghoe. "Besides which, -Miss Dunbar, between you and me and the post, Lord Doncaster is old, -and somewhat _passee_. You and he made quite a _tableau_ together this -evening; but take my word for it, Lord Doncaster is no chicken!" - -"I need not take anybody's word for that! I have my eyes in my head -like others!" replied Agnes, rather sharply, and glancing towards a -distant corner of the room where Lord Doncaster was seated, with his -eye at the moment fixed on herself. "We may all see that he is not the -youngest man in the world; but he is certainly one of the most -agreeable!" - -"Well! old or young," continued Mrs. O'Donoghoe, resuming her habitual -smile, "Lord Doncaster is my very particular friend, and if I meet him -ten times in a day, he shakes me by the hand as cordially the last time -as the first." - -"Tiresome old bore!" replied Sir Patrick; "I would put my hand in my -pocket the second time, and tell him, once a-day must do!" - -"Instead of putting it into an empty pocket, Sir Patrick, offer it to -one of the two Miss Crawfords," said Mrs. O'Donoghoe, rolling her eyes -affectedly round, like the wire-drawn eyes of a wax doll. "The old -nabob is so rich, that it took five India ships to carry home his -fortune, and he has settled his whole countless rupees on the young -ladies. What do you say, gentlemen?--one each? That tall may-pole, the -eldest, who looks as if she could eat her own shoulders off, will be a -great catch." - -"She has proposed to me twenty times," replied Captain De Crespigny, -"but I am not to be had! It would be necessary for me to hang all her -relations, they are so vulgar! The second looks as fat and round as -from yesterday till next year; but if she were less like a turbot -standing on end, more like the person I admire most in the world, and -several years younger, possibly I might propose." - -"If you thought she would have you," replied Mrs. O'Donoghoe, laughing, -"you would propose without minding the years. If a girl had eighteen -pence, you would propose instantly, for fear she might spend a shilling -of it!" - -"I am told Miss Crawford was born in diamond ear-rings," said Agnes. -"She looks as if it had rained precious stones on her ever since,--as -if she had been pelted at the Carnival with diamonds instead of -sugar-plums! The price of blonde and feathers is raised in every town -where the Miss Crawfords arrive!----" - -"The Miss Crawfords must not be ridiculed," interrupted Captain De -Crespigny, looking very magnanimous, "at least by any one except -myself! They are my preserve! They both dress in the last extreme of -jewellery to please me; and I am pleased. If I have a weakness in the -world, it is for dress; and, in my opinion, ladies ought all to shine -like glow-worms every night. Look at this indefinite article of a man -approaching! Tall, and covered with orders, he looks like a house -insured! Who can he be?" - -"Never distress yourself about who people are," said Agnes. "Somebody's -son, I believe,--and somebody's nephew or cousin, with estates in all -the disturbed districts of Ireland." - -"Very accurate and satisfactory! Watering-place imaginations are apt to -be a little inventive; like Cuvier, who described the whole history and -formation of any animal from seeing merely a single tooth! With that -bottle-green coat and all that light hair on the roof his head, he -looks like a bottle of porter newly drawn, and foaming at the top. It -makes me thirsty to see him." - -"I excel particularly in biography," added Agnes, laughing. "That -tigerish-looking man you are inquiring about, with all the little stars -and bits of ribbon, had a whole regiment of horses killed under him at -Waterloo! He saw sixteen colonels of cavalry lose their heads that day -in battle, and he received fifteen mortal wounds himself, before he -left the field!" - -"Agnes, your stories would be as difficult to bolt as the American -oyster, which it took three men to swallow whole! You remind me of the -man who contrived to place a fly's eye so that he could see through it, -and he found that it multiplied everything, till a single officer -appeared like a whole army. I never saw a man ride as that stranger did -this morning! His horse is a mere spider, and he jumped up and down in -the saddle like a cup and ball?" said Sir Patrick, laughing; "but the -climax of all his atrocities was, five minutes ago, when Marion -re-entered the room, I heard him request that the master of the -ceremonies would introduce him to one of my sisters! I am at a loss to -guess which, but here he comes, drawing on a splendid pair of gloves!" - -"Pray do not let me be the victim!" said Agnes, shrinking back with a -contemptuous toss of the head. "I have no turn for teaching a bear to -dance! and I will not be made ridiculous by having such a partner! The -ugliest man I ever saw for nothing! Is he a human being?" - -"For my part, I do not feel that being ridiculous or otherwise depends -on any one but myself," said Marion good-humoredly; "and if it will -make a man, all ribbons and orders of merit, happy, to perform a -quadrille, I have not the least objection to be his partner, especially -when he wears such very clean gloves!" - -"Miss Dunbar!" said the master of the ceremonies, approaching Marion in -his most pompous manner, "allow me to introduce the Duke of Kinross!" - -Marion accepted his Grace's offered arm, looking by no means so much -petrified at the unexpected rank of her partner as Agnes did, who -started, and colored with evident vexation, at having even in thought -rejected the greatest man in Harrowgate, the hero of all her castles in -the air, and one who was considered as eminent for ability as for rank. - -"Well, Agnes!" exclaimed Sir Patrick, in a bantering tone, "for the -first time in a long life you have made a blunder. You who never, even -at chess, would play a pawn, if you could move a knight or a bishop, to -have actually rejected a ducal coronet. I thought that in general you -could draw out people's whole histories and characters like an -opera-glass, and see through them in a minute. You generally know -everybody's peculiarities and everybody's value, who everybody is, and -what everybody does, with notes and annotations of your own, all -original and authentic,--who have elder brothers to impoverish them, -and rich uncles to give them hopes,--in short, their whole biography -better than they know it themselves!" - -"To be sure! I am an inestimable cicerone, 'honest, civil, obliging, -and thoroughly to be depended on!' Where other people have only two -eyes, I have three, and I make it my duty to ascertain who brings a -footman or an abigail, what carriages people travel in, what stay they -intend to make here, whether they hire a sitting-room, or lounge, like -Mrs. O'Donoghoe, in the public saloon! I do believe the well-informed -visitors at Harrowgate know exactly how much silver we carry in our -purses every day, and what our washing-bills amount to!" - -"Not much in some cases!" said Captain De Crespigny, fixing his -satirical, mischievous glance on a shabby-genteel stranger who seemed -to be lurking near and watching the lively party with an evil eye. -"Look at this dark figure leaning against the door in a sort of Italian -bandit attitude, trying to look romantic with his arms stuck on like -crooked pins, his neckcloth perfectly strangling him, and his scarlet -waistcoat like a robin-red-breast!" - -"Is there a man in a waistcoat!! where?" asked Agnes eagerly. "Another -Duke, I suppose. He seems like the picture of a robber in some sixpenny -story book. But how he stares at you, Captain De Crespigny! I declare -that look would pin me to the wall!" - -"It is rather odd! Surely I have seen that man somewhere before! He -must have dressed my hair at Brighton, or measured me for a coat at -Dodd's. He is probably now the sort of L200 a-year man who wears a gold -chain and vagabondizes about perpetually from one watering place to -another! He seems by his look inclined to pick a quarrel with me; and, -if he does so, I feel pretty certain he ought already to be sent among -the velvets below stairs, which he certainly shall be without much -ceremony. What can the fellow mean by looking such daggers at me in -particular?" - -"One addition is expected to the Crawford party to-night, which will -puzzle you all!" said Mrs. O'Donoghoe. "That enchanting suite of rooms -next the garden has been bespoken during the last three weeks, by some -person whose name is quite unguessable! The landlady says that Mr. -Crawford has made her solemnly promise never to divulge it! Now! there -is something worth knowing!--a dark unfathomable mystery in a place -like this, is perfectly inestimable!" - -"I undertake to solve it in twenty-four hours!" exclaimed Sir Patrick, -with animation. "When there is a real undeniable secret to be ferreted -out, I am wider awake than most people! I can do everything but what is -impossible! If I fail, then, as the lawyer once pathetically exclaimed, -'may my head forget the wig that covers it!' What will you bet that I -succeed? Here is my betting-book to register our agreement; I never -stir without it!" - -"I have no turn for betting my head off my shoulders; but you shall -have the Pigot diamond for your trouble!" replied Mrs. O'Donoghoe. "I -have been busy about it for three weeks in vain, going about -investigating, with my glass at my eye, like Paul Pry, but the maids -pretend to know nothing, and the landlady looks bursting with -mysterious importance whenever she speaks of her coming guests!" - -"Then I am twice a man when there is anything to be found out!" -continued Sir Patrick. "If I had lived in the days of the Iron mask, -that affair would have been probed to the bottom, and laid open. I have -quite a genius for unravelling mysteries!" - -"If so, I allow you three days for scrutinizing the expected _incognito_, -after which, do you promise and engage to furnish me with their numbers, -names, professions, ages, fortunes----" - -"And expectations! certainly! Also to disclose why they came here, and -when they go away. Mrs. O'Donoghoe, I delight in difficulties, and -glory in conquering them! I abhor everything easy! Even if you were -easily pleased, I should have less pleasure in fascinating you." - -At this moment, a plain travelling carriage suddenly swept round the -road leading towards the Granby, while in the clear moonlight it could -only be discerned that two footmen sat behind, and two lady's maids -were mounted on the dickey; but before the rush of gentlemen towards -the lobby, which usually takes place on such occasions, could be -successfully achieved, the chariot stopped at a garden-gate beyond the -usual entrance, while in the dusky obscurity the most penetrating eye -could not discover who or what alighted. A torrent of waiters streamed -along the passages, a noisy outcry was heard summoning the landlady, -every bell in the house seemed ringing simultaneously, and Captain De -Crespigny was surprised to observe the dark, stern-looking stranger -standing near the door, as if he belonged to the party, and yet did not -wish to be seen. - -A procession of four wax candles, and a tea tray proceeding afterwards -towards the newly occupied sitting-room, was all that the most -enterprising observers could discover; and as there were but three -cups, and Mr. Crawford was known to have joined the party, it became -very plausibly conjectured by Sir Patrick that there were but two new -arrivals. - -The supper-bell had been rung that evening about ten minutes, and a -numerous bevy of gentlemen collected round it, varied by a scanty -sprinkling of ladies. The table was covered with wine glasses and -crystal decanters enough to fill a glass shop, with not a drop of -anything visible to drink, except cold spring water; each gentleman had -half a pigeon on his plate, and each lady a glass of jelly before her. -The uproar of waiters, plates, and tongues, and glasses had subsided, -and the conversation was at so low an ebb, that there seemed every -probability of the whole party being found asleep in their chairs next -morning, when suddenly their attention was roused by the door being -hurriedly opened by the _soi-disant_ gentleman entering, who had -already excited the notice of Captain De Crespigny. - -Besides the eager curiosity felt in every small community, to see every -one recently added to their number, this was a gentleman whom few of -the company had seen before, and such a gentleman as is seldom seen -anywhere. His dark hair hung in wild profusion over his head. There was -an extraordinary wildness, almost amounting to ferocity, in his eyes, -which had the restless glare of a wild beast's, as he quickly glanced -round the table, while his pale haggard features, and the strong -compression of his upper lip, gave him an air of irritable melancholy, -along with a look of flustered, anxious suspicion quite unaccountable. -He seemed annoyed at having attracted any observation, while, if -Banquo's ghost had appeared, the apparition could scarcely have -awakened more attention, as the party had little to do, and nothing -else to think of. - -"One would fancy a kangaroo had come in to supper!" muttered he, -angrily, glancing round with a look of scorching hatred at Captain De -Crespigny, and drawing his chair near Mrs. O'Donoghoe, who was almost -the only lady still remaining. He then cut himself a supply of cold -veal, that might have dined a couple of grouse-shooters, with ham in -proportion, not at all carved on the Vauxhall pattern, and glancing at -all the observant eyes around the table, he added, endeavoring to look -in a more amiable mood, while a most unpleasing attempt at a smile for -a moment disturbed his features; "I see, gentlemen, you are somewhat -amazed at my powers of mastication! I am not Dando; but let me tell you -I could finish all we see, and pick the bones of that turkey besides. -What man in his senses would profess to be hungry, and sit down to half -a pigeon! You seem to be quite a Temperance Society here! Fifteen jugs -of water in regimental order round the table! The waiters must have -bottled off the Thames!" - -A suppressed whisper ran round the table, circulating many wondering -conjectures who the stranger could possibly be, for there appeared a -vehemence in his tone, and an irritability in his eye most repulsive -and peculiar. - -"That man looks as if he had stepped forth ready made, from one of Mrs. -Radcliffe's romances," exclaimed Mrs. O'Donoghoe, in an apprehensive -tone, as she strolled away from the table. "Who can he be?" - -"One of the swell mob! I remember his picking my pocket in Bond Street, -last spring," replied Captain De Crespigny, confidentially. "Did you -not observe his bunch of skeleton keys." - -"You are quite mistaken," interposed Sir Patrick. "He is one of the -garden-room party. I saw him waiting for them in the passage; people of -prodigious fortune I assure you! Their names are--no matter what! but -they have estates in--I don't know how many counties!" - -"He has rather an aristocratic look!" added Mrs. O'Donoghoe. "The sort -of arbitrary air, as if he were accustomed to command a regiment!" - -"More like an unengaged actor from one of the minor theatres, or a -travelling dancing master. They are very well got up sometimes, and he -is exactly according to the last 'gentleman's fashions for the month,'" -said Captain De Crespigny. "But certainly in some shape or other, a -strolling gentleman-beggar; probably, like the dustman's dog, he -answers to any name." - -"Perhaps," added Sir Patrick, laughing, "one of those innumerable -lecturers on astronomy, who are constantly tormenting me with -prospectuses. If any man whatever is in distress, he puts on a decent -coat, and announces a popular course of lectures, in which he makes the -comets ten times hotter than ever, and the stars as many millions of -miles distant as he pleases, shows plenty of diagrams, talks big about -Sir Isaac Newton, gives a dissertation on the political economy of the -moon; tells a few anecdotes, hazards a few conjectures, doubts what -everybody believes, or believes what everybody doubts, and his bread is -baked. I mean to try the plan myself some day!" - -"Depend upon it, he is a peer of the realm," added Mrs. O'Donoghoe, -more imperatively than before. "I heard that Lord Wakefield was -expected to-day. His sister, Lady Jane, whom I saw once at a -Spitalfields ball, was thin, with dark hair, exactly in that style." - -"I have no doubt he is an Earl one day, and a Duke the next, as it -happens to suit his fancy; and if you look well at him, Mrs. -O'Donoghoe, he has a coronet tattooed on his forehead," whispered -Captain De Crespigny. "That is the very last new fashion for peers." - -"Coronets are falling into great disuse now; so I am glad they are to -be displayed any where," replied Agnes. "Lady Towercliffe's eldest son, -Lord St. Abbe, used to have one embroidered on his pinafore; but the -coronet on Lord Doncaster's chariot now is almost invisible, and not -larger than you would use for the seal of a note." - -"I know whose taste ought to be paramount in ordering the next carriage -bearing the Doncaster arms," whispered Captain De Crespigny, throwing a -world of arch expression into his countenance. "How exceedingly well -our shield would look quartered with the lion rampant, and the eight -roses of the Dunbars!" - -Agnes did not, as she would have done formerly, on hearing so broad an -insinuation, look down and blush, or attempt to blush; but she fixed a -long and searching look on Captain De Crespigny, during which her large -lustrous eyes betrayed an inward struggle between the interest with -which she would once have gathered up every expression of her voice, -and the lurking angry suspicion she now felt of his sincerity; but her -confidence was in some degree restored, when, keeping up a lively -dialogue till the last moment, he assumed his most becoming looks, and -escorted her to the door. - -"Pray, Miss Dunbar," said he gravely, "will you give me a very serious -answer to a very serious question?" - -"Perhaps I may," replied Agnes, looking rather startled. - -"Then, whether do you think ladies or gentlemen are the greatest -humbugs?" - -"Gentlemen, certainly; for they often pretend to feel what they do not, -but ladies conceal what they do." - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIII. - - -Marion and Sir Arthur were engaged next morning to meet the Granvilles -at breakfast in the private parlor of Mrs. Crawford, and they had -advanced considerably in the consumption of their muffin and first cup -of tea, when a very plainly dressed young lady glided into the room -with a timid, agitated step, and giving a slight nod to the party, -silently seated herself beside Marion, who, in compassion to her -apparent shyness, averted her eyes. She seemed recently recovered from -an illness, being thin and emaciated to excess, while it appeared as if -her hair had been entirely shaved off, as she wore a cap fitting close -to her face, and neither curl nor braid to vary the almost spectral -whiteness of her whole aspect. Marion ventured a second glance at the -interesting invalid, and observed a smile quivering about her mouth, -which she seemed vainly endeavoring to suppress, and a sly glance -towards herself, which enlightened her in a moment, for, with an -exclamation of joy, she sprang from her seat and was instantly -embraced, with laughing delight, by her old friend Caroline, whom she -had lately learned to know as Miss Howard, the heiress of countless -thousands,--not the more, nor the less dear to her on that account, but -still the beloved companion of all her early frolics and school -enjoyments. - -"I wished to try your powers of recognition, and Sir Arthur's," said -Caroline, with tears of laughing and almost hysterical joy. "I am -changed--greatly changed, so that my best friends could scarcely -recognise me, and if my enemies were also deceived it would be well. -Dear Marion! I am still pursued and persecuted by that wretched madman, -the terror of our school days, the horror of all my subsequent life! My -aunt finds her nerves so shattered with the whole affair, that our kind -friends here have undertaken me for a week or two, and it is thought -that, amidst the crowd collected at Harrowgate, I may be in comparative -safety. My life has been rendered almost a burden to me in the country, -where not a corner of the earth seemed safe from that wretched -creature's intrusions, and it is thought that he must bribe some of our -servants to betray all my plans; yet, among them all, I scarcely know -whom to suspect or whom to trust! Remember, dear Marion, that here I am -to be treated as some humble cousin of Mr. Crawford's, and on no -account let your brother, or a living soul in the house, suspect that -you ever saw me before. Agnes also must keep my secret, and Mrs. -O'Donoghoe, who has heard nothing of my real history, agrees to be my -_chaperon_." - -"Then you should adopt her name, for Patrick always calls the widow, -'Mrs. I-don't-know-who.'" - -The most agreeable conversations are those of which there is generally -least to be repeated, and that which followed round the cheerful -breakfast-table at Mr. Crawford's, was carried tranquilly on, in a -pleasing animated tone, on subjects of immediate interest as well as of -permanent importance, showing, in the most prepossessing colors, -characters, and feelings, inspired by the finest impulses which adorn -the heart and mind of a Christian. Amidst the enlightened discussions -and unreserved vivacity of a conversation, displaying the ease and -fascination of high life, without its flippancy, frivolity, and -pretension, those who have lived to discover that what is called the -gay world, is sometimes but a dull world after all, might there have -learned for what important purposes the power of speech and the power -of thought have been given, if rightly used and enjoyed. There was the -joyous relaxation of happy hearts and well-ordered minds, without the -effervescence of empty affectation, or the flash of bewildering -excitement, which Marion had lately been accustomed to find among those -who seemed little better employed than Domitian of old, in catching -flies, and who prefer living upon exaggerated trifles, to enjoying that -calm, rational and intellectual intercourse which is registered in the -heart for ever. - -With feelings of deep and animated pleasure, Marion gathered from Mr. -Granville a rich harvest of sound opinions, amiable sentiments, and -original ideas, while, with the free-masonry of real attachment, many a -sentence, which seemed addressed by him to the whole company, attained -its full meaning only in her heart. Richard was very seldom, as Agnes -expressed it, "tuned up to nonsense pitch." He wasted none of his hours -on the mere flummeries of conversation, but the frequent sparkling of -his wit shone the brighter for its occasional gravity; and never had -Marion seen him in a more buoyant and happy frame than now, when -developing the thoughts and affections of a mind and heart cultivated -to the highest tone of refinement, fortified by the strongest -principles of religion, and imbued with a supreme regard for all that -is noble, generous, or graceful in the conduct and characters. - -To Sir Arthur, the social circle imparted feelings of inestimable -happiness. He had long considered human life as having nothing left for -him now, but the one great opportunity to prepare for eternity, not to -be trifled away in its smallest details; and he had remarked to Marion -the evening before, after spending an hour in the public saloon, "I -tire more of that Vanity Fair in the next room, than I would of -breaking stones on the road! I should become an idiot before long, if I -lived the sort of butterfly-life they do here, in a whirl of exhausting -and frivolous amusement." - -The respectful deference paid by Mr. Granville to his age, his -infirmities, and his high character, was in itself most gratifying to -Sir Arthur; but more than all, he now saw his beloved Marion, -surrounded by those who loved and valued her, the happiest of the -happy. Inspired by the desire of pleasing, and unchecked by any fear of -being misunderstood or misrepresented, there was now a spirit and -originality in her expressions, and a native eloquence in what she -said, enlivened and assisted by a sunlight brilliancy sparkling in her -eyes, and beaming in her whole countenance, which was beautiful to -behold, while her partial and affectionate uncle thought there was -poetry in her look, and music in every tone of her voice. - -Their discussions diverged after a time to the scenery and remarkable -places around Harrowgate, while Mr. Granville, deeply read in -antiquity, described with picturesque and most felicitous effect, all -that seemed best worth visiting in the neighborhood, enlivening his -animated sketches with many amusing remarks and original anecdotes, and -giving to everything he treated upon, some new and unexpected interest, -while Mr. Crawford varied the subject by an entertaining comparison of -what he had seen and known abroad, particularly as connected with the -Roman Catholics of Italy and France. - -The convent which existed near Harrowgate having come under -consideration, Mr. Crawford described at great length what he had seen -there during a visit which he had paid to it many years before, and -recounted several almost traditionary anecdotes of former times, in -which the names of Lord Doncaster and the Abbe Mordaunt, became almost -insensibly blended, very much to their discredit, while Marion -reflected with wonder and regret that such men were frequently now the -chosen attendants of her own young and beautiful sister. There was -degradation even in their looks, and still more in their conversation; -but she hoped, trusted, and believed that the Abbe's influence would be -terminated when Agnes discovered that his attentions were not really -likely to influence those of Captain De Crespigny. - -Mr. Crawford mentioned with peculiar and melancholy interest the very -beautiful niece of the Abbe Mordaunt, whom it was evident that he had -intimately known, and very greatly admired, while he awakened the -keenest interest in Marion and Miss Howard, by alluding to an abortive -attempt he had made at Beaujolie Castle, to take a last leave of Miss -Mordaunt, after she had been beguiled into forsaking the faith of her -fathers, and was supposed to be on the point of retiring within the -walls of a convent. - -Marion could not but smile at the description given by Mr. Crawford, of -his first and last visit to Lord Doncaster, when he had called at -Beaujolie Castle sixteen years before, at which time the aged peer, -though leading a life of retirement, made it by no means a life of -solitude, as the vices of his early years enslaved him then as they -enslaved him still, and the libertine of fifty years then, was a -libertine now, when tottering on the brink of death. It became evident -that the proprietor of Beaujolie Castle, though a great lord, was by no -means in any respect a great man, being penurious in everything except -the indulgence of his own vices and superstition. - -"It makes me shiver yet," said Mr. Crawford, "to remember the large -cold hall, paved with a curious mosaic of black and white marble, and -the chilling, uninhabited room into which I was first ushered. Your -uncle, Lord Doncaster, Miss Howard, never at that time associated with -any living individual of his own rank in life. Those who do not -cultivate good society, are always in bad; and it was supposed that he -had strong reasons against admitting any one to his residence. The -drawing-room was like a lantern with windows on every side, the floor -so polished that it might have taken fire from the perpetual friction, -and a scanty Turkish carpet served but to cover half the slippery -floor." - -"I always wish, in such a room, to be rough-shod," said Sir Arthur, "or -to wear skates." - -"You will remember, Miss Howard, that no foot was ever allowed by your -uncle to tread on its icy surface," continued Mr. Crawford, smiling. -"But pathways of green baize were laid along the floor in every -possible direction, where it could be supposed that any reasonable -person might desire to walk. A broad line stretched from the door to -the fire-place, and tributary streams of baize branched off towards the -sofa in one direction, and the writing-table in another, while directly -leading towards an invisible door in the book-case, was a still -narrower stripe, which it required some skill to keep upon rigidly." - -"Were no sign-posts raised to point out the proper direction for -travellers?" asked Marion. "Nor threats of prosecution held up in case -of a trespass?" - -"No! but I certainly did commit one unawares, for while examining the -invisible door, it accidentally flew open, when a lady whom I could not -distinctly see, hastily concealed herself, and beside her stood, -without exception, the most beautiful boy I ever beheld, bright and -radiant like a cherub. When I called him forward, he laughingly -disappeared, and no sooner did I leave that room, than the door was -hastily locked inside." - -"It sounds like the prettiest romance imaginable!" exclaimed Marion, -eagerly. "In that old house, and among so many ancient portraits, what -could be more picturesque?" - -"A poor relation of Lord Doncaster was at this time the talk of all -Yorkshire for her beauty," added Mr. Crawford. "Young De Crespigny, -then almost a boy, had come home, I remember hearing, and admired her -only too much; but whether she married, or what became of her, perhaps -you will tell me, Miss Howard, as I never heard?" - -"Then you are not informed of all that has occurred in the world during -your natural life, though you seem very nearly so!" replied Caroline. -"Whenever I hear a story told, I like to put a hat on its head, a stick -in its hand, and to send it travelling rapidly round the world; but the -mystery relating to Mary Anstruther was, like that of poor Miss -Mordaunt, and of others in the same house, carefully hushed up, and my -uncle's family soon after moved to Scotland. Louis De Crespigny was, -even then, I am told, formed to gain and to keep the heart of any girl, -with a perfect consciousness of his own powers, and very little scruple -in using them!" - -"He still has a very deep sense of his own supernatural merits," -observed Marion, "and finds many admirers to agree with him, though I -think his uncle must have been still handsomer once. The features of -both are very peculiar!" - -"I often think," said Caroline, coloring and hesitating, "that Sir -Arthur's young friend, Henry De Lancey, looks as if the whole family of -Doncaster had been distilled into one. He has the hair dark as -midnight, for which my uncle was so celebrated; that remarkable -drooping eyelid, too, as if his eye-lashes were too heavy to be lifted -with ease, and the magnificent outline of his profile." - -"You are right," exclaimed Sir Arthur, in a deep, low, musing tone. -"The madman, Howard or Anstruther, who acted so long as my clerk, and -still persecutes you, once hinted something of the kind, in an -unguarded moment. I have been ever since on the watch to strengthen the -clue, but in vain. If I could but live to see that mystery solved!" - -"You shall!" said Caroline playfully. "What should hinder you? I must -make it my business now, to ferret out more respecting the story of -that Miss Mordaunt, which has faded into oblivion, like the thousand -other wonders of the past. - - Of course, she lived until she died; but where, - Or when, I never heard; nor you nor I need care." - -"But I do care," said Sir Arthur, earnestly. "It seems to me, as if -there were here some scattered links of the chain by which we might -discover Henry's origin. Truth has been too long already at the bottom -of a well; but we must invent some diving-bell to bring her up! It -would give me satisfaction, whatever his connexions are, to identify -them!" - -"May he live to wonder at his own good fortune!" said Caroline, gaily. -"People must exist twenty years in the world, as I have done, before -they can find out what a strange place it is, and what extraordinary -changes occur here sometimes." - -Pleasure has a time-piece of its own, which certainly does not adhere -to the ordinary measure, for hours and minutes most perversely run on, -always fastest when it would be most agreeable that their course should -be delayed. Marion seemed to awaken from a dream of enjoyment, when Sir -Arthur struck his repeater at last, and found he had remained till -nearly the hour of luncheon; but, before the party dispersed, they -agreed to meet often with closed doors, in the same sociable way; and, -exchanging a thousand pleasing plans and anticipations of coming -enjoyment together during the following few weeks, they then separated. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIV. - - -High Harrowgate, where the more aristocratic strangers and invalids -annually resort, is nearly two miles distant from the mineral well, and -from Low Harrowgate, which is infested by the more inveterate class of -water drinkers. Placed far from the offensive odour of the medicated -spring, on an elevated common, which still remains bare in all the -uncultivated barrenness of nature, the broad green expanse is -surrounded on every side by a wreath of miscellaneous buildings of -every size and shape, cottages, shops, lodgings, houses, villas, and -hotels, all marshalled in a row, and, like guests at the ordinary, -mingled without order or distinction; while, elevated above all, and -conspicuous for its whitewashed front and innumerable windows, stood -the extensive building in which Sir Arthur had his sleeping apartments. -Its aspect was extremely ancient, with a venerable stone roof peculiar -to old times, and testifying to its great antiquity; while the more -modern slates, or even thatch, on the surrounding dwellings, indicated -a recent construction. - -At High Harrowgate, a crowd of large consequential-looking hotels may -be observed on every side, all unusually extensive in their -accommodation, and apparently of nearly equal calibre; but visitors, -after residing there some time, become aware that to those who -prescribe gaiety, as well as more salubrious air and water for -themselves, there are but three hotels in Harrowgate. Invalids may be -ill anywhere, and personages who wish to be exceedingly exclusive -retreat into private lodgings; but for anything that can be dignified -with the name of society at an ordinary, the Granby, the Crown, and the -Dragon, have by mutual agreement, established a singular monopoly, -giving balls every alternate night, to which the guests in each house -are reciprocally invited; the ladies and gentlemen of the Granby and -Crown requesting the honor of being patronized at a ball on the -following night; and each hotel provides a carriage for the -transportation of its own party, in case any of the distinguished -guests should happen by chance not to have brought their private -carriages. Meantime, it is rather arbitrarily taken for granted, that -there are neither ladies nor gentlemen at Gascognes, Queen's, the White -Swan, or the Black; but residents at these houses are allowed to appear -on sufferance, though not as invited guests; being merely "winked at." - -At a Harrowgate dinner the travellers take precedence more according to -the length of their bills than by any other criterion, those who have -resided a month in the hotel going before those who have resided only a -week, and the visitors of a week being far in advance of all who -arrived the day before. A Peer of the realm must sit below his tailor, -if he arrived at the house after him, and no dispute about places can -arise, as each individual's name is accurately ascertained in the -morning, and a plate turned upside down on the table opposite where he -is intended to sit, with his name distinctly written in ink on the -china. A label is also attached to each bottle of wine, exhibiting, not -the name of the wine, but the name of its owner, and half an hour -before dinner, all the gossiping world at each inn, may be observed -slowly pacing round the table, and carefully reading the name, style, -and title of those with whom they are about to dine, illustrating their -remarks by exchanging biographical anecdotes and remembrances connected -with each successive person, as he comes under discussion. Thus, though -many arrive at Harrowgate strangers whose "names were never heard," -yet, after passing through the ordeal of this gossiping committee, -stories and circumstances are gradually discovered or invented, by -which each individual is in some degree identified. - -Between High and Low Harrowgate, besides a broad, circuitous high-road, -two pleasant rural paths lead through the fields, on which a -gaily-dressed crowd may be seen from peep of day in the morning, -hurrying along in rapid succession to the well, with looks of -anticipated disgust in the prospect of that strange compound of horrors -which they are about to swallow, only comparable to the washings of an -old gun-barrel. As Sir Arthur remarked, these waters seemed to have -been invented for the especial affliction of elderly gentlemen, -processions of whom might be observed drinking tuns of water, in order -that complexions evidently much the worse of wear might in the process -of renovation, be mended, cleaned, dyed, and repaired, till they looked -as good as new; and though the Admiral complained that, to his -uncomfortable feelings, it always seemed as if he had swallowed the -tumbler itself, yet he valiantly persevered in daily drinking bumpers -to his own health, saying that what was good for so many others, would -be good for his complaint, if he had one, though, except old age and -blindness, he was conscious of none. - -In consequence of Sir Patrick's bet with Mrs. O'Donoghoe, he was on the -alert at an early hour before breakfast the next morning, to ascertain -who the incognitos were in the garden room. For nearly an hour he -sauntered on the common within sight of the Granby, exchanging gay -observations with those who passed, listening with a satirical smile to -Lord Wigton, who was practising to desperation some of Rossini's airs -at an open window, and watching with astonishment the repulsive -stranger of the preceding evening, who, closely buttoned up in a -military surtout, with his hat slouched over his face, was rapidly -pacing up and down, with ceaseless perseverance, close to the garden -room, with his eye fixed upon the windows and doors, making apparently -so accurate a survey of those private apartments, that had it been by -night instead of by day, he might almost have been arrested on -suspicion of intending to attempt a burglarious entrance. - -Not a mouse seemed stirring within these rooms, the blinds were all -drawn down, and the doors all closed, but still the stranger paced -rapidly up and down, casting many impatient, irritable glances upwards -on the silent walls, yet keeping himself so concealed that no one, -looking suddenly out, could have perceived him lurking there. Sir -Patrick now, for the first time, suspected that he did not belong to -the party within, and became more and more interested in observing his -various eccentric movements, which betrayed a high state of excitement, -till at length, finding himself watched, with the quickness of -lightning he suddenly vanished round a projecting corner of the -building, though a few moments afterwards Sir Patrick perceived that he -was concealed in a thicket of trees not far off, where he could still -keep his eye fastened on the windows with unswerving steadiness. - -Parties, meantime, hurried onwards to Low Harrowgate to do duty at the -well, while some of the loungers had already returned, being full -charged with their quantum of water, and all very loudly expressing -their astonishment that Sir Patrick had not yet set forth to hear the -military band, which was reported to be playing "beautifully! -enchantingly! or detestably!" according to the humor of those who -spoke. - -The crowd was on this day so excessive, that the old well had been -completely exhausted, and alarming apprehensions were entertained by -the invalids, of a scarcity for the later visitors, but still Sir -Patrick stirred not! Though not usually endowed with excessive interest -in any affairs but his own, the movements of the mysterious stranger, -and his look of feverish anxiety, engrossed almost the whole of Sir -Patrick's thoughts, though, to avoid any appearance of espionage, he -kept up a lively dialogue with Mrs. O'Donoghoe and Captain De -Crespigny. - -Marion in the mean time had been exceedingly amused by the scene which -usually takes place at the well, where every face seemed as if laboring -under the nausea of sea-sickness, and she stood for some time with Sir -Arthur and Mr. Granville, laughingly studying physiognomy, as parties -arrived in rapid succession, threw off a tumbler of smoking horrors, -and instantly departed, while a row of shabbily-dressed women, standing -behind a stone counter, hurriedly filled the glasses, and handed them -over in a long wooden ladle, to the expectant invalids, one by one, who -were waiting patiently or impatiently for their turn. Each of the great -hotels had an emissary appointed here, whose business it was to attend -on their respective guests with the proper allowance of water, and it -seemed as if these old women knew by a sort of instinct those who -belonged to their own house; but an angry contest having taken place -respecting one gentleman, who was obliged to wait with resignation or -without it, till the belligerent parties had decided whose privilege it -was to kill or cure him, Marion's attention was more peculiarly -attracted to the spot, where one of the women who assisted in serving -out the general beverage had been hitherto screened from her notice. -Her face was excessively muffled up, but in the little that remained -visible, traces of beauty still remained, though her features were so -attuned to suffering, that Marion with wonder and pity contemplated so -pale and ghastly a form. At length a dim idea stole into her mind, that -surely she had seen that face before, but while the floating -remembrance yet continued to flicker indistinctly through her mind, the -wretched-looking woman, with a startled glance, had vanished. - -"Patrick!" whispered Marion, turning to take her brother's arm, "do -patronize me for one minute! Did you observe that melancholy-looking -woman at the well? I never saw so blighted a countenance! What can the -sorrows be that stamped such a look of ghastly woe upon these beautiful -features?" - -Marion looked up for a reply, and started to find that she had -inadvertently taken the arm of Captain De Crespigny, whose usual -vivacity and presence of mind seemed at this moment to have entirely -forsaken him. His eyes were straining after the receding figure of the -stranger, with an air of eager astonishment and alarm, while his -countenance had become white as death. In a moment, however, he -recovered himself, when Marion, with an exclamation of surprise, had -drawn away her hand, making a hurried apology for her mistake. - -"Did you not recognise her?" asked he, in accents of almost tremulous -agitation. "It could be no one else! Surely that must have -been--Dixon?" - -"It was!" exclaimed Marion, breathlessly. "How has she come here? what -can she want? where is Agnes?" - -"This must be inquired into!" muttered Captain De Crespigny, almost -inaudibly; and then resuming his usual careless vivacity of tone and -manner, he entreated Marion to let him benefit by the fortunate -resemblance of his dress to Sir Patrick's, and still continue to escort -her. "I envy Dunbar for the privilege whenever he enjoys it, for you -shun me like a rattle-snake," added he, in his most insinuating tone; -"yet I would not for worlds be your brother." - -"It is but a troublesome office," replied Marion, looking anxiously -round for Sir Arthur, who had walked on a few minutes before, leaning -on Mr. Granville, and most impatiently did she long for their return, -being always on the alert to shun Captain De Crespigny without -appearing to do so. Though, like all other persons, amused and -enlivened by his whimsical and diverting style of conversation, which -had more even in the manner than in the words, and though with any -friend of her brother's it pained her courteous nature to be otherwise -than frank and good humored, yet she made a principle of unobtrusively -evading his assiduities, not only because his conduct to Agnes had been -and still continued unpardonably dishonorable, but she felt indignant -to think that he was disposed to beguile his leisure by also -captivating and deluding herself. It was obvious that whenever she -entered the room, he became silent and embarrassed with every one else, -and took the first opportunity of devoting himself exclusively to her. -Not giving one shadow of belief to all his professions, when Marion was -obliged to listen, she did so with unconcealed indignation on finding -the same insinuations of attachment made to herself which had been -repeated to her formerly with triumphant credulity by Agnes. Marion -thoroughly despised his double dealing and ungenerous trifling, while -feeling nothing for him on that score but contempt, she could almost -have rejoiced that he wasted his efforts to be irresistible on one who, -being so fully aware of his character, could incur no danger from the -fascinations which had been fatal to the peace of many. Safe in the -consciousness of a hallowed attachment to Mr. Granville, and convinced -that Captain De Crespigny was incapable of a single genuine feeling, -she could scarcely have considered it necessary even to be repulsive in -her manner; but it seemed due to Agnes as much as possible to avoid -him, knowing that her sister had not yet been able entirely to divest -herself of a lingering belief that the professions which were false to -all others were sincere to herself. - -For the first time in his whole acquaintance with lady-kind, Captain De -Crespigny felt doubtful and diffident of his own fascinations, and for -the first time also he felt himself really and undeniably in love, as -the transparent single-hearted excellence of Marion's character seemed, -when compared with the hackneyed and artificial mind of her sister, and -all other girls, like the difference between a pure mountain breeze and -a London fog. The attachment he so often affected had now become -genuine, and the feelings he formerly invented for amusement, and -expressed with the utmost fluency, were now so real, that they could -scarcely be spoken at all; for language seemed to fail him when he -addressed Marion, and every day, as it increased his attachment, -diminished his hope. She had no vulgar love of admiration; and Captain -De Crespigny was mortified to perceive, that while the color mounted to -her cheek at the slightest evidence of affection from her uncle or -brother, all his own hints of a preference, all his fascinating -attentions and irresistible speeches, were listened to with the same -smiling good humor as if they had been devoted to a third person. -Marion always made some ready reply, without a _soupcon_ of -embarrassment, and seemed to take compliments, reproaches, love, or -despair, all as matters of course, which must inevitably be listened to -with the same indulgent consideration she would have bestowed on Lord -Doncaster's lamentations respecting his last attack of the gout. She -did not even pay him the compliment to drop a single stitch in her -knitting from agitation or from interest when he spoke to her; but all -his words passed away like arrows flitting through the air, which leave -not a trace behind. - -Captain De Crespigny became, this morning, more than usually assiduous -while they stood beside the well, referring to Marion's opinion on -every subject, quoting what he remembered her formerly to have said, -rejoicing in everything that seemed to give her pleasure, regretting -the most trifling annoyance that fell in her way, approving of all her -sentiments, and talking in raptures of old Sir Arthur, while eyes, -smiles, voice, and manner, all indicated the feelings he wished to -convey; but Marion merely congratulated herself, that having seen the -cards already, she knew the game he was playing. - -"Miss Dunbar!" said Captain De Crespigny, rushing eagerly forward to -pick up a flower which the wind had blown out of her bouquet, "may I -keep this rose?" - -"Certainly! any gentleman may take a flower; but I never give one. -There are twenty better in the garden." - -"I would give all the twenty for this one. This is more precious than -anything except the hand that gives it. Indeed this is the only rose in -the world I care for!" - -"The white moss-rose is more fragrant, and not so common," answered -Marion, indifferently. "That was beautiful an hour since, though rather -the worse of wear now." - -"I am so unalterable in my preferences, that even though withered and -decayed, still it would be precious to me, as connected with -recollections which I shall cherish till the world's end, and till the -end of time! Flowers speak a language which words cannot express; and -even if mine were to fade in an hour, let me enjoy it while I may. This -rose does not hoard all its sweetness, as you do!" - -"Captain De Crespigny, if your conversation has a fault in the world, -it is too plain, matter-of-fact, and unadorned," said Marion, with a -careless laugh. "You have wasted a whole summer of lilies and roses -upon me during the last five minutes, and I ought to answer you with a -perfect conservatory in return; but it sounds dreadfully like the -double-distilled essence of the Minerva press. I thought this very -flourishing style of compliment had been worn out now, and given over, -as old clothes are, to the race of abigails and valets. But here comes -my sister; and, to speak in your own fashion, remember '_je ne suis pus -la rose, mais j'ai vecu avec elle_.'" - -To Marion's astonishment, Agnes merely strolled past, with her eyes -earnestly fixed upon nothing, and did not interrupt her conversation -with Lord Doncaster and the Abbe Mordaunt, by whom she was escorted, -except to give a smiling nod to Captain De Crespigny, who seemed -exceedingly surprised at her indifferent "how-d'e-do" manner, and -excessively piqued at the carelessness she either felt or feigned, -saying, in a tone of satirical wonder: - -"The Abbe seems to have every probability of gaining a proselyte! He -has been very successful among the lower orders lately, though; I -believe, my uncle's ale and roast beef ought to receive great part of -the credit; but I cannot be sufficiently astonished at our new -convert!" - -"I must discuss this subject with my sister!" replied Marion, pleased -to observe Captain De Crespigny so much interested in Agnes. "It is -wrong to have delayed so long asking an explanation; but I could almost -more easily die for those I love, than distress them. My uncle would -care too much on the subject, and Patrick too little; therefore it must -devolve upon me to speak. We are to have a long drive, soon. Let me -consider! this is Tuesday--to-morrow will be Wednesday----" - -"How clever of you to find that out! You would certainly have -discovered the longitude!" - -"No doubt of that! I have discovered a great deal in my time; but in -the meanwhile I shall talk this over fully with Agnes to-morrow." - -"Do not speak of to-morrow, when to-day is the happiest, perhaps, in my -life! I wish there were no to-morrows! Such an hour as this appears to -me like an aloe, which can blossom only once in my existence." - -"You entertain very moderate expectations of life, therefore I think we -may confidently rely on your being agreeably surprised by many days as -pleasant." - -"Then they must be passed in the same society; but Miss Dunbar, it -always seems as if you would rather say 'Good bye' to me than 'How d'ye -do!' You treat me with the most barbarous injustice! Your heart never -teaches you to understand mine! Is it that you hate or despise me? You -are so amiable to others, so charming, so everything that I could -admire, yet to me your smiles are as cold and chilling as a moon-beam -on snow. Be severe, satirical, anything but half absent and altogether -indifferent, while you listen to me only with the ear and not at all -with the heart. I shall positively be obliged at last to give you up." - -"I wish you would! We might be the best of friends as well as cousins, -if you would only talk to me in an everyday manner, without rehearsing -over those absurd Romeo-and-Juliet speeches." - -"Let us, then, be friends now, and more than friends in time to come." - -"Never! O never! Patrick has led you to disbelieve my engagement to -another; but at all events, Captain De Crespigny, if we lived in -separate planets we could not be more entirely divided; and even in -jest, I cannot allow any one to talk as you do, though I know it is -merely an unconquerable habit you have of saying the same thing to -every young lady, indiscriminately." - -"What a shocking aspersion! you seem to think me incapable of a single -respectable feeling, but believe me, since first we met I have scarcely -known whether there be another girl in the world but yourself! Every -moment I can be with you adds something to the value of my existence." - -"Your civilities are all so complete a burlesque that I need never -forget they are in jest!" replied Marion, looking considerably bored, -and hurrying onwards, while Captain De Crespigny buried himself in -melancholy silence, and assumed a most perfect attitude of graceful -despair. Finding the pause rather awkward, she added, in an every day, -commonplace tone: "Are you going to hear Grisi to-night? I am told that -large sums are given for places on the heads of those who have already -secured seats!" - -"If I go to Grisi's concert, the temptation is--not to hear him--that -you know very well--too well! I have but one object in going anywhere, -and that is--to meet you. _Esperer aupres de vous vaut mieux que jouir -avec tout autre._ I must quarrel with that little shake of the head. -It is a libel on my sincerity! Miss Dunbar, your face is a perfect -printing press, and publishes all you think! I wish you possessed the -magic ring which enabled people to know exactly what was thought of -them! You are in my debt several months of devoted attachment! Little -do you guess how often and how deeply your slightest words are -pondered, remembered, repeated, and dwelt upon in my solitary hours, -nor how constantly I wish that the man in the moon, who employs his -leisure in knitting people together with invisible cords, would, for my -especial happiness, give us a few stitches." - -"It must be his fault that we have been kept so very long together this -morning. Where can my uncle be?" said Marion, impatiently. "You are -aware already, Captain De Crespigny, that I must receive all my -brother's friends with civility. In that respect his authority shall be -obeyed, as it is of no use quarreling with the wind, but if you -consider me indifferent, that is what I am and ought to be, therefore -think me so always." - -"That very indifference is distracting! Let me acknowledge, Miss -Dunbar, that I may have deceived others, but you I never even wished to -deceive; others I have flattered, but no one can flatter you, because -nothing can be said equal to what I think. I wish new words could be -invented to express the ardor of my sentiments! When we are together, -the present moment is everything! I have neither past nor future, -neither hopes nor fears, but what are connected with you," said Captain -De Crespigny, with hurried impetuosity, while a rush of mingled feeling -swept across his features. "I forget everything else when you are -present, and neither know nor care where I go in your absence. I love -you as I never loved before and never can again. The world, in short, -has only two divisions, in my estimation--where you are, and where you -are not. Despise my attachment if you will, but at least believe in -it." - -"You grieve me to the very heart," said Marion, in a low, tremulous -voice, for there was an irresistible air of truth in Captain De -Crespigny's manner which startled and shocked her. "I never for a -single moment could imagine you serious about anything! Life and even -its most sacred affections seem all in your estimation a mere jest, to -be thought of and forgotten with a smile. I trust it is so now! I would -not for worlds believe you in earnest! You seem really to have parted -with your senses!" - -"Or rather I found them from the moment I learned to appreciate you! -Did you never hear, Miss Dunbar, that in this world two individuals are -always created suitable to each other, who must both be miserable -unless they become one, and you exactly fill up the beau ideal which -has haunted me from the hour I left Eton." - -"Why? De Crespigny!" exclaimed Sir Patrick, coming forward, "with that -melo-dramatic air, you seem to be rehearsing a last speech and -confession." - -"Or rather my first speech and confession," replied he, with a -conscious laugh. "And Miss Dunbar, I must entreat you not to -believe----" - -What Captain De Crespigny entreated her not to believe Marion did not -wait to hear, as they had at last reached the Granby, and she rushed up -to her own room, while he, as much astonished at his reception as a -gentleman could well be, strolled slowly away singing to himself with -angry asperity, - - "If she love me, this believe, - I will die ere she shall grieve; - If she slight me when I woo, - I can scorn and let her go." - - - - -CHAPTER XXXV. - - -Marion had frequently sketched in her own mind a faint outline of what -she should say to Agnes on the subject of her unaccountable intimacy -with Lord Doncaster, who seemed to delight in making a parade of her -preference for his society, especially in the presence of his nephew; -but when Marion found herself at length alone one day with her sister, -she felt her heart sink with apprehension, yet, being resolved to -conquer nature, and do her duty, if possible, she approached the table -where Agnes was seated. A large, foreign-looking book, with gold -clasps, lay conspicuously before her, which Marion discovered at once -to be a missal, bound in antique boards of beautifully inlaid wood, -with massy gilt ornaments, and illuminated by designs in the style of -Albert Durer. - -To hide her confusion, and begin the subject with advantage, Marion -placed her hand on the shoulder of Agnes for some moments, and leaned -forward, examining those splendid paintings, the singular beauty of -which she admired, while expressing considerable amazement at the -strange, distorted designs on the border, where animals with five heads -and their faces all nose, were varied with fish mounted on legs, and -birds exhibiting human countenances. - -"These eccentric creatures resemble the figures in some horrible -dream!" observed Marion; "but they are not a greater distortion from -the truth of nature, than the Popish superstitions which they -illustrate are from the truth of revelation. Nothing seems left in -either, of the perfect symmetry with which all things come from a -Divine Creator." - -"I am no controversialist," said Agnes, indifferently. "I take matters -as I find them." - -"That is not the safest of all plans, unless you are very careful from -whom your ideas are received. I have heard that there are writers in -the Roman Catholic Church, such as Massillon, Pascal, and Fenelon, who -were nearly as pure in Christian doctrine as ourselves, resting their -hope on no merits except those of our Divine Saviour; but I should -think, for instance, that no Protestant could gain anything from -associating with such a man as the Abbe Mordaunt, who would disgrace -any church. Dear Agnes, allow me for this once the privilege of a -sister; not merely to love you with my whole heart, as I always do, but -also to prove my affection by saying for your sake what is most painful -to me, and may probably be annoying to you. It is with the greatest -anxiety and surprise that I have lately been watching you----" - -"Watching me!" exclaimed Agnes, starting round with angry asperity, and -fixing her flashing eyes on Marion. "What right have you--or what right -has any living being to watch me?" - -"The right of affection and kindness," replied Marion, with emotion, -while a large tear glittered in her deep blue eyes. "We are motherless -girls, Agnes, and therefore we owe each other the greater solicitude. -There are many eyes upon you, less friendly, I fear, than those of a -sister. If others were not placing a sinister construction on all they -see, I might not perhaps have ventured to begin the subject; but as it -is, I have no choice except to discuss it with either Patrick or -yourself. Our kind uncle must not be agitated, on any consideration; -otherwise I have sometimes thought of asking him to take us at once -away from this place." - -"And pray, what has your mean 'watching' of my conduct,--your police -investigation, discovered, which might render so desperate a measure -necessary?" asked Agnes, with a flickering color in her cheek, and in a -bitter tone of suppressed anger. "Wisdom will die with you, Marion! I -ought to be duly sensible of my good fortune, in having such a sister! -Perhaps you intend obligingly to favor me with a few hints for the -regulation of my conduct,--to honor me with a little of that valuable -advice which I have not been sufficiently alert in asking." - -"Agnes! I know myself to be in a most unsuitable position, when -criticising anything in your conduct; but if I had died, and returned -from another world with permission to speak, I could not be more -entirely free from any personal motive. If I give pain to you, I give -greater pain to myself; but every one combines in saying, that this old -Roman Catholic peer, and his Abbe, are most profligate men; that they -scarcely deserve to be well received by ladies of character; that the -very glance of their eye is contamination, and that you alone, of all -the ladies in this house, are singled out to be, not distinguished, but -insulted by their attentions. Surely, Agnes, it is time for me to -speak. Our reputation is all we have on earth--more precious to any -woman than the wealth of the world, and more precious, if possible, to -us, than to others, because we have no other dependence. Patrick is -every day on the brink of ruin, and must leave us before long. Our -uncle--but I cannot speak of that--when he is gone, we shall be alone -indeed." - -"When that day comes, I shall be as sorry as yourself; but there is -nothing to fear at present. Captain De Crespigny says, all old uncles -or aunts who wish to be lamented by their young nieces, should die in -the midst of a gay season, to interrupt the parties and balls; but -good, worthy Sir Arthur is more considerate than to incommode any one. -When we do lose the Admiral, however, be under no apprehension of my -remaining alone! I have made up my great mind upon that subject, and -you will see that circumstances do not always continue the same." - -"Nor people either, Agnes! I have long feared that you trust too -implicitly in the constancy of Captain De Crespigny." - -"Trust! Do you suppose that I any longer trust him!" exclaimed -Agnes--her color rising, and her large eyes glittering with a strange -expression of indignant contempt. "No, Marion! He has been represented -to me now, as he is, a heartless, vain, unfeeling coquette. All men are -monsters, but he is the worst! I can be revenged, however! Even he, -cold and indifferent as he is, shall repent! I shall blight his hopes, -as he has blighted mine. I shall cross his views, humble and disappoint -him. To inflict on him all that he has so wantonly and cruelly -inflicted on me; to destroy his insolent triumph, and bring down the -pride of his success, I would--yes, Marion, I would, and I shall -sacrifice the happiness of my whole life!" - -"Dear Agnes! do not say so! Do not even think so for a moment! What can -you mean! Revenge would be a wretched satisfaction, at best! If he has -treated you ill----" - -"If he has!" interrupted Agnes, with startling vehemence. "Marion! the -Abbe thinks he could never have married me, even had he wished it. That -Captain De Crespigny became entangled, from the time he was a boy, in -one of those horrid Scotch affairs, half a marriage, or a whole one, -just as he pleases, and Lord Doncaster told me one day in -confidence----" - -"In confidence, Agnes! What confidence should ever exist between you -and such a man as Lord Doncaster? an old _roue_! You ought to despise -and avoid him!" - -"I am apt to think you are quite mistaken," replied Agnes, with a -sudden assumption of haughtiness, while she shot an angry glance at -Marion. "The last Lord Doncaster but ten, may have been a _roue_, or -what you please, but I know nothing, and will hear nothing against the -present." - -"That is the very point on which I must speak!" answered Marion, -hurriedly, her features working with agitation, while the blood rushed -back to her heart. "In a case like this, where love or marriage are -completely out of the question, our friends are all astonished that -you, Agnes, who make no secret of liking admiration, should waste so -much time in deep conversation with that really disreputable old Peer. -Believe me, it gives rise to much animadversion, and even calumny, -especially when connected with that new ornament you wear; and I begin -seriously to fear you may be persuaded into taking the veil." - -"Only a bridal veil," replied Agnes, arranging her ringlets. "I am not -quite so mad as you think. I certainly have adopted this badge! At Rome -I shall do as Rome does. Now, Marion, as young Rapid says in the -comedy, 'I shall take it a personal favor if you will not faint;' but -the Romish faith suits me best, and I consider it religion in full -dress, instead of religion in deshabille. I admire the almost -theatrical magnificence of its ritual; the splendid processions, the -consecrated dresses, the superb music, the dazzling lights, the clouds -of burning incense, the romantic convents, and the magnificent -cathedrals." - -Marion looked aghast with consternation and sorrow, while she listened -in silence; but at length, in a tone of subdued and mournful -indignation, she replied, "Is this, then, possible! that without one -serious thought, you would forsake our holy faith, for a mere external -mockery of religion! a solemn pantomime? Attracted by rosaries, -crucifixes, tinkling bells, and empty symbols, you would forget the -lessons of our childhood, the church in which we worshipped with our -father, the Bible which he taught us to revere. Surely, Agnes, you will -consult a clergyman of our own persuasion, before taking rashly the -most important step which a mortal can possibly contemplate,--which our -parents would rather you had never been born, than that you took." - -"Excuse me, for interrupting your sermon. It is against all rule, but -it may save you a great deal of trouble," said Agnes, arranging her -rings, and re-tying her bouquet; "my sole intention is to be of a -similar religion to the man I marry." - -"Do _you_ still expect," said Marion, with a look of surprise, "to be -Mrs. De Crespigny?" - -"Or Marchioness of Doncaster!" - -"Yes, in due course of time, when Captain De Crespigny succeeds!" - -"He never shall succeed," replied Agnes, setting her teeth, and -speaking with stern determination, while her face became rigid as -stone. "Captain De Crespigny has deceived me, cheated me of my youth, -hopes, and happiness. I have been fooled, trifled with, basely -ill-treated. My heart is seared against any real attachment to another; -but I shall be amply revenged on him. I shall destroy his happiness, as -he has destroyed mine. Without his long-expected wealth and title, he -will find that the butterfly is but a grub.--I mean to marry his -uncle!----" - -A dead silence followed these words. Marion made no exclamation, and -did not even look at Agnes, but buried her face in her hands, with a -feeling of unutterable shame and consternation. The very idea had never -before occurred to her imagination, that her young and blooming sister -could contemplate so degrading a sacrifice; but when, at length, she -looked up, there was something in the proud, stern expression of that -beautiful countenance, which forced upon her the unwelcome and -extraordinary conviction that all had been said in earnest. - -"Agnes!" cried she, gasping with astonishment; "that dissipated, -horrid, dreadful man! Impossible! The miserable wreck of an ill-spent -life! A superannuated _roue_. Are you in jest? or are you mad?" - -"Mad! or at least delirious! Marion, we have lived long together, and -yet you do not know me! I am not one to sit tamely down, as you would -do, and wash my heart away with tears! My sorrows are not to be -closeted in silent desolation, but I must act. If hope and happiness -are crushed for ever, he who turned my feelings to stone shall suffer -for it! He shall no longer wind me on, and wind me off, according to -his own caprice! It is like death itself to love in secret, but worse -than death when it is known, and he does know all! He knows, believes, -and rejoices to believe, that I have waited, suffered, hoped, and -feared for him, and for him only; but I am not one to die of scorned -love. Now every spark of my regard for him is crushed out. His vanity -shall not have another moment's triumph over me," said Agnes, her eyes -becoming frightfully brilliant. "My heart feels as if it were buried in -a snow-drift, and nothing warms it but the hope of vengeance." - -"Agnes! who in her senses would think of being consigned to misery and -contempt both here and hereafter, merely to punish one who ought to be -despised! If Captain De Crespigny be vain, foolish, and unprincipled, -is that a sufficient reason for you to become degraded, and, I must -say, infamous!" said Marion, in a tone of undisguised disgust, though -her voice made no more impression than the gentle wave on the hard and -unbending cliff. "Such a step as this would separate you for ever from -those you have most reason to love." - -"I am one of the Positive Club, Marion, who never change their minds -about anything! and my resolution is unalterable. ''Tis best repenting -in a coach and six.'" - -"Think, Agnes, not of the short triumph over Captain De Crespigny, but -of the long years that must follow,--of the living death you must -endure, linked to vice, decrepitude, and immorality, lowered in your -own eyes, and contemptible in those of others." - -"Mistaken as usual, Marion! a life of mediocrity would be a life of -misery to me, and few people think the worse of any young lady for -becoming a Marchioness. Lord Doncaster can give me every thing except -happiness, and I must find the best substitute for that in my power. A -blight is on my heart! my pride has been mortally wounded; but I cannot -undertake a cold, insipid, colorless existence, devoid of motive and of -hope. It would be ennui drowned in wretchedness, if I return jilted, -mortified, and disappointed, to our uncle's dog-hole of a villa at -Portobello?" - -A red spot burned on Marion's cheek, and indignant tears, occupying the -place of words, glittered on her eye-lashes, while her thoughts -reverted to their generous, kind-hearted, and high-spirited uncle, -whose affection was so undervalued by Agnes, and whose better feelings -were about to be so outraged by the announcement of a preposterous and -really disgraceful project. - -Agnes now assumed the dignity of a peeress in expectancy, looking cold, -resolute, and haughty, till at length Marion, overcome with emotion, -threw her arms round the neck of her sister, and burst into tears, -saying, in accents of incoherent affection,-- - -"Agnes,--dear Agnes! take pity upon yourself. Lay open your heart to a -kind Providence,--pray for peace, but do not barter yourself for -revenge. Do not become utterly lost, as well as unhappy! For my sake, -for everybody's sake, let us go home as we came! Life is only precious -for the eternal hopes and the domestic affections it bestows. Would you -rashly throw away both, bringing on a lifetime of unpitied remorse?" - -Marion looked up with anxious solicitude, but scarcely had she ceased -to speak before Agnes glided out of the room, leaving behind her the -splendid missal adorned with Lord Doncaster's arms in gold upon the -white parchment binding. Beside it lay the envelope of a letter, with a -marquis' coronet on the seal, and underneath was engraved, to her -astonishment, the exact date of Agnes' birthday. Marion started when -she saw this absurd piece of gallantry, and covered her face with her -hands, as if she never could show it again. - - She did not know how hate could burn, - In hearts once changed from soft to stern; - Nor all the false and fatal zeal, - The convert of revenge can feel. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVI. - - -Though the leaders of fashion have decided that it looks greedy and -gormandizing to be punctually ready for dinner, yet, at the Granby -Hotel, no sooner does the clock strike five than the bell rings, and -the instantaneous rush of company which then takes place towards the -dining-room can only be compared to a congregation hurrying out of -church, or a flock of chickens in a poultry-yard assembling to be fed. -Doors fly open,--guests are seen precipitating themselves headlong down -stairs,--elderly matrons advance, leaning on their gouty, red-faced -husbands,--troops of marriageable daughters follow,--and solitary -gentlemen are visible, strolling forward in all the unencumbered -independence of having no one to care for but themselves. The -noise-meter then rises to a deafening pitch, when, to the din of a -hundred tongues, is added the jingling of glasses, plates, knives, and -forks, while the long serpent-like procession winds slowly into the -room, and gradually subsides into places. - -Amidst the moving mass of strangely mingled personages, Captain De -Crespigny had offered his arm to Marion, which she did not seem to -observe, but led forward Sir Arthur, while all eyes were turned upon -Agnes, who walked beside Lord Doncaster, with burning cheeks and -downcast eyes, yet affecting to look superbly dignified. - -Sir Patrick, in the mean time, always on the _qui vive_ for variety and -adventure, entreated Mrs. O'Donoghoe's permission to sit between her -and the young lady under charge, who attracted his especial notice -because she so obviously suffered from that apprehension of being -conspicuous, common to strangers on their first appearance at a public -table, and was dressed with a degree of plainness which amounted almost -to eccentricity. - -"I lose no time in making new acquaintances here," whispered he aside -to Mrs. O'Donoghoe, with a glance at her timid companion, who had -become a perfect aurora of blushes as she seated herself at the table. -"Our short visits at Harrowgate scarcely leave me five minutes to spare -for each new face." - -"Then I hope you do most of the conversation yourself, for I suspect -the young lady, who was placed under my _chaperonage_ by Mr. Crawford, -is not so much accustomed to live upon airy nothings, and to run up -_impromptu_ intimacies as you are." - -"The sooner she begins then, the better. I have a thousand things to -say to her!" - -"Perhaps she may not have time for above five hundred of them. You must -talk to her like a dialogue book, supplying both the questions and the -answers; for, as far as my experience goes, she seems to be shockingly -silent and nervous. Are you generally reckoned amusing?" - -"Everybody agrees in considering me so, and many people think me quite -the reverse, but I can be either the one or the other, on a moment's -notice." - -"Indeed! a little of both, and a great deal to spare! I imagine it all -depends on which way the wind blows!" - -"Exactly! I am sentimental in a westerly breeze,--cutting and sarcastic -in an east wind,--noisy and boisterous in a northern blast,--and during -'a southerly wind and a cloudy day,' the genius of nonsense takes -possession of me so completely, that I have bestowed on myself the -privilege of saying whatever I think." - -"How shocking! I do not particularly fancy you in any of these moods!" - -"Adagio! do not condemn me yet! choose your own subject, concerts, -sermons, pic-nics, dress, Harrowgate water, or the last new novel, -nothing comes amiss to me! I mean soon to publish a weekly programme of -the five or six subjects to which all conversation at the Granby is -usually limited; a complete set of the questions invariably asked by -all the visitors every day, with a sketch of the most appropriate -answers. For my own part, all my replies are given by rote, and it puts -me out entirely, if the inquiry whether I have been at Ripley, comes -before the question how I like the waters, or who was the last arrival, -which is, _a propos_, the only subject on which I am not very well -informed." - -Sir Patrick saying these words, gave a sly glance towards his left -hand, where the young _incognita_ sat, without apparently listening to -what passed, and as she seemed at the moment to be looking another way, -Mrs. O'Donoghoe archly turned round the label on her bottle of wine, so -that the young baronet could read that it bore, according to custom, -the name of its proprietor 'Miss Smythe.' - -Nothing could be a more complete balk to curiosity than such a name. -Sir Patrick had already known seven Mrs. Smythes. His washerwoman was -Mrs. Smith,--his sister's governess had been a Miss Smith,--two -Captains in his own regiment had gloried in the name of Smyth,--and his -old Colonel's widow was Mrs. Smith. There was no individuality in the -name, but a whisper had reached him in the morning that a Miss Smith, -the authoress of several popular romances, was expected at Harrowgate, -and a horrible apprehension crossed his mind that, young as she looked, -this might actually be the culprit, his surmises respecting which he -could not but whisper to the laughing widow, adding, with a look of -comical consternation-- - -"Only think how my portrait will look in her next book! There is no -escape, unless I faint away immediately and am carried out! We must -remain together now as long as I stay at Harrowgate, for no change of -place is allowed. Even if you and I quarrel, there is no remedy! It is -like connubial felicity, we are settled here permanently, for better or -for worse." - -"It might certainly be worse! I am tolerably resigned to my fate, for I -sat till lately among the dullest set of hum-drum bores who ever ate a -potato; but you are so clever, I always become clever in your company." - -"That is a novelty, I suppose?" - -"Why, for that matter, my mind is like a piano-forte, which requires to -be skilfully played upon," replied the widow, gayly. "I have often been -offered large annuities by people, merely to live in their houses and -entertain them, but lately I was in danger of falling into a state of -sensible, every-day dullness." - -"Impossible!" - -"You may doubt it--anybody would--but actually, yesterday, talking to -Lord Wigton, I was threatened with a fit of prosing! a thing I never -was subject to, and I never heard it had been in our family! Whether do -you dislike most, a professed wit, or a professed proser, Sir Patrick?" - -"My favorite society is any old lady of seventy, who has met with great -misfortunes!" - -"Well, I am not much upon that pattern, certainly, but fifty years -hence, we might make an appointment, perhaps, to meet here again." - -"How many succession of visitors will before then have flourished in -this house, and vanished. Even after the interval of one season, a -visitor's return is like coming back from the grave. Nothing is -remembered of either yourself or your cotemporaries. Guests, waiters, -landlords, and even boots, have all disappeared." - -"Very affecting, indeed," said Mrs. O'Donoghoe; "but half the dinner -has disappeared during that long moral discourse of yours, Sir Patrick. -Among the transitory things in this house, pray enumerate, another -time, the _entre-mets_ and vegetables." - -"Pardon me--these dishes re-appear only too often. I have known some of -those pies intimately for several days. In our regiment, we called such -revivals 'old clothes,' and it really is too bad treating ninety -deserving people so ill." - -"I should like to live upon the diet of a chameleon! Eating is a vulgar -necessity which the mind despises," observed Mrs. O'Donoghoe, helping -herself to a _pate_; "but some of the company here seem _ne pour la -digestion_, talking love and sentiment over a haunch of venison. Mr. -Crawford tells me that an Indian dinner party lasts twelve hours, and -people who sit down as thin as skeletons, rise from table quite -corpulent." - -"It certainly does require the aid of refined conversation to keep up -our self-respect in a scene of such gormandizing. For my own part, I -live upon anti-pastry principles, and am also a no-vegetable man; but I -wish haunches of venison had never been invented! I made fifteen mortal -enemies by the last I carved in this house, because no one thought I -had given him the best slice," observed Sir Patrick. "I wish all men -like old Doncaster, who eat more good things in a day than they say in -a year, would dine alone." - -"But I think," said Mr. Crawford, "that the habit of meeting at meals -is one of our most excellent social customs! If each individual in a -family were merely to snatch a morsel when hungry, there would be no -re-union, and often no intimacy among members even of the same -household. I like frequently to trace the usefulness of old established -customs, which have been sanctioned by successive generations, because -the advantages are always so much greater than they at first appear, -that it has now become quite a sufficient reason for me to respect any -custom, when I find that it is an old one." - -"I take the liberty of thinking quite the reverse!" said Sir Patrick. -"Change is the very essence of enjoyment! change of habits, change of -company, and change of air, are all equally necessary, and I never have -a guinea in the world without instantly getting it changed. That custom -will make a scarcity of silver at the bank, when I marry the heiress, -Miss Howard." - -"You!" exclaimed Mr. Crawford, his very wig standing on end with -surprise, while the young lady next him colored to the very tip of her -fingers. - -"I beg your pardon," said Sir Patrick, turning to her with one of his -most winning smiles. "I thought you gave symptoms of speaking." - -A torrent of blushes being her only reply, he began to doubt whether -she had the faculty of speech at all, and having decided at last that -the young lady was either a statue or an idiot, he turned to his more -accessible neighbor, muttering in an under tone, "Mute as a fish! An -exhausted receiver! I never saw such a genius for shyness! Her very -cap-strings are blushing! But about Miss Howard, my friend De -Crespigny, who was born and educated for the very purpose of marrying -his cousin, wishes me to take her off his hands, and if I could have -sold myself, which I cannot, she might have done. I am told she is very -romantic, so he and I agreed once to get up an amicable duel for her, -and after that I was to waylay the mad cousin who persecutes her, and -horse-whip him!" - -"Nothing like spirited beginning," said Mr. Crawford, in agonies of -risibility, while the young lady on Sir Patrick's other side, after an -evident struggle, during which the ever-deepening color in her cheek -became perfectly scarlet, at length burst into an uncontrollable fit of -laughter, so full of fun and glee, that the young baronet instinctively -joined her, though amazed and perplexed beyond measure by the oddity of -her manner, and by her unspeakable silence. "Your love," added Mr. -Crawford, "is to be more in the heroic than in the pastoral style." - -"Never was there a Captain of Huzzars so preternaturally in love at -first sight, as I should have been. De Crespigny tells me she is first -cousin to Croesus! has land in every country, gold in every bank, the -mines of Golconda for a part of her portion, carries a million of money -in each pocket, and changes horses three times in driving across her -own estate! I should think myself rich to be five minutes in her -company." - -"I see you are half in joke, and wholly in earnest," said Mrs. -O'Donoghoe. "But some gentlemen certainly do speculate in matrimony, -exactly as they would in the public stocks. So my poor husband used to -say before he left me so handsomely provided for. As for Miss Howard's -hundred lovers, they will have but one idea amongst them--money! money! -money!" - -"Love for an heiress certainly has the most solid of all foundations. -How much better to be married for your fortune than for your dancing or -singing--your pedigree or connections! There can be no mistake in -pounds, shillings, and pence! De Crespigny tells me she is said to be -not only very rich, but very plain, therefore as people generally marry -their opposites, we shall suit exactly." - -The timid young lady had now fallen into a perfect paroxysm of blushes, -and an extraordinary twitching about her mouth betrayed the last -extreme of nervousness, though whether her agitation were not of a -risible nature, Sir Patrick felt somewhat perplexed to decide, -especially as she was seized with a fit of coughing which appeared -almost like laughter, while she hastily drank up the water in her -finger-glass, threw salt over her pudding, and committed a dozen of -absurdities, which caused the young Baronet to ask himself whether she -were in possession of her fifty senses. A moment afterwards, Sir -Patrick felt his arm convulsively grasped by the young lady, as if for -protection, while a half-suppressed scream burst from her lips, and she -clung to him with an aspect of breathless terror, her lips parted, her -cheeks livid, and her eyes almost startling from her head, as she gazed -anxiously after the receding figure of a man who was hastily leaving -the room. - -Sir Patrick, when thus unexpectedly appealed to, started from his seat -to offer assistance, though at a loss how to act, when, seeing Miss -Smythe's countenance become of a ghastly paleness, he rapidly poured -out a tumbler of water, and held it to her lips, proposing, at the same -time, to support her out of the room. - -"No, no! I am better here!" replied she, in trembling accents. - -"I--I need society! I am so nervous! It must have been some dreadful -mistake! Excuse me, I would rather remain!" - -Mr. Crawford, in the mean time, had rushed hastily out of the room; -and, having now returned, he made a signal, as if desirous to escort -her also; but to this implied proposal the young lady only answered by -an almost imperceptible shake of the head, while she fixed her eyes on -her plate, resolved, apparently, to remain stationary. To the great -surprise of Sir Patrick, two tall footmen, in plain livery, now placed -themselves behind her chair; and, having afterwards closely followed -her when the ladies retired to tea, they were observed lounging about -in the lobby during the rest of that evening. - -"What could be the meaning of such a scene?" asked Mrs. O'Donoghoe, in -an undertone of extreme curiosity. "Can you conceive, Sir Patrick, why -the young lady started in that extraordinary way?" - -"Yes!" whispered he confidentially. "I can explain, but do not mention -this. It was because--she couldn't help it! There is a sublime mystery -of some kind at work here! I cannot dive into it! Suppose she were to -turn out Miss Howard Smytheson _incog._!" - -"Oh no! that is impossible! Her aunt was coming with her, who is one of -my most intimate friends!" - -Never had anybody so many most intimate friends, as Mrs. O'Donoghoe. -Every person she met for half-an-hour, had the honor to be so -designated, and if a gentleman were distinguished by the appellation, -it was generally followed by a very plain insinuation that she had -refused him. Of late, however, Mrs. O'Donoghoe had been more cautious -in such assertions, having been discredited in one of her many -forgeries on the bank of truth, by its being proved, that she boasted -of a proposal from Mr. Crawford three weeks after it became known that -he was already engaged to his second wife. Such accidents happen, -however, in the best-regulated families! - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVII. - - -It is absolutely indispensable that every visitor at Harrowgate shall -go through a course, not merely of its waters, but of all the castles, -ruins, rocks, lakes, gardens, and houses in the neighborhood, and -especially that, _bon gre, mal gre_, he shall spend one entire day in -rhapsodizing among the splendid fragments of Fountain Abbey. The -leading question asked of every visitor at the Granby, at least nine -times a day is, whether he has seen the Abbey, followed by exclamations -of dismay and astonishment, if he have not. A shower of inquiries then -follows, how soon he intends to go there, after which no one forgets -the exact day and hour named, while every good-natured friend fills up -occasional gaps in the conversation by hoping he may be favored with a -fine morning for his excursion. - -No stranger, unmarried and marriageable, at the Granby, has any right -or title to the squandering of his own time, as the whole race of -chaperons have assumed the privilege of knowing how he spends it, as -well as of dictating the various ways in which he should and must -dispose of himself; and, accordingly, Sir Patrick and Captain De -Crespigny found themselves one day ensnared into a _soi-disant_ party -of pleasure to Studley, from which they had no more chance of escape -than a brace of partridges at a _battu_. - -As Madame De Stael remarks, "English weather does better to rail at, -than if it were finer; and if Britain had a settled climate and a -despotic government, there would be an end of all conversation." After -a long succession of good-for-nothing days, during which the rain -seemed to pour from a thousand water-spouts, till the world was in a -perfect dropsy, and it was feared the sun must have met with an -accident, as he seemed unable to appear, he at last, contrary to -custom, when a pic-nic is in the case, blazed out with unprecedented -splendor, and became quite a spendthrift of his rays. September had -evidently borrowed a day from June for the occasion; and yet Sir -Patrick, who would much rather have encountered any danger than the -smallest discomfort, staid an hour in bed to consider whether there was -anything that might happen in the whole course of that day, -sufficiently agreeable to reward him for the effort of rising. Except a -fox-chase, however, nothing could have done so; and he secretly -detested the very thoughts of walking five mortal miles, and spending -five mortal hours in "doing the rural" among the dismal cloisters of a -roofless ruin, or bush-ranging through damp shrubberies, with a -committee of enraptured young ladies. - -His fellow-sufferer, Captain De Crespigny, stood yawning and humming a -tune beside him, waiting for the carriage, and expressing a hope, that -though he had almost fallen out of acquaintance with nature, and wished -pic-nics had never been invented, yet perhaps, with the assistance of -sandwiches, champagne, chicken pies, porter, music, and young ladies, -the expedition might be endurable, when the noise of wheels grinding -along the gravel, attracted their attention, and Mr. Crawford's -carriage passed on its way to Studley, with the two tall footmen of the -evening before, mounted behind. A moment afterwards, Sir Patrick -perceived the excited looking stranger, whom he had already remarked, -leading his horse out of the stable, with a degree of haste and -impatience quite unaccountable, while the animal seemed resolute to -postpone the evil hour of being mounted, though his master lashed and -swore at him with an extreme of cruel violence, which raised Sir -Patrick's utmost indignation. He was rather strangely attired for so -sultry a morning, being equipped in a large, rough greatcoat, a thick -neckcloth, a riding whip, and a broad brimmed, melo-dramatic looking -hat. Having at length mastered his refractory charger, he rode straight -up to Sir Patrick, with a contracted brow, saying, in tones of high -irritation, while riveting his fierce eyes on the young baronet with an -expression that strongly betokened insanity: - -"You are disposed to be observant this morning! We shall certainly know -each other again! In which direction did Mr. Crawford's carriage drive -off?" - -"I observe only for my own amusement!" replied Sir Patrick, haughtily -turning away, and humming a tune. - -"Allow me to remind you that those who whistle before breakfast, may -weep before night," said the stranger, with a malignant scowl, drawing -back his lips, and breathing through his clenched teeth, as he glanced -at Captain De Crespigny, and galloped rapidly away, followed at a more -moderate pace by the two gentlemen. - -"I am in the humor to knock every body down!" said Sir Patrick; "and -there was an admirable opportunity lost! I dislike the looks of that -man! He is evidently cracked! Depend upon it, his skull will never ring -again! Do you observe, De Crespigny, he has nearly overtaken the -carriage, and pulls up now, apparently anxious not to be seen by the -servants. In days of yore, we might have been certain he was a -highwayman, going to rob that barouche; but such things are done in a -pocket-picking, pettifogging way now, without an atom of spirit or -adventure. Why, my good friend, what a very particularly brown study -you are in! What is the matter?" - -"Nothing! nothing! I am solving an enigma! I must get another look of -this man! Dunbar, years have passed since that voice rang in my ears, -but it must be Ernest Anstruther's! Though shrill from excitement, and -every fibre of his body seems dilated with madness, it can be no other, -and we must have him seized this day. I actually shivered before the -fierce glare of his eye; but let us forget it. I cannot speak upon the -subject at present, for it involves all the deepest interests of my -life. Now, then, for Fountain Abbey! I feel in the humor that I could -strike the air for breathing in my face. It would be dangerous for any -body to ask me how I do!" - -"I wish all gaunt skeletons of deceased houses were buried out of -sight! The very idea of those damp, mouldy walls would give me the -rheumatism. Had we not better return?" said Sir Patrick, looking -anxiously at his companion. - -"No!" replied Captain De Crespigny, who seemed resolute to conquer his -agitation, or to conceal it. "I say like Luther, 'if it rained madmen, -let us go on!'" - -"Then, my good fellow, you deserve to be put in a straight waistcoat -yourself!" - -"Well, if you will buy and pay for one, I have not the slightest -objection to wear it." - -"If we could get up a good old-fashioned belief in ghosts, for this -occasion, and go to Fountain Abbey some other day by moonlight, there -would be some sense in it," persisted Sir Patrick; but seeing that his -friend was not to be dissuaded, he changed the subject, adding: "Our -existence now is detestably matter-of-fact. I should like to have lived -in the days of giants, fairies, witchcraft, and the philosopher's -stone!" - -"You would have required the last, Dunbar, certainly. For an excursion, -commend me to Harwood House. It is like a fashionable residence in Park -Lane. Such Brussels carpets, rosewood sofas, and damask curtains, that -I felt quite at home; but here we have a bad road; and worse dinner. A -refrectory with no refreshments, and a kitchen fire, where a whole herd -of oxen might be roasted whole, and not so much as a beefsteak to be -had. Visitors may not even take, like the horses, a nose-bag with -provisions." - -"We might at least air the ruins with a segar. Well, here are the -ladies; and now that I have brought you here, and you have brought me, -let us make the best of it. We must honor the old Abbey with a glance, -though I am sure, before we are done, I shall be walked off my legs." - -"I knew a gentleman, once," said Agnes, "who walked till nothing was -left of him but his hat." - -"It seems as if all the birds and butterflies in Britain had an -appointment here to-day," said Marion. "How their twittering and mad -spirits enliven me. That thrush is a perfect Orpheus! Few can ever sing -like these simple, self-taught musicians." - -"Anybody can. Grisi, Pasta, you, or I, could," replied Captain De -Crespigny. "It is pleasant, however, to be received with so lively a -serenade. These little creatures are happy without being able to say -why or wherefore; and how often we ourselves are miserable, though -unable to tell the cause, or perhaps, Miss Dunbar, to excite the pity -we deserve." - -"There is evidently a much greater proportion of happiness than of -misery in the animal world, as they do not make unnecessary annoyances -for themselves or others," said Marion, wishing to talk on indifferent -topics, as she observed her brother watching, to see how she received -his friend. "What bird in all the world would you like best to be?" - -"A canary, or a piping bullfinch, because you would keep me in a cage, -and treat me kindly. I should wish to borrow the language of any living -creature that pleases you! I am born to succeed in everything but in -gaining your approbation, which I would rather never have been born -than live without. I could willingly go step by step round the world, -to find out the secret of pleasing you; and I am falling rapidly into a -Byron-like, misanthropic melancholy, because of your cruel -indifference. How I wish emotions were communicated like electricity, -without the slow, vulgar use of language, for I always feel so much -more than I can express, especially in your society." - -"Why do you not take to writing verses; for you know poets all work -themselves up into fictitious emotions, which they pour out upon paper, -without troubling any one individual more than another, to believe or -disbelieve them. Your poems might be lithographed for private -circulation, and one of each sent to Agnes and me, to the five Miss -Ogilvies, and to all Lady Towercliffe's daughters. You would require -eight eyes, like a spider, to look after so many!" - -"But," replied he, in his most sentimental tone, "there is a want of -which one might die in the midst of plenty. If all ladies were like -you, one might be surrounded by a hundred, and yet die of a broken -heart!" - -"Any one may break his own heart, if he pleases, but he has no right to -break other people's," replied Marion, jestingly; "and there are some -who have no more scruple, I am told, in doing so, than in breaking -stones on the road." - -"Perhaps the hearts are as hard as the stones, if we may take yours as -a specimen; but you really are becoming severe! Take care you do not -hurt my feelings!" - -"Your feelings!" exclaimed Marion, with a gay, half-reproachful laugh, -as she caught the eye of Agnes. "I thought you only played upon the -feelings of others, because you really had none of your own." - -Near the gate leading into the superb grounds of Studley, no less than -two-and-thirty carriages were assembled, from the low elderly gig and -graceful pony carriage, to the aristocratic barouche and four, not to -mention tax-carts, phaetons, curricles, and coronetted chariots, filled -with joyous groups and laughing faces. The landscape around seemed as -if colored in the rich, deep tints of some ancient painter pre-eminent -in his art, so bright, so distinct, and so immoveable in its rare and -singular beauty, serene and lovely, like a mind at peace. The pencil of -Poussin or of Watteau could scarcely have done justice to such a scene. -The air was literally raining sunshine, and a light cloud here and -there sailed across the blue sky from the foreground to the distant -horizon, while the rich canopy of massy trees over head, tinted with -the many-colored hues of autumn, and the carpet of velvet turf beneath, -were enlivened by a thousand birds, hopping sportively from bough to -bough, like feathered arrows, and by the gay insect world fluttering in -rapid career from flower to flower, humming aloud their ceaseless -sounds of joyful activity. - -Every walk was sprinkled over with gaily-dressed loungers, sunning -themselves in the bright atmosphere, and no flower in the field looked -more fresh, more natural, or more lovely than Marion, whose beauty had -never appeared more attractive than now, amidst all the sumptuous -magnificence of nature, which seemed on the present occasion to be -adorned in her full dress regalia. - -"This is a very tolerable imitation of a fine day!" said Captain De -Crespigny, shading his eyes to gaze around, and looking as if the -landscape were made on purpose for him. "I see determined admiration in -your countenance, Miss Dunbar, but I mean to out-ecstacy you altogether -in my expressions of rapture! Ye hills and dales, ye rivers, woods, and -plains." - -"Charming!" said Marion, absently, and looking round for Sir Arthur. "I -am glad you are pleased." - -"To be sure! you are pleased, I am pleased, everybody is pleased! This -was called a party of pleasure, and nothing could be a party of -pleasure to me, unless you were included; but now all the world is -here! at least those who are all the world to me, and I expect a day of -perfect happiness." - -"That is as much certainly as any reasonable person can reckon upon, -and I believe it is more likely to be enjoyed in the simple rural -pleasures of the country than anywhere! Some persons whom we might -almost envy, think it pleasure enough for a whole day to find a -tom-tit's nest, containing, for a wonder, five eggs instead of four, or -follow the flight of a king-fisher during six whole hours, at full -speed, in a morning, to see where he feeds, and can talk for half a day -about some new combination of colors in pansy or chrysanthemum." - -"And yet they would be reckoned silly and vulgar, to speak half as long -about a new combination of color in a ribbon, which is in my estimation -quite as interesting! If all those who detest the country, had courage -to confess it, as I do, how the shades of rural life would be deserted, -and volumes of rural poetry cast into the fire! I am not one to 'hang a -thought on ev'ry thorn,' and indeed my thoughts have thorns enough -already!" - -"There is too much still water at Studley, and the grounds are -altogether too artificial for my taste," said Marion. "Those little -ponds, like globes for gold-fish, are dull and uninteresting." - -"They resemble china bowls, and should be filled with iced punch!" -observed Sir Patrick. "Anything so like the basin of the Serpentine -reminds me of old women committing suicide! This is not a good sporting -country, so crowded with laurels, temples, statues, cascades, and that -sort of trash! I wish we had all staid at home, and looked over -Turner's views of Studley, for they are beautifully done!" - -"Yes!" said Agnes, yawning, "I like the works of art better than -nature, pictures, statues, books, or pianofortes; and" added she, with -a withering look at Captain De Crespigny, "I like human nature least of -all." - -"What has set you off Childe-Haroldizing this morning, Agnes?" asked -Sir Patrick, with angry surprise. "Strike me poetical, but I like -Marion's style of admiring, exclaiming, and wondering the best, for it -is not either overdone or underdone!" - -"You shall have a most intelligent guide, Sir, immediately," said the -superintendent of the lodge, civilly touching his hat to Sir Patrick. - -"Let him be deaf and dumb, if you have any compassion for me. It is -trouble enough to come here, without listening to an endless rigmarole -about ancient abbots, clustered pillars, and stone coffins. The fellow -will not abate a single tomb or tree! I could invent a story quite as -good as his, and equally true! 'built nobody knows when, and destroyed -nobody knows how.'" - -"I like to hear all, and believe all," said Marion; "but you remind me, -Patrick, of the French lady, who said she wished to be taught -everything in two words. Now let us summon up any little poetry that -may be lurking in our composition, to admire those noble, pillar-like -elms, with branches so thickly clustered that the wind can scarcely -elbow its way through the leaves. Those shadows are magnificent, -flickering across the road." - -"Give me an old post-horse instead of an old tree, and I shall call up -much finer associations!" said Sir Patrick. "My sole idea of enjoying -the country is connected with hunting, shooting, and fishing; but as to -living for ruins, flowers, green trees, fat cows, rocky mountains, and -all that sort of trash, excuse me. They do for poets and painters, -professionally, to rave about, but I care no more to look at that -prodigiously aged tree before me, than at old Lord Doncaster, tottering -behind us with Agnes." - -"That tree, Sir, is a Spanish chesnut, 112 feet high, and 22 feet in -girth," said the guide, in his usual business-like tone. "It has seen a -hundred summers." - -"Then it has certainly not lived in this country!" replied Sir Patrick, -affecting to shiver. "There's a thing they call summer in England, made -up of east wind and fog, with a half-extinguished sun, trees trying to -put a good face on the matter, a few leaves and flowers born apparently -in a consumption, and one or two misguided birds mistaking the -imitation for a reality, while chirping their notes all out of tune." - -"This oak, Sir, is 500 years old," continued the guide, pertinaciously -bent on executing his task; "it contains 300 feet of solid timber." - -"And how many leaves are there on it? You never heard! Do you pretend -to be a guide, and not know that? The timber will cut up for a -tolerable sum, which will suit the next heir." - -"Have you the barbarity, even in imagination, to prostrate that kingly -tree! look at its gigantic shadow on the grass!" exclaimed Mrs. -O'Donoghoe. "I really had, even upon our very short acquaintance, -conceived a better opinion of you." - -"Then be not rash in altering it! I am all you ever thought me, and -more! At the same time I cannot but think, in looking at this immense, -overgrown prodigy among trees, how fortunate it is that they stop -growing at last, or one such monster might at last overshadow the whole -world. Now, it is a hundred years at least since the ground beneath -that tree has been enlivened by a single sunbeam! Spare me all the -exclamations of delight I see impending! Ladies are taught a taste for -the picturesque as part of their full-dress manners, but the truth is, -that you care no more for scenery than for a painted sign-post." - -"I have no eye to spare for the landscape," said Captain De Crespigny, -glancing towards Marion. "Therefore pray let us, like 'Puff in the -Critic, omit all about gilding the Eastern hemisphere; or about the -setting sun pillowing his chin upon an orient wave.' Nothing gives me -so mournful an estimate of people's general happiness, as to join what -they call a party of pleasure! Such rising before daylight, such -climbing of inaccessible hills, such scrambling on slippery rocks, and -such eating of trash, which no one in an ordinary rational state of -mind would ever dream of tasting! In short, it begins with the total -sacrifice of all comfort, bonnets and dresses in jeopardy, as well as -every limb of your body in danger, a great deal of forced vivacity, a -number of old, worn-out jests, a seat upon the damp grass, and -returning home after sunset in a fog! If these are people's pleasures, -what must their miseries be?" - -"Certainly the most toilsome of all vocations is that of an idle man," -said Marion. "I often think, when observing the extraordinary plans of -life on which people set out in search of happiness, that if during one -day in every year, we were all obliged to exchange the modes of life we -voluntarily adopt, it would produce universal misery. If Mr. Granville -were obliged to play sixteen hits at backgammon every forenoon instead -of Lord Doncaster; if Patrick had to visit and condole with the sick -all morning; if you had to blow the flute five hours a day for Lord -Wigton; if he had to hunt eight hours in your place; and if I must -lounge all morning in the public room, like Mrs. O'Donoghoe, how -wretched each individual would be!" - -"Very true," replied Captain De Crespigny. "The various species of men -are as different from each other, and as little calculated to -associate, as the various species of animals. Sportsmen have a natural -antipathy to literary men, politicians to jockeys, and infidels to -Christians. Life is to each of these a perfectly different affair. -Their feelings, desires, habits, occupations, and pleasures, are -entirely opposite, their conversation quite unsuitable, and they all -hate each other." - -While Sir Patrick, with ceaseless vivacity, teazed the guide by asking -a thousand unanswerable questions, the replies to which should have -occupied several hours, he amused himself with making premeditated -blunders and lively questions, enough to bewilder the brain of their -matter-of-fact conductor, who hurried forward with a velocity of body -disproportioned to the slowness of his understanding, pointing to an -arbor elevated high upon the ridge of a hill, from whence he intimated -that the finest view was to be obtained. With a rueful grimace, Sir -Patrick prepared to make a forced march in that direction, measuring -the height with his eye, and protesting that the fellow certainly had -an ill-will at him, for imposing such a task, when he was falling to -pieces already with fatigue. - -Marion, in the mean time, looked as happy as she felt; having now -achieved two very great pleasures, as, in the first place, Captain De -Crespigny had been called away by his uncle, and, in the second, he was -succeeded by Sir Arthur leaning on the arm of Mr. Granville. The smile -of confidence and interest with which Marion now listened and talked, -when contrasted with the constrained attention she had bestowed on -Captain De Crespigny, was like the difference between the glowing -warmth of a summer morning and the icy brightness of winter. While -loitering along their beautiful path, picking up here and there a wild -flower, or pausing to enjoy the verdant beauties of nature in her -holiday garb, cold would have been the heart, and vacant the -imagination, not crowded with thoughts and feelings of poetical -interest, when, thus surrounded by memorials of many romantic incidents -in the national history. To Mr. Granville, all the charms of the place -and season seemed familiar. He pointed out to Marion a thousand -beauties overlooked by ordinary eyes, while many a refined allusion to -his own attachment arose spontaneously out of the subject, and was -listened to by her with modest but heartfelt interest. They conversed -with glowing delight and perfect communion of thought, on the various -interesting subjects which abound in the rich stores of a cultivated -mind. Throughout the remarks of Mr. Granville on music, science, and -every elevating enjoyment of the human intellect, the poetry of -literature, as well as the poetry of nature might be traced. Even the -most indifferent subjects were no longer indifferent to Richard and -Marion when thus viewed with mutual interest, and when affording a -deeper insight into each other's heart and mind; while the gorgeous -scenery around inspired them with feelings of enjoyment beyond any that -could be attained in gaudy festivity and artificial amusement. - -"This place is quite a morsel of Arcadia!" exclaimed Marion, while her -eyes were beaming with delight. "I could fancy it some undiscovered -country of our own, with not a living being in it but ourselves." - -"Excuse me there," said Sir Arthur, smiling. "I shall by no means vote -for having my world made so small and select! I am the most sociable of -created beings, having fully convinced myself that nothing renders -people more utterly selfish than solitude; all your strollings alone in -forests and reclining beside rivers, what do they lead to? a prodigious -opinion of ourselves, and an extreme indifference or contempt for -others!" - -"Most undeniably true," replied Mr. Granville. "If we had no happiness -to seek but our own, I should not have far to search for mine; yet, as -a matter of duty, I am for association and for cultivating the kinder -feeling produced by mingling with others. Man could not be happy alone, -even in Paradise, and the sternest misanthropes can do nothing worse -against society than to become solitary hermits." - -"The injury is inflicted on themselves also, as Providence has ordained -for wise purposes that, bad as men are, they should love one another," -observed Sir Arthur. "My Marion here brings the joys of spring to cheer -the winter of my life, and I give her in return the gathered experience -of many a long year; while, with you both beside me, the withering -leaves of autumn look almost green and almost gay." - -"Yet this is certainly the most melancholy of all seasons," replied Mr. -Granville. "It has been called the time of fulfilment, when hope is -realized,--but it can be an emblem only of Christian hope realized in -death. Every hue and every sound reminds me of decay. The howling -winds, the fleeting clouds, and the rustling leaves all speak of change -and mortality; but permanent hopes and feelings belong only to our -religion, which become the charm of existence when they arise, and -which neither time nor death can alter. Our earthly affections when -founded on such ennobling prospects, entitle us to believe that we -shall advance, hand in hand with those we love, along the journey of -life, and even at the end, be only separated for a very short period, -to be reunited in a world of which even hours so bright as these are -but a faint representation. When a Christian dies, he dies into another -world. He is then born into a scene more beautiful, more joyous, and -more lasting than this." - -"How surprising it seems, that so little real admiration is felt for -the wonders of nature, though so much is pretended!" observed Marion. -"If anything could vulgarize so glorious a scene, it would be that -tawdry crowd of many-colored visitors, rending the air with -exclamations of delight, which seem chiefly addressed to the crows and -jackdaws." - -"We should have a band of fairies here, to give suitable music," added -Sir Arthur; "and you ought to rob the poets of a few verses to -celebrate the shades of Studley. I observe, Marion, that though in -actual conversation, a single line of poetry sounds pedantic, yet young -ladies in all novels have the whole British poets by heart, and spout -entire pages by the yard measure, for every emergency, taken from -Cowper, Milton, Byron and Co." - -An interesting discussion now ensued, respecting the effect produced on -the mind by sacred poetry, which diverged to the subject of sacred -music, when Mr. Granville spoke with enthusiasm of the exalting, -touching, and saddening influence of Handel's choruses, and of the -affecting thoughts they occasionally create. In every remark referring -to the heart or imagination, he expressed himself with a depth and -fervor, felt and appreciated by the fresh young mind of Marion, who now -experienced, under the happiest auspices, how much the mental faculties -are enlivened by studying nature. Amidst surrounding peace, the soul -exercises its brightest powers of thought, undivided by the shifting -scenes of human life, with its thousand fluctuating objects and cares; -while the fancy, liberated and unoccupied, is thrown back upon itself, -and discovers once more the visions of other days, the stores of -memory, experience, and hope. - -From the point of view to which their guide now left the party, all the -finest characteristics of Fountain Abbey became visible, and Marion -found Miss Smythe finishing a masterly sketch of the landscape, which -she blushingly yielded up for examination, while Sir Patrick confessed -that he had been standing in his most picturesque attitude during five -minutes, in hopes of obtaining a place in the foreground. Nothing could -be more strikingly beautiful than her spirited representation of the -large eastern window, like a light triumphal arch, the patches of ivy -clinging round those mouldering walls, and the high, stately tower, -nearly transparent with its many windows, all yet in perfect -preservation. - -"What a fatigue!" exclaimed Sir Patrick, throwing himself in a graceful -attitude full-length on the sloping turf. "This day is like the famous -Peter Schlemihl, without a shadow!" - -"Well done art and nature both!" added Captain De Crespigny; "we have -not existed in vain after seeing that matchless view! I shall give bail -to live contented and happy during the rest of my life, if you will -only endow me with all I see, and let it be shared with the person in -this company whom I like best, though perhaps she might tire of me." - -Agnes bit her scarlet lip with scorn at words which would once have -thrilled to her very heart, but she turned away with an insufferably -haughty air on perceiving that her _ci-devant_ admirer had turned his -most irresistible looks towards Marion, who was earnestly talking in an -undertone to Miss Smythe, while a look of anxious alarm had become -depicted on the countenances of both. - -"Such moments as these are like the colors of a rainbow, very bright -and very fleeting," observed Sir Arthur. "If I had a place magnificent -as this, even with the power of choosing my own society, yet, as Dr. -Johnson says, 'such possessions make men unwilling to die!'" - -"Allow me to differ, then, from Dr. Johnson," replied Mr. Granville. -"It is not our possessions, but our affections that could ever make me -grieve to forsake this bright green earth. I would rather be loved by -one than envied by thousands. I can imagine no happiness that does not -spring from the heart, and the most splendid mansion that ever adorned -the earth, would be a desert without the smile of those who loved me to -welcome my entrance there." - -"Who that knows the worth of friendship would not say the same," added -Marion, in a deep, low tone. "My wishes never grasp at great -possessions, as their very vastness appears disproportioned to our -nature and powers. The most superb houses are those most generally -deserted by their owners, but I scarcely ever see a retired and -peaceful cottage without whispering to myself, 'There I could be -happy.'" - -"Take my word for it, the whole thing would be odious in a week," said -Captain De Crespigny. "I have been a great observer of life from the -windows of the New Club, and my serious opinion is, that poetry is all -written to mislead our unsuspecting youth into an effervescence of -empty enthusiasm about rural felicity on an income of nothing per -annum; but I drew the cork out of that bottle long ago, and found it -all froth. Once upon a time I was betrayed into living a month at one -of those little bird's nests, a gaudy, stuccoed gimcrack, all plaster -and green paint, surrounded with roses, hollyhocks, and the flaring -trash people call flowers. There were within the walls, three noisy -dogs, four ditto children, a roasting-jack and a mangle, all screeching -at once! It was distracting! No! no! I hate money myself, but that -cured me of ever making a mere bread-and-butter match." - -"Yet I could live on the bread without the butter, for any one I really -liked, or even the butter without the bread," said Mr. Granville, -smiling. "Money is only the raw material of enjoyment, which must be -raised into a fabric of solid strength, and embellished with taste, to -suit my wishes and hopes. The hook and eye will never be of gold that -attaches me, and nothing has ever been so difficult to my comprehension -as that any one can possibly form the nearest ties of life upon a mere -calculation of profit and loss!" - -"Well," exclaimed Sir Patrick, who always assumed an air of bravado -before Mr. Granville, to conceal his real feelings, "I am above all the -follies of inferior mortals, but I do say, that to me, the most -interesting object in nature is a young lady of large, independent -fortune, ready to throw herself away on the first man who asks her!" - -At this moment, Miss Smythe's sketch-book fell to the ground, while, -with a sudden exclamation of affright, she started up, but instantly -endeavored to recover herself, and when Sir Patrick had gathered up her -pencils, she received them back with blush of double-dyed carnation, as -if she could never unblush again, and making an apology for having been -startled by the sudden apparition of a hare, she silently resumed her -occupation, and Sir Patrick continued to rattle on at his full pitch of -nonsense, as if nothing had occurred. - -"I wonder Lady Sarah Marchmont did not wait another season for me! I -was hastening rapidly to my last shilling, and might possibly have been -driven, by stress of weather, to propose, if she had not accepted the -Duke of Middlesex, in despair; yet had she possessed a thousand pounds -for every shilling, I am not certain that the most golden of her gold -could have gilded her.----" - -"My dear fellow!" interrupted Captain De Crespigny, in his most -sagacious tone, "_L'amour fait beaucoup, mais l'argent fait tout_; it -is easy to say 'fortune,' but where will you ever find one weigh in the -scale against Lady Sarah?" - -"Easily, any day! As the Spaniards say, 'a man of straw is worth a -woman of gold.' Last season, in London, all the heiresses were dying -for me." - -"Except three who never saw you." - -"And at balls, when a chaperon asked any young lady who she would -prefer for a partner, the invariable answer was, in the sweetest voice -imaginable, 'Sir Patrick Dunbar!'" - -"Or the Duke of Tunbridge, and he never dances!" - -"Indeed, next season I have serious thoughts of lending; myself out to -parties, at so much an hour. It is all nonsense about fortune being -blind! The goddess has one eye left, which has been fixed upon me -during the last five years, if I would only accept her favors." - -"Well, Dunbar! We all know that you are like the elephant in an Irish -menagerie, who was the greatest elephant in the world except himself. -But be warned in time! They say every man has one opportunity given him -of succeeding in life, and if he lose that, he never has a second! -Positively, old fellow, now is your time! Do not think me malicious, -but even I, your best friend, must allow that you are growing fat." - -"Yes!" observed Agnes, in the same rallying tone. "Pat is scarcely such -a 'look-and-die' person as he was. I remember him younger, once!" - -"Very true! I am getting quite uneasy about you," added Captain De -Crespigny, in an admonitory voice. "A young lady's reign lasts from -seventeen till twenty, and our best days are over at forty! Dunbar, -shall I give you a line of recommendation to Miss Howard?" - -"A million of thanks; but as you never succeeded in recommending -yourself, De Crespigny, I shall be better, in case of extremity, -standing on my own merits." - -"Then you will stand as precariously as my old uncle Doncaster, toiling -up the bank there, whose legs look so thin, that I often wonder he has -courage to venture upon them at all. He is most unfit to come up hill, -when actually going down the hill of life so very fast, that he might -as well be setting his worldly affairs in order." - -"Worldly affairs! He has no other affairs, I suppose," replied Agnes, -with a supercilious smile on her haughty lip. "And I think Lord -Doncaster will be able to manage his own affairs for many years to -come! He intends to live as long as Great Britain is an island. Nobody -is old, till he feels old!" - -Captain De Crespigny looked at Agnes with a penetrating air of -astonishment, which gradually changed to an expression of satirical -indifference, while he added, "This is an odd world, Miss Dunbar!" - -"So it is! When did that idea first occur to you? It seems so very -new!" replied Agnes, in a tone of biting satire. "Patrick has often -told me that the De Crespignys are reckoned a sagacious family; and -perhaps, after so bright a remark, you may turn out by no means the -sort of every-day person people expected." - -"Probably not! I shall, perhaps, be like Cimon, awakened from stupidity -by the charms of a second Iphigenia," said Captain De Crespigny, with -an air as if he had surpassed himself; but the smile with which Agnes -listened to this characteristic reply was cold and transient as a gleam -of sunshine on a frozen lake; yet while her features remained -immoveable as those of a beautiful statue, a strange, unnatural fire -sparkled in her splendid eyes, and with a look of withering indignation -she turned haughtily away to address Lord Doncaster; while Captain De -Crespigny, humming the last opera tune, and switching with his cane the -heads off all the flowers along his path, quickened his pace, and -resumed his not very welcome assiduities to Marion, who felt -insufferably annoyed at being obliged always to hear the same nonsense -talked, and to play her part in what she considered a mere hack -flirtation on the part of Captain De Crespigny; while she greatly -wondered that he had not long since tired of always, in her company, -drawing up an empty bucket. - -Sir Patrick was preparing to follow, when he observed the young -sketcher hastily adding a last touch to her beautiful drawing; and -before she could assemble all her scattered implements and materials, -which he had assisted her to do, the whole joyous party had nearly -vanished out of sight; while the young Baronet's eyes flashed with -amazement, on giving a clandestine glance into the sketch-book, to find -there an extremely clever caricature of Captain De Crespigny, as he -stood a few minutes before, endeavoring to divide his attentions among -the whole group of ladies. On examining another leaf, he found, to his -yet greater surprise, a beautiful likeness of Clara Granville; and -turning instantly to his young companion, with sudden emotion, he -entreated permission to have it copied. While he was yet speaking, the -young lady, with crimsoned cheeks, though a lurking smile played about -her mouth, continued hastily to follow the guide, tracing his footsteps -with an accuracy worthy of a Mohican, impatient, evidently, to overtake -their companions, as she hastily threaded her way through the forest -glades, and beneath the arching branches of many a lofty tree, towards -a dark, gloomy-looking plantation, to which their guide seemed now -impatiently hurrying them. He was dressed in a smock frock, and had -become singularly silent, his replies being all so short and so -grudgingly given, that Sir Patrick had angrily yielded up the point, -determined to give the man nothing, and not to ask him another -question, when suddenly his arm was tremblingly grasped by the young -lady beside him; while in a low, strange, unearthly whisper, and with a -look of mortal terror, she said, "I do not like this! What can it mean? -Has he escaped from confinement? Are you sure that man is our guide?" - -"I scarcely looked, but of course he is! It can be no one else!" -replied Sir Patrick, in a soothing tone; for he thought she must -certainly be deranged. "There he waits for us! We shall overtake our -friends immediately." - -"Look at this tree!--pretend to be admiring the landscape!" continued -the young lady, in a deep, concentrated voice; "but tell me,--can we -make our escape unobserved by that man? My life, probably, depends upon -your answer!" - -Sir Patrick now became confirmed in his opinion respecting the insanity -of his young companion, and fixing his eyes on her countenance, he -perceived with amazement that every tinge of color had been drained -from her cheek--that her lip quivered with fright, and that terror -spoke in her eyes, and trembled in every limb; while her words poured -out with a rushing vehemence of tone and manner which startled and -alarmed him. - -"I caught a momentary glance of his countenance! Where could I ever see -these eyes and be mistaken? There is madness yet in their expression. -He has sworn to destroy me. The whole purpose of his being is revenge!" - -"Revenge on you--impossible! Who could be so unmanly--so----" - -"You forget that my cousin is insane--that he thinks I drove him into -madness--that he pursued me day and night till we shut him up! Can -nothing be done?" - -"Miss Howard! I might have guessed this! Can it be? When I am here, you -need apprehend nothing! He dare not harm you." - -"Oh! how little you know him! In his present state, he has the strength -of ten men," replied she, with wild and hurried glances. "Once I saw -him struggle in their grasp. Why must I forever remember that scene? -His cries, his imprecations; but see, he returns! Let us appear still -to advance, but concert some plan for my escape, or believe me, my -moments are numbered." - -The tone of intense agony in which these words were uttered, filled Sir -Patrick with pity, while knowing the fearful and mysterious power -communicated by madness, even to the feeblest frame, he felt a -well-grounded apprehension for the terrified girl's safety, on -observing the strong, muscular figure of the maniac; therefore, after -walking on some steps, he whispered to her, almost inaudibly: - -"The guide seldom looks back. Let me ask him a question, and -immediately afterwards drop down the side of this hill, and conceal -yourself. I shall continue to follow him, that the sound of your -footsteps may not be missed. Whatever the danger is, be firm, and you -will certainly escape. Guide!" continued he, elevating his voice in an -authoritative tone, yet, even at this crisis, unable to resist a joke; -"tell me the exact age of this tree, and how many stones it took to -build the Abbey?" - -The man threw back some inaudible reply, in a surly, dogged voice, and -quickened his pace towards a dark group of fir trees, while again the -almost fainting girl gave an agitated glance at Sir Patrick, who -silently pointed towards the turf edging along the gravel-walk, making -her a sign to take flight upon it as noiselessly as possible, while he -proceeded forward himself with no fairy tread, making the sound of his -footsteps as loud as if there had still been two behind. - -After the terrified girl had hastily slid down a steep bank and -disappeared amidst a mass of evergreens, Sir Patrick was beginning to -contemplate the expediency of adopting a similar plan, seeing that in -conflict with a madman he could gain neither honor or advantage, and -might be seriously injured, when the maniac suddenly burst into a -thrilling, fearful laugh, and, snatching a pistol from his breast, -turned fiercely round, when Sir Patrick instantly recognised, as he had -begun to expect, the countenance of that excited stranger, whom Captain -De Crespigny had in the morning named to him as Ernest Anstruther. - -Astonishment and unimaginable fury glittered in the madman's wild and -haggard countenance, when he missed the object of his pursuit, and he -looked for the moment like a wild beast at bay, till, springing upon -Sir Patrick with a cry of hideous rage, he seized hold of his arm with -a delirious grasp, and clenched his fist, shouting in accents of -frenzied rage, while the white foam was on his lips: - -"Where! where is she? Tell me, or you shall die! Have I tracked her -through earth and air, through sky and ocean, to be disappointed now? -With sleepless care have I dodged her steps! Demons drove me on! Fiends -and serpents have beset me! Coals of fire are on my brain! Cold hands -are on my heart! All is horror! Every human soul shall shudder for the -deeds I do! A brand of shame shall be on my head! The dogs shall howl -when I pass! Even now, the sun never shines on me! Show me, then, where -she is, or I will tear you limb from limb." - -Sir Patrick stood firm as a rock before this whirlwind of passion, -though filled with horrible amazement, as he beheld the burning glare -of the madman's eye, and heard the sharp, shrill, shrieking voice in -which he spoke; but if he appeared terrible in his fierce excitement, -he seemed more terrible still, when a moment afterwards, with a cold, -livid look, as if turned into stone, he added: - -"She shall be mine, or she shall never be given to another. I would not -spare her for ten thousand lives. If she refuse me, her lips shall be -closed forever and ever. I shall destroy and be destroyed. My love or -my vengeance must be gratified; and mark my words. You are the friend -of Louis De Crespigny. I would it had been himself, and one of us -should never have left this spot alive. There is a dark and dreary -account to be settled between him and me. My first warning shall be my -last," added he, in a hollow whisper, while a look of dangerous meaning -gleamed in his eye. "He deserves death at my hands. He wrenched my -sister from her home, trampled on her affections, and is born in all -things to injure and supplant me! He must die!" added the maniac, with -a strange glare in his eye-balls. "It is, perhaps, for his sake that I -am rejected! Wild voices are whispering in my ear! Unnameable horrors -beset me! Fierce phantoms are hissing and shouting behind me!" - -The unfortunate being uttered these words with preternatural fury, -while his countenance wore an expression of deadly malignity. He then -paused, ground his teeth, and with the frightful levity of a maniac, -uttering a howling, fiendish laugh, and rushing away, disappeared into -the thickest part of the forest, leaving Sir Patrick horror-struck at -the awful spectacle of a shattered intellect, the fragments of which -were of so deadly a nature; while, at the same time, amidst a torrent -of other thoughts and feelings, chiefly directed to secure the safety -of Captain De Crespigny, he could not but smile at his present -discovery, that the plainly dressed, shy, reserved, but rather -satirical young lady, whom he had been of late patronising and bringing -forward, was no other than the superbly endowed heiress, Miss Howard -Smytheson, respecting whom he had so often rallied himself. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVIII. - - -Sir Patrick gave instant information to the civil authorities at -Harrowgate, respecting the dangerous madman now in the neighborhood; -and when every particular of his adventure had reached Agnes, she felt -an undefined sensation of disappointment that the end had not been of a -more exciting nature. Never happy unless her mind were in a complete -foam of excitement, she lived for sensation, and would have bought it -at any price, being heard often to complain, that now nothing ever -happened. Every day she considered as a chapter in her own life, into -which she wished as many incidents crowded as possible, caring little -whether joy or sorrow prevailed among those around, if the weary vacuum -in her thoughts were but filled up. A few elopements or murders made a -newspaper extremely acceptable; while even public riots she would have -allowed to a certain pitch, provided she could pull the check-string as -soon as they became at all inconvenient or alarming to herself; while -she often remarked, in a querulous tone, that a revolution had been a -thing threatened and talked of all her life, without ever seeming any -nearer. The world, in short, if arranged to suit her taste, would have -been one shifting scene of accidents and offences, fires, overturns, -explosions, narrow escapes, marriages, births, deaths, mournful -catastrophes, and astonishing vicissitudes. - -On the evening after the pic-nic at Studley, Sir Arthur having gone -early to bed, at his lodgings near the Granby, Marion accompanied her -sister and Mrs. O'Donoghoe, to fulfil a dinner engagement at the Crown -Hotel; and on their way home, the lively widow rallied Agnes on her -prospect of walking at the next coronation, saying, that Lord Doncaster -had evidently laid down twenty years of his life, lately; and that she -had once seen the Doncaster diamonds, then considered the finest family -jewels in Britain, which Queen Charlotte herself was supposed to have -coveted, and the box containing which required two footmen to carry it. - -"The tiara would shine like glow-worms in your dark hair, and the -bandeau round your waist would be exquisite! I have heard it remarked, -that people in this perverse world will not be happy; that those who -have every wish gratified, and not a want upon earth, invent a -grievance for themselves, and live upon it; but I wonder where the -Marchioness of Doncaster could find one. You might drive away care in -that beautiful pony carriage, kill time with your grand pianoforte, and -read your own happiness in the envy of every one around. Even your -sister seems scarcely so happy at your good fortune as might have been -expected!" - -"There is no earthly blessing I do not with my whole heart desire for -Agnes," replied Marion warmly, when thus appealed to. "But if she has -any plans such as you speak of, let no one ask me what I think, as it -is quite enough that she should herself know my utter abhorrence of -them." - -Tears of indignant sorrow sprang into Marion's eyes, and she gazed -earnestly out of the window, trying to conceal and to conquer her -emotion, while Mrs. O'Donoghoe exclaimed, in a tone of satirical -burlesque, - - "For of the choice, what heart can doubt, - Of tents with love, or thrones without!" - -As their carriage drove on, the night being clear and moon-lit, the -wind sweeping over the earth with a rushing sound, and ten thousand -stars twinkling in the blue vault above, Agnes remarked, in accents of -surprise, that crowds of people were running eagerly on the road, with -animated looks, and an appearance of most unusual excitement. Soon -after she heard a rumbling noise behind, as of some heavy vehicle -hurtling and thundering along the road; and the next moment a -fire-engine passed at full speed, amidst the cheers and vociferations -of a dense multitude, who assisted and followed its progress, with -looks of mingled curiosity, delight, and apprehension. - -Marion hastily thrust her head far out of the carriage, and perceived -that a lurid glare burned on the sky, evidently reflected from High -Harrowgate, while bright spiral flames shot upwards into the flaming -arch above, and burning flakes of fire descended in showers of -terrifying brilliancy. Every now and then a fresh burst of dazzling -light blazed to the very heavens, while Marion watched the flickering -flames with intense and solemn interest; but Agnes, after the first -surprise was over, sank lazily back into the carriage, saying, with a -look of peevish disappointment, - -"It is only a fire somewhere! Fires are so common now, that they excite -scarcely any sensation! One might fancy, Marion, that you had a -valuable uninsured house at High Harrowgate!" - -"It looks, even at this distance, very awful!" replied Marion. "The -hills are like molten fire, while the broad red reflection on those -massy clouds makes the very heavens seem on fire! What gleams of fiery -light! What sheets of flame! It is fearfully grand! We should pray, -Agnes, that no lives may be lost!" - -"Fires are never fatal now! Years ago, they were said to be sometimes -really frightful; but now any one I ever saw might be extinguished with -a tea-cup. I never so much as read the accounts in one of the -newspapers. We shall of course be asked to subscribe for the -sufferers," added Agnes, in a tone of contemptuous pity, "poor -creatures!" - -"What a strange look of terrified enjoyment is depicted on the -countenances of all who hurry past," exclaimed Marion. "It is curious, -that probably some of those people who are ready to risk their lives in -extinguishing the flames, would yet feel quite disappointed and -ill-treated on arriving, to find that there was actually no -conflagration. There are no limits to the love of excitement. When -people have made up their great minds to a catastrophe, they feel -really cheated if it does not occur; and I often think, that old people -especially wish their few remaining days to be crowded with events, -like the last pages in a novel." - -The noise and the mob had greatly increased: loud shouts, hoarse yells, -and clamorous cries of fire resounded on every side, with the heavy -trampling of a hundred feet, when suddenly Sir Arthur's coachman -whipped the horses violently, and proceeded forward with unprecedented -rapidity, till Marion fancied the horses must have taken fright at the -ignited sparks, which were now borne along in the air, and that -maddened with terror, they were actually running off. - -Agnes, now really in a state of excitement, thrust her head again out -of the window, believing that the coachman must be drunk, and that a -catastrophe, though not exactly what she would have selected, might -actually occur, and Marion continued anxiously gazing around, till -gradually a horrid sensation of doubt and fear gathered upon her mind, -as she looked in the direction from which the light came. The curtain -of night was withdrawn--the surrounding scene seemed one mighty -furnace--and the roaring noise of the flames was now distinctly -audible. At a turn of the road the whole became distinctly visible; and -Marion, suddenly uttering a wild cry of horror and amazement, covered -her face with her hands, and sank back, almost fainting, in the -carriage; for she had at once become aware that the fire must be among -the houses where Sir Arthur lodged. The garden around them was one -vivid blaze of burning light--the stems of the trees were visible in -dark relief, on a drapery of fire--while a brilliant pillar of flame, -like a gigantic serpent, twirled its enormous coils upwards into the -very sky. Forked flames appeared bursting from every window, and -sweeping over the whole house, which was one great reservoir of fire, -while a black volume of smoke rolled far away to the distant horizon. - -"Is there no mistake?" exclaimed Marion, wringing her hands with -terror, and bending her head almost to her knees in unendurable grief. -"Is there no hope? Tell John to drive on faster--faster! O let me -out--let me fly to the house! This is dreadful! fearful! Shall we never -reach the spot! Listen to their cries! Let me out! let me out!" - -"Dear Marion! there are crowds giving assistance! He must have -escaped," said Agnes, in trembling accents. "I feel certain he has -escaped. He has surely heard the noise, and called for help!" - -A dense mass of persons round the crashing house, wild with agitation, -and vehement in their attitudes and gestures, prevented the carriage -from advancing farther; but Marion instantly opened the door, sprang -out, and with an impetuosity which nothing could resist, rushed -onwards. She was not one whose faculties could be prostrated by terror -or danger; for it was then that her quick judgment and generous spirit -became most active; and while crowds were standing around, in vacant, -helpless wonder, she reached the spot where a tottering ladder had been -placed against the walls, and where the engines were playing upon the -blazing roofs, while flames spouted forth in every direction, and a -confused din of cries and vociferous oaths became audible on every -side. - -Timid and easily frightened on slight occasion, all emotion now -appeared to be dead within the breast of Marion, who paused, while, -with bloodless cheek, and a face as rigid as death, she seemed turned -into stone; yet every word whispered around fell with frightful -distinctness on her ear. - -"The last house that caught fire is uninhabited, I believe?" asked a -stranger, calmly. "I am informed that the whole conflagration was -raised by a madman--a perfect Guy Fawkes, who afterwards escaped. There -are crowds of servants belonging to the heiress Miss Howard, and he had -some scheme of carrying her off; but most mercifully she and her -attendants were all saved." - -"Very fortunate indeed, as the stair-case is now falling in," added -another, while crash followed crash in frightful succession. "Some one -talked of a blind gentleman being there, but that is probably a -picturesque addition, to give the story interest, for that tall house -seems really empty." - -At this moment, a low murmur of grief and horror arose among the crowd, -followed by a death-like silence. In a part of the building high above -what had yet been consumed by the flames, though already undermined, -the shutters of a window were slowly opened, the sash hastily thrown -open, and the venerable figure of Sir Arthur appeared there, his grey -hair streaming in the wind, and his head stretched forward in the act -of listening. He raised his hand to his forehead, as if bewildered, and -seemed evidently calling for help; but his feeble voice was lost amid -the war of elements, the crackling and blazing of all around, and the -loud crash of falling timber. - -No one had a hope of his being rescued, and the most selfishly -indifferent looked on with breathless dismay, while Agnes threw herself -on the grass in an agony of horror and despair; but Marion rapidly -grasped her hand with convulsive energy, saying, in a low deep whisper, -"I shall save him, or die with him." - -Using the speed of thought she flew forward, while every voice was -raised in loud shouts to stop her; and several persons, as soon as they -became aware of Marion's rash intentions, followed vehemently in -pursuit, determined to force her back; but eluding their grasp, she -wrapped her large cloak around her, and ascended the crackling beams of -the staircase, beneath a shower of glowing sparks, while blazing flames -were running round the cornices and ceiling, with a sound like -incessant thunder. - -The smoke nearly blinded her--the smell of burning wood became -suffocating--and the heat was nearly unbearable. Long wreaths of fire -and smoke soon shut Marion out from the view of those who followed, and -none could pursue with their eyes the fearful progress of her -enterprise, while she hurried onwards, having one only thought in her -heart, that Sir Arthur, blind and alone, was calling for help, and -might yet perhaps be saved. A wooden gallery, leading from the stair to -Sir Arthur's room, though fringed with an intense and devouring flame, -which had almost entirely burned it away, showed yet a plank remaining -close to the wall, charred and blackened, while shrivelling and -crackling in the devouring element. Over this Marion quickly but -cautiously glided; and opening the Admiral's door, she tried to compose -her voice, saying in a clear, distinct tone-- - -"I am here, uncle Arthur! come away quickly! give me your hand!" - -"What is the matter, Marion? What is all this?" replied he, turning -round with a quivering lip, and in a tone of piercing agitation. "The -blessings of your blind and helpless uncle be upon you! I am so -agitated and confused! Where is the fire? Every body had forgotten me -but you!" - -"Uncle Arthur!" answered Marion, hurrying with him towards the door, -where they were almost suffocated by a dense cloud of dust and smoke; -"you were always brave and determined. All our courage is necessary -now. Be firm and we may escape. You are now at the door. This wooden -gallery is nearly burned away. It could not sustain us both, and no -earthly power shall persuade me to go first. You can only impede me by -speaking of it. Lose not a moment, then, for that will but increase our -danger. Cling close to the wall; feel it all the way. I shall call out -when you are safely over. Then remember the fifty steps we always -counted to the first landing-place. After that, turn to the right, and -you are safe. May the Almighty protect and guide you!" - -"But Marion! my dear child! you are coming this way too?" - -"Yes! or perhaps some other!" said she, assuming a tone of -indifference, while she despondingly gazed at the rapidly consuming -beam, and the thick smoke, which arose like mist before her sight. - -"Go on, dear uncle, and pray for yourself and me." - -Marion led Sir Arthur to the very brink of the yawning gulf, and -cautiously placed him on the tottering gallery, deaf to his entreaties -that she would seek her own safely first, and imploring him not to -render her enterprise unavailing by delay. Flames were leaping upwards -in the dark abyss beneath, dust and mortar fell in clouds on every -side, while the heat and noise of the flashing light became more and -more terrific; but still she spoke calmly to him, in tones of -confidence and encouragement, giving directions while he remained in -sight, and anxiously watching, as he slowly and cautiously groped his -way. All Sir Arthur's firmness of look and voice had now returned, as -he questioned or thanked her, when suddenly a deafening crash took -place over head, an impending fragment of the roof was precipitated -with a roaring convulsion upon the spot where a moment before the -Admiral had stood, and nothing now remained beneath the eye of Marion -but a hideous gulf of smoke and ruins, one bewildering medley of -crackling beams and falling floors, a mighty mass of horror, which it -made her giddy to behold. - -Marion ceased now to speak, fearful that her voice might induce Sir -Arthur, if yet alive, to return; and nearly hopeless of his having -escaped, she now felt that no duty was so imperative, as, if possible, -to seek her own safely. Yet what resource remained? Her heart beat -hurriedly, stopped and beat again, while a choking sensation arose in -her throat, when for the first time she fully contemplated her own -instant danger. The noise was like that of a mighty wind, while the -flames swept the very heavens, with a sound more appalling than the -loudest thunder, and she hurried almost breathlessly back to Sir -Arthur's apartment, which had not yet been attacked by the devouring -element. - -The heat was even there so intense, that she hastened to a window for -air, and a shuddering groan burst from the surrounding multitude when -they beheld her; but no succor was near, while the door became -instantly blockaded by shivered beams and smouldering ruins, which had -fallen at the entrance, setting it on fire, and she saw around long -aisles of flame, and deep caverns filled with surges of fire and smoke. - -Marion felt now that death impended in its most terrifying form. It was -no new thing with her to prepare for the certain approach of -dissolution; yet often as she had tried to realize the idea of that -mighty change, never did it appear before with the appalling -distinctness, which now filled her spirit with unutterable awe, while -standing as it were between earth and heaven, all beneath full of -boundless terror, but all above promising peace, and full of hope. - -No effort of her own could avail. Marion looked at the long line of -tall houses on her left, untouched by the flames. She glanced at the -crowd below, all anxiously gazing upwards, in death-like stillness, and -at the garden, which seemed paved with faces; but while the consuming -flames pursued their desolating track, not a hope of rescue appeared. A -storm of burning ashes fell on every side, and all around was a -whirlwind of fire and smoke. - -Marion's figure became conspicuously seen at the window, every pane of -which was already so heated by the blazing conflagration behind, that -she leaned against the shutters, and gazed towards heaven, as if -already lost to all connection with the world around. - -"Martyrs have willingly died in a scene like this," thought she. "Let -me also testify the faith in which I die." - -Marion clasped her hands, while now her spirit rose superior to danger, -and, seeing the hundreds gazing at her in silent, horror-struck -sympathy, she calmly pointed upwards, that all might remember the -comfort derived from a hope full of immortality. - -The heat had become so intense, that Marion, choked almost to -suffocation, leaned farther than ever out of the window, trying to -catch one breath of air, when to her astonishment she now perceived the -figure of a man descending from the window of a house far to the left, -and having planted his foot on a narrow ledge of stone, which ran along -all the buildings as an architectural ornament, he pressed his hands -firmly against the wall, to preserve his balance, and, with a degree of -skill and intrepidity scarcely to be credited, rapidly traversed that -shelf towards the place where she stood, carrying one end of a rope in -his hand, the other extremity of which had been already fixed to the -window from which he came out. - -"Marion! dear Marion!" cried the voice of Richard Granville, which even -at this awful moment thrilled to her heart with deep emotion, "we must -live or die together. Trust yourself to me! Here is a firm footing. Try -it! At the worst you cannot be in greater danger than now." - -While yet speaking, he had securely fixed the rope to the window-frame, -thus forming a temporary balustrade, and after carefully assisting her -out, he slowly led Marion with one hand on the rope, and her face to -the wall, safely towards a house as yet untouched by the fire. - -A low, whispering murmur of intense interest arose among the -spectators, when they saw hopes of her being preserved, but not a voice -was raised till they perceived her safe, when a deafening cheer burst -from the spectators, which rang through every ear like a trumpet. Again -and again it resounded, louder and louder still, but Marion heard it -not, for no sooner was she out of danger, than, with a cry of -thankfulness, she rushed into the expanded arms of Sir Arthur, and -fainted. - -When Marion recovered to consciousness, her first evidence of returning -life, was the deep blush with which she extended her hand to Mr. -Granville. Tears now streamed from the blinded eyes of Sir Arthur, -while he spoke to her with every term of affectionate endearment, -saying, in a voice that yet quivered with emotion-- - -"My child! my dear Marion! I thank God that your life, young and full -of hope, has not been sacrificed to keep my grey hairs a few hours -longer from the grave. Would that I were able to thank you as you -deserve." - -"Never thank me for anything, dear uncle Arthur. I owe you more than my -existence, for I owe you, under Providence, all the happy days I have -ever known in it, and long, long, may I be able to show you my grateful -affection." - -"My very dear girl, aged as I am, and shattered now by this night's -alarms, I have little more hold of life than of the gale that blows -along the ocean, but existence would yet be precious to me, if I could -only live to see my Marion as happy as she merits." - -"Already I am!" replied Marion, affectionately embracing her uncle, -while a torrent of joyous, agitated tears rushed into her eyes. "I am -too happy, dear uncle Arthur! You are saved, we are restored to all we -love, and my life is doubly precious to me, preserved by the generous -courage of--of----" - -"Of one whose first earthly wish is to render it happy," said Mr. -Granville, warmly. "I trust that for many long years we shall testify -together our gratitude to God for the mercies of this night." - -A smile and a tear struggled hard for the mastery in Marion's downcast -countenance, while Richard continued to speak with confidence and hope -of the happy future, trusting that their engagement, though unavoidably -postponed, could not be long delayed, and that if Clara recovered in a -more favorable climate, to which she must set out the next evening, he -might speedily return, to resume his duties and occupations, with new -motives of hope, while Sir Arthur expressed, in brief and powerful -language, his fervent wish that nothing might interfere with a prospect -which secured the happiness of his beloved Marion. - -"Yet," observed Sir Arthur, next morning, when Mr. Granville called to -take leave, "I dislike long engagements, and never would recommend one. -If you both remain constant, it is unnecessary, and if either of you -change, it would be little worth to obtain from a sense of honor what -should only spring from affection." - -"There is nothing to fear on that score," replied Mr. Granville, -exchanging a smile with Marion. "We are most apt in general to doubt -where we have most at stake, but I have lately become almost -presumptuously confident. I would not wish, Sir Arthur, that Marion -should feel engaged one hour after she ceased to love me more than she -could love any other, or if there were any man on earth who could value -her more, and make her happier. One thing I ask of you, dear Marion, -and only one," added he, his eyes flashing with animation--"That till -we meet again, nothing shall make you doubt my unalterable affection; -and in asking this, I ask only what I intend in return towards you, -that our mutual confidence may be for ever unbroken, from the first -hour we met." - -"To trust you once is to trust you for ever," answered she, in a low, -scarcely audible voice. "All my happiness in life depends on one, who, -I am certain, never will change." - -"Then, as surely as day follows night, I hope our present parting shall -be followed by a happy re-union; and months will seem like hours, till -I return to claim you as my own, till I once more hear your voice, and -till this hand is again clasped in mine." - -Marion listened with a quivering smile on her lip, while a tear -trembled in her eye. For a moment, the blood forsook her cheek, and -returned again in rushing torrents over her whole countenance, while -the eloquence of the heart was in her eyes, though she attempted not to -reply; and Mr. Granville continued, in accents of the deepest -tenderness,-- - -"It grieves me more and more every day to think of leaving you, but my -duty to Clara must not be postponed any longer. Her strength is -gradually diminishing, and though she does not idly or selfishly -indulge her feelings, yet here, above all places, she seems least -likely to forget a sorrow, which is, I trust, not incurable. We, who -are Christians, know that there is some good purpose in her affliction, -and that the lightest straw which casts its balance into our lot, is -ordained by the infinite power, and the infinite goodness of One who -cannot err." - -"Yes," replied Marion. "In going through life, I feel myself reading a -book by the best of all authors. Many of the incidents, as we advance, -surprise and disappoint us; but, knowing that the whole is on a plan -which could not be improved, we feel certain that all shall turn out -right and best in the end." - -"It is a conviction such as you describe, Marion, which allays the -torturing and almost feverish anxiety I should otherwise suffer -respecting those around whom my warmest affections are kindled," -observed Mr. Granville. "Religion is indeed the best of all anodynes -for pain of every kind; otherwise, who can tell how greatly I should -have suffered in our sorrowful uncertainty respecting Clara's recovery, -and in leaving you, my Marion, to whom I am now bound by every tie that -can unite heart to heart. I will not,--I cannot say, farewell; but let -us live in hope of better days to come." - -Mr. Granville at length took leave; and, as he hurried for the last -time across the common, Marion leaned against the window, and followed -him with her eyes till he vanished out of sight; while Sir Arthur's -countenance shewed that his kind heart was full of anxiety and sorrow; -for he had seen many vicissitudes in human life and human attachment, -therefore he trembled for the possibility of sorrow hereafter, to one -whom he loved with all the unbounded warmth of his nature. - -Marion closed her eyes that night with the pleasing conviction, that -the world contained not a happier being than herself. She felt -conscious how much Mr. Granville had elevated her mind by his -conversation, what a treasure of interesting thoughts and pleasing -hopes he had left her; and, while following him in imagination through -every mile of his journey, and sadly counting the many days that must -intervene till they could meet again, she resolutely turned her mind -towards all the pursuits and occupations calculated to render her -worthy of Richard Granville, when he returned to claim her as the -partner and companion of his future existence. - - "Discerning mortal! do thou serve the will - Of time's Eternal Master, and that peace - Which the world wants, shall be to thee confirm'd." - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIX. - - -Captain De Crespigny had heard, with frantic alarm, of the fearful -danger from which Marion was so wonderfully delivered; and then, for -the first time, he discovered the whole depth and reality of his love. -The gracefulness of every thought which she expressed, and the bright -beauty of that look with which it was accompanied, had made an -indelible impression on his heart, so that now, when he saw her so -unexpectedly snatched from the jaws of death, no words could do justice -to his emotion. He hurried that very evening to ascertain the reality -of her escape, and to say what he could on the occasion; while the -tremulousness of his voice, and the quivering of his lip, gave a degree -of depth and reality to his few incoherent sentences, which all his -well-turned speeches in former times had failed to convey. Marion -thanked him warmly for his friendly sympathy, and spoke to him with all -the intimacy of relationship and old acquaintance; but when she turned -to Mr. Granville, Captain De Crespigny then observed the flutter of her -voice, the deep tone of tenderness, and the look full of confidence and -full of interest, with which she spoke to him, and to him only; while -there was a degree of tact and delicacy in her manner of testifying the -wide disparity of her feelings, which left him nothing of which to -complain. Careless of the dry and sarcastic air with which Agnes -watched his mortification, Captain De Crespigny did not even take the -trouble to conceal it; but soon after strode out of the room, and -walked with hurried and agitated steps up and down in the garden, -whistling, but not from want of thought. When thus alone and -unobserved, a thousand angry and indignant feelings made him writhe -with mental suffering, to think that he, who had been so deeply, so -fatally loved by others, who had never sued in vain, and never truly -had loved before, should endure now the agonies of unrequited -affection, should be slighted, avoided, and forgotten, for a man he -hated, as he had always hated Richard Granville. - -"He cannot love her as I do!" thought Captain De Crespigny, vehemently -clenching his hands, and throwing himself on a seat. "What does he know -of that magical feeling! a passionless being from boyhood, master of -all his own feelings and impulses, incapable of the wild, ungovernable -ardor, which carries me forward, in the face of all obstacles, to win -her! He has indeed acted manfully on this occasion, but shall the -accident of his success destroy my hopes of happiness! No! it must -not,--shall not be! Dunbar will never consent to their marriage, and he -must prevent his sister from thus throwing herself away. She shall yet -be mine! The only girl who was ever insensible to my preference! I -cannot live without her, and if there be means in the wide world to -thwart Richard Granville, I must find them!" - -Sir Patrick received next day, with gratified surprise, the explicit -declaration of his friend's unbounded, and, at length, undisguised, -attachment for Marion, which he had already, in some degree, suspected, -though so much accustomed to Captain De Crespigny's being in jest, that -he could scarcely believe now that he was in earnest, while listening -to the vehement expressions of his attachment, and promising, -nevertheless, to enlist himself in the cause, with all the zeal and all -the interest he could command. - -"As her guardian, I have a perfect right to postpone this most absurd -engagement, and Sir Arthur deserves to be _spiflicated_, for ever -having encouraged such a mere penny-wedding affair for that girl, who -does not know her own value. Agnes tells me my uncle has allowed them -to correspond; but this he had no right to do without my consent, and -therefore I shall take most effectual means to intercept every letter, -either to or from her, till she is of age, after which my reign ends, -though, I hope, long before that, yours shall have begun." - -Sir Patrick took an early opportunity of expressing to Marion, in no -measured terms, his utter abhorrence of poor marriages in general, of -poor curates especially, and of Richard Granville in particular; while -she, with downcast eyes, blushed, and re-blushed, deeper, and deeper -still; though, unwilling to irritate him more than could be helped, she -listened in silence, till at length, encouraged by meeting with no -reply, he added, in a tone of high exhilaration-- - -"But we need not talk of that now! The thing does not bear speaking of! -You shall hear news to-day that must positively drive all this nonsense -out of your head. The best 'catch' in Britain has actually lost his -heart to a tolerably pretty, and not very disagreeable young lady, by -name Marion Dunbar! A better fellow does not exist on earth than De -Crespigny; and he will render you the happiest of women. I never saw -any man so anxious to make himself liked by any girl as he is!" - -Marion felt now that she must no longer be silent, and blushing her -brightest red she replied, in a low, deep, earnest voice, "Hear me, -dear Patrick, and I shall not annoy you by saying one word in favor of -my indissoluble engagement, that being a subject on which, I fear, we -shall never agree; but without reference to a previous attachment, had -it not even existed, my feelings towards Captain De Crespigny would -have been the same. I never could confide my affection and happiness to -one who has found his amusement hitherto in betraying all who trusted -him, and who feeds his vanity by causing misery to those who are as -deserving as myself. It would have been more merciful to destroy life, -than to destroy the happiness of life, as he has done, for many, and -for our own sister, I fear, among the number." - -"Pshaw, Marion! Do not stand in your own light like a thief in the -candle!" exclaimed Sir Patrick, impatiently. "De Crespigny is worth a -hundred thousand Richard Granvilles!" - -"One is all I care for!" replied Marion, timidly. "But, Patrick, as you -have begun the comparison, let me say, that to have once known Mr. -Granville is a talisman against every other attachment. There is no -pleasure in life worth a thought, without mutual confidence, such as, I -trust, we have established between us for ever, and such as I never -could have felt with Captain De Crespigny. My taste has been tuned to a -higher pitch than to be satisfied with such a transient and capricious -attachment as he could ever offer to any one--mere tinsel and filigree, -compared to the strong and lasting sentiment on which I may now rely." - -"Marion! there is not a man living who deserves a more grateful return -for his preference than De Crespigny; and I still hope the time may -come when you shall see his value, and more than return his attachment, -or it will inflict a very great disappointment, which I should be -annoyed beyond measure to occasion him!" - -"Patrick! how could your friend, with his heart splintered into atoms, -ever presume to expect a whole one in return? He often reminds me of -that German lady, whose picture is drawn encouraging three lovers at -once. She is giving her hand to the first, stealing a glance at the -second, and treading on the toe of the third, while each believes -himself the favorite. Captain De Crespigny will take the -disappointment, if it be one, to the next ball, and dance it off in a -single quadrille. His love is like wax, ready for all impressions, and -he has weathered so many flirtations already, that you need never be -uneasy about him now. I venture to say what I think, Patrick, to -convince you how vain all future importunity on the subject would be; -and I cannot but observe, that if there be any blame on this occasion, -it is yours, for obliging me so often, most unwillingly, to meet -Captain De Crespigny. Let us hope, however, that you have been misled -into over-estimating his intentions and feelings. Caroline Smythe -sometimes takes off your friend to the very life; and I wish you could -see how cleverly she carries on a furious flirtation with two ladies at -once. There really seemed danger, one day, that uncle Arthur would die, -like the famous Mr. Hope, of suppressed laughter! I wish all ladies -could view the case in as ridiculous a light as Caroline does; but -Patrick, it is very different in respect to Agnes. Her whole thoughts -are embittered by Captain De Crespigny's unpardonable coquetry--her -whole feelings lacerated; and I fear she may, in a paroxysm of angry -disappointment, consign herself to long years of misery--I may even -say, of degradation. You know all I mean, Patrick, and you ought, if -possible, to soothe her, to advise and persuade her into a better line -of conduct. As for myself, Patrick,--lastly, and to conclude," added -Marion, a wandering blush resting its warm tint again on her cheek, "I -can say, like Cardinal Wolsey, but with more satisfaction, 'Farewell to -all my greatness!' Richard is not affluent--probably he never may be -so; but I am no spendthrift. I would rather have love than money; and -whatever befall us, it is happiness enough for the rest of my life to -know that he thinks me deserving of his attachment. We love, and we -understand each other perfectly." - -Marion rushed through what she had to say with agitated rapidity, and -on reaching the conclusion she bent down her head, and leaned it on her -folded arms, while Sir Patrick hastily left the room, uttering a few -emphatic exclamations, which were lost in the thundering report with -which he closed the drawing-room door, till it quivered upon the -hinges. - -"Very absurd and unaccountable!" exclaimed Sir Patrick, interrupting -himself next day, during a paroxysm of angry whistling, which he had -carried on for some time, standing with his back to the fire, in that -attitude peculiar to Englishmen, and in which he was said to be the -only man who ever looked graceful. "Most extraordinary." - -"What?" asked Agnes, with a start of eager curiosity. "What is there -which astonishes you so much?" - -"That I am the only one of our family who cannot endure to eat roast -mutton!" replied he, evidently resolved to balk her inquisitiveness. -"This is a teazing and tormenting world, Agnes, where we cannot order -everything as we like." - -"But what has ruffled the surface of your humor to-day, Pat?" asked -Agnes, indifferently. "You seldom treat me to a stage soliloquy!" - -"Then, if you must have it, all I can say is this! Here are my two best -friends on earth, Wigton and De Crespigny, with a thousand mental, -personal, titled, and landed recommendations, each making his proposal, -and I cannot give either of them the slightest hopes!" - -"Patrick, you must be mad! If they wait long enough, I may perhaps -marry both, but at all events I have no intention to refuse either!" -replied Agnes, in her most conceited tone. "Are you in jest or in -earnest?" - -"Why, both! That strange girl, Marion, has given them each a good, -round, decided negative. I did not think she had it in her nature to be -so positive." - -"Impossible!" exclaimed Agnes, with angry vehemence, while her eyes -seemed literally striking fire. "This is some ill-natured jest of -yours; but Marion understands Captain De Crespigny too well to fall -into any such absurd mistake. She knows he is secretly attached to me, -though, indeed, that has been no secret for ages past, and Marion never -hinted to me that he had an idea of proposing to her." - -"No! Marion is exactly the sort of person never to mention what might -hurt the feelings of another, especially as you would probably not have -believed her; but I had yesterday a point-blank, _bona fide_, serious, -and even solemn proposal to make her from De Crespigny, which I had to -decline with all the usual regret, surprise, gratitude, offers of -friendship, and so forth. It is a great inconvenience, Agnes, that both -your strings should break in this way at once; but Marion is a perfect -loadstone for attracting the attentions, the hearts, and the good -opinions of all mankind. I have seen both these affairs coming on for -some time, and it is really awkward and irritating to be placed in such -a predicament with all my friends," continued Sir Patrick, in the tone -of an ill-used man, thinking only of his own grievances, while Agnes, -feeling herself extinguished at a blow, gazed in his face with a look -of pallid amazement. "If Granville could only be sunk to the bottom of -the sea," added Sir Patrick, impatiently, "I would not beckon with my -finger to bring him up again!" - -When a separation is inevitable, those who depart have generally the -advantage, in seeing a variety of interesting novelties, to force their -attention, and occupy it; but while the thoughts of Mr. Granville -reverted continually to Harrowgate, Marion's became now more than ever -engrossed with Sir Arthur, whose nerves had been greatly shattered by -his recent adventure, and who ardently longed, as soon as his health -was in any degree re-established, to be again in the quiet sanctuary of -his own home. - -Amidst scenes where she was hourly reminded of the happy past, Marion -delivered herself up to the pleasing consciousness of Richard's -unalterable attachment. Though circumstances had now separated, and -might keep them apart for months, she felt a steady assurance that -their mutual attachment could never be shaken by either time or -distance. In the solitude of her own heart, Marion hoarded up many -cherished remembrances of what he had said, and how he had said it, -while the most transient of Mr. Granville's remarks seemed indelibly -imprinted on her recollection. She read the books he liked, practised -the music he admired, traced out all his favorite walks, and lived with -him as the continual companion of her thoughts. - -Marion's was an unclouded sunshine of hope, as she confided so entirely -in her absent lover, that she would quite as soon have distrusted her -own heart as his; yet day after day, and week after week passed on, -without a line ever reaching her from either Clara or Richard, and -little did she dream, while suffering from the melancholy monotony of -their long-continued silence, that letter after letter, written from -heart to heart, with ardent affection and entire confidence, had been -consigned to a premature end by the order and contrivance of Sir -Patrick; but nevertheless, with all the ardor of a young and sanguine -mind, she daily expected a satisfactory explanation, and still looked -back upon the past with unembittered feelings. - -Marion's was not a weak, wavering, suspicious, or fanciful nature, but -high and generous in all things, she had not lightly confided her -happiness to one on whom she could not implicitly rely. She knew his -attachment to be one of principle as well as of inclination, and though -uneasy lest Mr. Granville might be ill, she entertained no jealous -apprehension that he had become changed, but perseveringly trusted, -believed, and hoped the best. Many a time had Marion's heart throbbed, -and her color risen with a tumult of hope, as she watched the return of -Martin from the post-office, and the flutter of expectation faded sadly -away in mournful disappointment, when she found that another day and -night, at the very least, must be added to her long and weary -disappointment; for no "hope deferr'd" makes the heart more sick, than -vainly watching for a letter, in which the happiness of a life-time is -involved. - -"Out of sight out of mind!" said Agnes, sarcastically, one day, when -she observed the look of surprise and anxiety with which Marion was -leaving the room, alter seeing hoards of letters brought into the room -from every quarter but the right one. "Marion! as Shakspeare says, 'No -word from Goodman Dull yet?' That is just like men in general!" - -"It may be like men in general, Agnes, but it is not like Richard," -replied Marion, coloring and smiling. "On him I have the most -consummate reliance. We can both depend on our perfect knowledge of -each other, and I shall not break the long chain of our mutual faith by -a single doubt. I have given him my confidence, and that was all I had -to bestow." - -"Well! as some sensible poet remarks, and I quite agree with him," said -Agnes, with a peevish, discontented sigh-- - - "The maid that loves, - Goes out to sea upon a shattered plank, - And puts her trust in miracles for safety." - -"No, Agnes! Those who have loved lightly may change as lightly, but I -should little deserve the inestimable happiness of having known Mr. -Granville so entirely, did I not always believe him above the suspicion -of caprice. We have read each other's mind and heart, we have been -willing to trust each other in life and till death; therefore now, -unless Richard were to tell me with his own lips that he had changed, I -would not believe it,--and scarcely even then! This alone is affection -that deserves the name, not to torment him with distrust, nor to take -up the first cause of offence, but with unenquiring confidence to judge -him as I would myself be judged. It would add a pang to the sorrow of -separation if we believed ourselves at the mercy of every idle -suspicion; but I know his heart to be as incapable of deceit or -dishonor as my own." - -In the mean time, Mr. Granville had continued to write from abroad with -unceasing assiduity, believing that some unexpected obstacle must have -occurred to prevent Marion from answering his letters, but never -suspecting that she did not receive one of the many he had written. In -his candid and elevated mind, there was no room for jealousy or -suspicion, and conscious that the transparent nature of Marion's nature -admitted of no concealments, he rejected every angry or impatient -thought. The more he saw of other society, the more dear she became to -his memory now, while his attachment was of that deep and lasting kind -over which the accidents of life have no influence. - -"Miss Dunbar," said Captain De Crespigny, one evening, placing himself -on a sofa beside Marion, while Sir Patrick, to whom he had been -speaking very earnestly some minutes before, anxiously watched her -countenance from a distance: "I wish you were now seated in one of -Merlin's chairs, from which no one can rise till a story be finished. I -have something to say, so important to myself, and let me hope also to -you, that I expect to be heard to the end." - -"Of course, if you wish it," replied Marion, in a faltering, agitated -voice. "But, Captain De Crespigny, allow me to remark how unlikely it -is that any subject can very deeply interest us both. I trust and hope -we fully understand each other." - -"It is time, indeed, that we should," replied he with emotion. - -"And if I dare say all I wish, it would still be less than I feel. -Dunbar assures me you are still at liberty to consult only your own -inclinations, and let me hope I am not entirely the dupe of my own -vanity, in believing that I might yet conquer your indifference. Since -the hour when we first met, I had eyes for no one but yourself. Even -when we could not converse I have watched you with ceaseless interest, -and am forever thinking of you in absence, counting the hours of my -existence only by those passed in your society. Why, then, do you so -obviously avoid me? Why am I for ever made the companion of Miss Smythe -or Miss Anybody-else? You know and see that my whole object in life is, -to remain beside yourself. Every look, word, and action tells you as -plainly as language can speak, that I love you to distraction, that my -attachment has not been hastily formed, to be as hastily laid aside, -and now my only apprehension is, that by too openly disclosing my -feelings the confession may separate us for ever, yet it can no longer -be delayed, for I must know at once now, whether I am to be happy or -miserable for life?" - -"Patrick has done very wrong," faltered Marion, while tears sprang into -her eyes, "I told him long ago to let you know all. It is most -unfortunate that your preference should be given to one of the very few -who never can return it. You ask for a heart which is not mine to give. -My engagement to Mr. Granville cannot be soon fulfilled, but while we -both live, we shall live only for each other." - -"That, Dunbar assures me, can never take place," replied Captain De -Crespigny, while a dark red flush passed over his countenance; "and -till it does, I cannot cease to hope. Nothing is more annoying, I know, -than the perseverance of an unrequited attachment, but I must cling to -the faint and haggard hope which remains. A mere taper is extinguished -by being blown upon, but a fire burns only the brighter. The greatest -felicity of life would not be good enough for you, nor so much as I -wish you, provided only we share it together; but with another, I -cannot wish you happiness. No! the words would choke me. May you never -find any till you find it with me. If you can ever feel one relenting -thought in my favor,--if, dissatisfied with another, you think with -even momentary regret of me, then, were I at the extremity of the -earth, let me but know it, and you shall find that I have been true as -the dial to the sun, even though not brightened by its light." - -Captain De Crespigny continued with vehemence of tone and manner which -nothing could interrupt, while Marion's countenance became more and -more expressive of grief and confusion. - -"If I have been to others the reckless, inconstant, and unprincipled -being you think, all who ever suffered a pang on my account are now -revenged. I never really loved any one but you! All else was -fancy--vanity--any thing but love. Were others like you, there could be -no changeableness or caprice, but never have I seen before, and never -shall I see again, so much to attract affection and to secure -constancy. Hereafter a solitary recollection of the hours spent with -you will be my only remaining happiness. Happiness!! there is no such -word for me, now! You, who delight in making all others happy, would -condemn me to misery! The thought of my defeated hopes will forever -ring upon my heart. The remembrance, that when I asked that of you, -which I never asked before, you coldly and indifferently rejected me." - -"Not indifferently, but with heartfelt gratitude for your disinterested -preference," answered Marion, in a low, agitated voice. "If already -married to another, I could not be more decided in saying, that you -must never renew the subject again, for I owe it to you, as much as to -myself and Richard, to say that my answer is final,--that we never can -be more to each other than friends, but that I sincerely hope the time -may come, when we shall meet as we did formerly, without emotion, but -with kind and cousinly regard." - -"Never! oh never! The very thought shows you have never loved as I do! -I could not be in the same room with you,--no! not in the same kingdom. -You may pity, if you cannot love me," replied Captain De Crespigny, -with a deep gasp of acute disappointment; and seizing his hat, he -rushed out of the house, nearly suffocated by contending emotions; but -as he ran, rather than walked, towards his lodgings, the first and -foremost of his thoughts was, under all circumstances, and at all -hazards, to persevere with unalterable pertinacity, and only with his -dying breath, to resign the hope of success. - - - - -CHAPTER XL. - - -Life is indeed a complicated and mysterious drama, in which Agnes felt -more and more dissatisfied with the part she had to play. Harrowgate -had been the threatre of many interesting scenes to her; but now Lord -Doncaster had departed with a vaguely-expressed hope of her visiting -him at Kilmarnock Abbey; and when Sir Arthur felt sufficiently -recovered to begin his long-desired progress towards home, she slowly -and sadly prepared to accompany him. - -Before they reached Portobello, winter had already covered the earth in -a shroud of snow and of ice; the birds no longer carolled gladly on the -boughs; the rustling leaves had ceased to fall; the naked trees hung -their dejected branches, in bare and stern desolation, and the -blood-red sun glittered on the cold and barren fields. "Winter's dumb." -All life and joyfulness had departed from the face of nature, which -looked, as Agnes remarked, like a wedding-cake without the ornaments; -and amidst weeks of dreary discontent, she compared the death-like -contrast of nature now, from what it had been, to her own sadly altered -feelings. She appeared constantly now to be in a state of restless, -almost feverish excitement, always, evidently, expecting some event -which never happened, while she became daily more depressed and -irritable. - -Marion, in the mean time, during many a long and dreary evening, -resolutely buried beneath a smiling aspect, her own anxiety respecting -Mr. Granville's unaccountable silence, and devoted herself as entirely -to Sir Arthur's comfort, as if there had not existed another being upon -the earth; yet still, every knock at the door made her heart palpitate -with hope, and every note brought into the room, caused her a new pang -of disappointment and surprise. - -If a grain of hope or joy were to be found in any circumstances, -Marion's was a mind to sift out and enjoy it; and her buoyant spirit -now shielded her from a too sensitive apprehensiveness, while she -repelled the withering fears that might have forced themselves on a -heart less candid and trusting. Her whole spirit rebelled against a -vagrant thought of Richard Granville's inconstancy or indifference; -though in Sir Patrick's letters from the continent, there was much that -might have insinuated distrust into her thoughts; but Marion clung to -the unswerving belief of her lover's infallible truth. She knew that -the stamp of Christian excellence was on his whole character, engrained -in his very being, and only to decay with life itself; therefore her -opinion was not at the mercy of any idle representations; but the blast -which might have uprooted a superficial attachment, only deepened the -root of her own, which nothing could undermine. - -Mr. Granville, in the mean time, having long ceased to hope for any -answer to his letters, became more and more impatient for the time when -he might seek a personal interview with Marion, of whose constancy not -a doubt ever crossed his imagination; while day after day he watched -with saddening apprehension over the declining health of his sister, -whose failing strength required all the affectionate attentions he -lavished on her, especially when, after a few weeks, Sir Patrick also -arrived at Florence, and Clara shrunk with blighting, heart-broken -grief, from every engagement that might endanger her meeting him. She -mournfully acknowledged, that having at first esteemed as well as loved -him, she was still unable to conquer her misplaced affection; and that -while nothing could induce her to unite her fate to Sir Patrick's, or -to place her happiness in his care, still the painful consciousness -that he was unworthy and dishonored, weighed the more deeply upon her -spirit, and crushed her whole heart with anguish. - -The constancy with which Sir Patrick tried to regain her affection was -deeply touching to Clara's young mind; and in vain she tried to blot -out his name with her tears. Still, Mr. Granville, with -inextinguishable hope, continued to believe that the germ of life must -be stronger than it seemed; but day after day she faded and drooped. -Change of air had done less than nothing for Clara's feeble frame and -wasted strength; while she spoke often, with a smile of affectionate -interest, respecting her brother's future life, though he observed with -emotion, that her own name was never included, and that only when -talking of a world hereafter, did she speak now of their being -together. - -"We must die to be perfectly happy," observed Clara, one day, in a tone -of calm and elevated peace. "My sun has set in the morning, Richard; -and it might have seemed hard thus early to leave such a world, so -beautiful, so fragrant, so joyous, and embellished by such affection as -yours; but we know that sin has destroyed this whole magnificent -creation; that misery, decay, and death, are hid beneath all. It is the -glorious discovery of Christianity that we are immortal; that we are -created, not for time, but for eternity! So long as my spirit continues -to lodge in this most fragile of human bodies, I must have sorrow and -suffering to prepare me for throwing off the homely garb of an earthly -nature, and assuming the glorious garments of heaven." - -Mr. Granville covered his face with his hands, unable for some moments -to reply, while Clara continued, in a tone of solemn sadness and -fervent emotion-- - -"The near approach of death fills my heart with strange and wonderful -thoughts! When, like the lightning from the cloud, my soul departs from -the body, O then, Richard, how I shall learn to know the value of our -immortal salvation! It bewilders me now to think, that I myself shall -survive that glorious sun, the solid earth, and all the wonders around -us; that I shall see and understand all the miracles of creation; that -I shall know and love all the wisest and best of human beings who ever -existed on the earth; and that I shall then be wiser than the wisest, -as well as happier than the happiest of mortals. Richard! that is -marvellous! and were it not for leaving you, I could rejoice with a joy -that is unspeakable, and full of glory." - -Mr. Granville clasped Clara's emaciated hand in his own, and would have -spoken, but his voice failed; and after an ineffectual effort, fearful -of agitating his sister, he turned away and was silent; but she saw his -unutterable grief, and continued, - -"You could have borne this better if it had been yourself, Richard; but -I leave you in the hands, not only of an atoning Saviour, but also of a -sympathising friend, who will send you comfort according to your utmost -need; and, my dear brother, let us now remember, that as the infidel La -Harpe said, there is one text in Scripture sufficient either to live or -to die on, 'God so loved the world, as to give his only Son, that -whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting -life.'" - -Mr. Granville solemnly bent his head in token of acquiescence, and -closed his eyes, but large tears, notwithstanding every effort, coursed -each other down his face, and he avoided looking round, while Clara in -tremulous accents continued-- - -"Before long I shall live only in your memory, and well do I know the -place you will give me there; but remember, dear Richard, when my -mortal frame is dissolved, that you will have another relative then -awaiting you in heaven, and that I shall yet be in as active a state of -consciousness there as here. When we are separated, you must still -sometimes revive old times, by reading with Marion the books I have -loved--by listening to the music I have delighted in--by walking in my -accustomed haunts at home--by rearing my favorite flowers--and most of -all, console yourself, my dear brother, by reflecting, that when you -and Marion are both worshiping God together on earth, I shall also be -adoring Him in heaven:-- - - 'Tis sweet, as year by year we lose - Friends out of sight, in faith to muse - How grows in Paradise our store.'" - -The wintry year rolled on till Christmas eve, when Agnes, with a -discontented yawn, loudly wished that she had been born in the planet -Jupiter, where there was no winter at all. That night she announced -after tea to Sir Arthur, that she was about to leave home for several -weeks next day, being engaged to spend some time with her friend, Mrs. -O'Donoghoe. A considerable air of trepidation appeared in her voice and -manner when she spoke; and Marion, having recently observed that her -sister's thoughts were continually pre-occupied, felt startled and -amazed at the look of agitated determination with which she intimated -her approaching departure, after which she hurried towards the door, -anxious apparently to avoid all discussion; but Sir Arthur, in a tone -of mild authority, called her back, and drawing in his breath between -his compressed lips with evident vexation, he assumed an air of grave -but ironical humor. - -"May I take the liberty of inquiring, Agnes, whether you have fully -investigated all the stories we heard at Harrowgate respecting Mrs. -O'Donoghoe's former connection with Lord Doncaster, and what she -actually is, before I consent, on very short notice, to entrust her -with my niece." - -"Oh! she is everything on earth most delightful! You need not have a -minute's anxiety about me, uncle Arthur! I can take excellent care of -myself. Nobody knows my own value better than I do!" - -"Convince me of that, Agnes, if possible; but you are aware that my -whole heart abhors your recent very unaccountable intimacy with that -contemptible old _roue_, who shall be nameless," replied Sir Arthur, -with strong, deliberate emphasis. "Any continuance of that exceedingly -familiar intercourse would be utterly improper; and as for a young girl -of your appearance setting out on a wild ramble with any Irish -adventuress recommended by Lord Doncaster, let me hear of her having -some very different introduction, or I cannot allow you to go." - -"My dear uncle! I would dig my own grave and bury myself, if anything -prevented me! As for your permission," exclaimed Agnes, her whole face -illuminated with angry eagerness, "I shall certainly be most happy to -have it; but if people strain the cord too tight, it sometimes snaps -altogether. I have made myself a positive promise never to decline a -good offer, and go I must. Mrs. O'Donoghoe is to take me in her own -carriage, free, gratis, and for nothing. Only think how very kind!" - -"My dear Agnes," replied Sir Arthur, while his brow darkened with -mournful anxiety, "I cannot wonder if you tire of the dull, monotonous -house I have to offer you. A perfect mausoleum indeed! It is a -premature old age for girls like you and Marion to be, evening after -evening, the companions of a solitary old man. Often, of late, have I -considered in vain how it could be remedied. Yet, my dear girl, there -might be a solitude far worse, if you lose the respect of others, and -the peace of mind you may enjoy with me. Hearing what I have lately -done of Mrs. O'Donoghoe, and knowing all I do of Lord Doncaster and the -Abbe Mordaunt, I must lay my positive prohibition on your accompanying -them now. You may think me a whimsical old man; but, Agnes, you cannot -long be troubled with my care. Loaded as I am with the weight of years -and infirmities, my life is like a spark on the ocean. Its fleeting -joys and troubled thoughts are drawing rapidly to a close; but if these -were the last words I am ever to speak, you must not go unprotected -into such society." - -The Admiral walked with slow and musing steps up and down the room, his -fine countenance flushed with agitation, and his eyes shaded by his -long white hair, exhibiting an expression of mournful solicitude. -Marion's heart swelled with agitation, while inwardly moralizing on the -officiousness of Irish widows, and Agnes bit her beautiful lip with a -look of resolute determination, flashing glances of angry surprise at -her uncle, and pouting her beautiful lip, though the reverence which -Sir Arthur never failed to inspire kept her silent. - -"Tell me, Agnes," continued he, stopping at length before her, with a -look of benignant kindness, "is there anything within the compass of my -powers that could be done to make up for this disappointment? We who -are old must not forget that there are pleasures for the young which -they naturally wish to enjoy. If there be any place you wish -particularly to see----" - -"It is not places, but people, that I care for!" interrupted Agnes, -peevishly. "With respect to this excursion, it is impossible for me to -get off. I shall go deranged if you interfere with it! The party is -made on purpose for me, the horses are bespoken, my things all sent to -Mrs. O'Donoghoe's, and nothing left for me but to bid you good-bye!" - -"This is little short of an elopement, Agnes!" replied Sir Arthur, with -a mild but resolute countenance, while there was a tone of strong -resentment in his voice. "What good object can there be in a scheme so -clandestinely begun! But I have no legal authority to detain you, if -affection and kindness are insufficient!--One thing only let me say, -painful as it is to my feelings," added the Admiral, while his whole -frame shook with emotion, and he walked several times across the room. -"In the name of your father, Agnes, I forbid you to leave my roof with -the party you speak of; and if, in defiance of all propriety, you do -go, then--I would have said, never return here again; but no!--I cannot -say that to my brother's child. No!--till my home is in the grave, you -may share it with me. Come back when you will, Agnes, and if I am -alive, you shall be welcomed." - -Marion caught the hand of Sir Arthur in her own, and kissed it with -ardent affection, while she felt a tightening in her throat, and a mist -before her eyes, till tears fell fast and thick, like rain, upon her -cheek; but Agnes, with whom kindness, in its most impressive form, -could excite no generous impulse, rose in silence, and hurried out of -the room. - -That night, after Marion had been asleep for several hours, she -suddenly started up in bed, with that bewildered feeling of perplexity -experienced by those who are unexpectedly aroused at an unusual hour. -It was four o'clock in the morning, and a pale, cold, livid moon-beam -streamed faintly into the room, giving a chilled and spectral aspect to -all around. A death-like stillness reigned beside her, and unable to -account for having been so suddenly disturbed, she was about once more -to consign herself to repose, when she heard the noise, repeated which -she had begun to fancy must have been only a dream. She listened in -trembling astonishment, for it seemed as if in her uncle's room -over-head, some persons were trampling up and down the room, drawers -opening and shutting, heavy weights falling on the floor, and a sound -sometimes reached her, as if several carpenters were at work. - -Finding there was no mistake, Marion sprung out of bed, threw on her -dressing-gown, rushed up stairs, and having hastily thrown open the -door, she stood there transfixed for a moment with amazement and fear. -Through the glimmering dawn of light, she saw that Sir Arthur was up, -and completely dressed, while he appeared to be hurriedly groping about -the room, as if packing up for a journey. He seemed unconscious of -Marion's entrance, who stood for several minutes watching him in -speechless perplexity and consternation, while her very blood forgot to -flow, when she saw the stony look of his eyes. His countenance was of -an ashy paleness, his long grey hair matted over his forehead, his -expression sad beyond mortality, and when she took his hand in her own, -it felt cold and damp. His eyes wandered over her face for a moment, -without any apparent recognition, and then giving a smile of utter -vacancy, he resumed his occupation with restless eagerness. - -"Uncle Arthur! dear uncle Arthur! what are you doing?" exclaimed -Marion, throwing her arms round him, while her limbs were faint, and -trembled with fear. "Speak, dear uncle! Speak to your own Marion! Why -do you not speak?" - -A deep silence ensued. Sir Arthur evidently did not hear her. His cold, -livid lips moved as if he would have spoken, but not a sound became -audible, and with the same vacant smile as before, he turned away. The -terror-stricken Marion now felt utterly appalled. A death-like sickness -came over her, horror and darkness seemed gathering over her mind, and -apprehensive lest her senses might entirely fail, she hastily and -vehemently rang the bell, calling loudly for assistance. - -Marion's was an intellect of that high tone which rises to meet a great -emergency, and though nearly paralyzed by grief and terror, when she -first saw the fearful, ghastly smile, with which her uncle gazed around -him, she now endeavored, by gentle persuasion, to make him lie down in -his bed, and tried, by speaking in accents of tenderness, to recall his -recollection, while impatiently longing for Martin to appear; and -during the few minutes that elapsed till he entered, it seemed as if -time itself had ceased to move. - -The doctor was at length summoned, and having pronounced the Admiral's -illness to be caused by an oppression of the brain, threatening -apoplexy, he attempted to bleed his patient, though almost without -success; for Marion observed, while she held him in her arms, that the -blood scarcely flowed, till after some time he uttered a fearful, -convulsive cry, which rang through the room, and fell back in a violent -spasm, the immediate precursor of apoplexy. - -Awe-struck and paralyzed with grief, Marion clung to her uncle, and -remained by his side, watching with deep and solemn affection every -turn of his features; while her cheek assumed the hue of death, her -tearless eyes were motionless, her quivering lips compressed, and she -remained as silent and immoveable as if the mortal shaft had reached -herself. Without shedding a tear or breathing a sigh, she bent over the -distorted countenance of Sir Arthur, and assisted in cutting off the -long white locks of his hair, which she had often loved to look upon, -but which were now strewed all unheeded on the bed, and again seating -herself by his side, she riveted his hand in her own, becoming white -and motionless as an image of marble. - -Notice had been sent to Agnes' room of the afflicting event which had -taken place, and Marion expected every instant that her sister would -appear; but time passed on, and she came not, being one who -systematically avoided any scenes of distress, therefore she satisfied -herself with sending frequent messages of inquiry to the door. At -length, after some hours, Sir Arthur appeared to have recovered his -recollection; for he looked at Marion with a feeble smile of deep -affection, and laid his hand on her head as if to bless her; but words -were denied him; he struggled in vain to speak; and she who had not yet -found the solace of a tear, now bursting into an irresistible agony of -weeping, sobbed aloud. After gazing long and tenderly in her face, Sir -Arthur's eye-lids at length closed with fatigue, and still clasping her -hand in his, he fell into a peaceful, quiet slumber of many hours' -duration. - -Those who have most leisure to contemplate death, generally think least -about it, and no one had ever meditated less on the subject than Agnes. -She occasionally remarked, when the infirmities of the old and the -indigent were forced upon her notice, that they might hope soon to be -released, and that to them it must, of course, be a happy escape. The -busy and active, she thought, had scarcely time to die; and, for -herself, she considered death as a very unpleasant subject, which fifty -years hence must be attended to, when the joys and the dreams of her -present life had vanished; but it seemed to her most preposterous now, -to lower her spirits by melancholy reflections on what could not -certainly be avoided, and would come only too soon in the end. In -short, her whole plan of life was, "To-day to sparkle, and to-morrow -die." - -Marion had stolen away to complete her midnight toilette, before she -settled for the day beside Sir Arthur's pillow, when she was amazed -near the door to meet Agnes, hurrying past in travelling costume, and -anxious, apparently, to avoid being seen, though, when an interview -became inevitable, she tried to carry it off with careless audacity, -being evidently in a perfect delirium of high spirits, which she vainly -tried to conceal. - -"Well, Marion! I am quite relieved to hear from Martin that there is -not the slightest danger! The doctors also say that everything has -taken a favorable turn, though, as for their opinion, I have despised -all physicians from Esculapius down to the magnesia-and-rhubarb doctors -of the present day. They all tell us the same thing of an invalid, 'If -he does not die, he will certainly recover!'" - -Marion listened with a look of grave and melancholy surprise; while -Agnes, trying not to seem aware of it, and evidently anxious to avoid -any reply, fixed her eyes on the door, as if impatient to proceed, and -continued, in rapid accents of assumed bravado-- - -"You are looking really ill, Marion, and must have got a dreadful -fright! It would have killed me altogether! But make your mind easy, -for these attacks are, I am told, very common. The Duke of Middlesex -had ten or twelve, and people live often for years after the first, -which is a great comfort." - -"They do sometimes, but not always," replied Marion, with mournful -gravity. "My dear Agnes, do not be too sanguine. This is a very serious -attack. You may hope, but I cannot; for it seems to me that our uncle -is laid on a bed from which he will never rise again." - -"Oh! you are nervous, after being so frightfully alarmed this morning. -It must have been very shocking," said Agnes, shaking her well-arranged -ringlets, and attempting to get up a melancholy look; but in her mind -there never was any of that gentle, feminine apprehensiveness for -others, which is so amiable and so endearing. "I feel quite confident -that in a few days he will recover; but for the present, Marion, you -see everything through a darkened glass. I have no fears whatever," -added she, in a tone of superior wisdom. "Old people always remind me -of a creaking door, forever complaining, but never any worse! It is -lucky for those who have nerves to endure it all. I have none; -therefore being of no earthly use here, I should be quite in the way. -Indeed, a single week of moping at home, with fright and anxiety, would -lay me up also." - -"You are not going, Agnes? Impossible! Listen to me for five minutes." - -"I am not equal to the exertion! What can I do? It is out of the -question to break off my engagement now! I am really between the horns -of a dilemma, and must be tossed upon one or other of them. Both Mrs. -O'Donoghoe and Lord Doncaster have set their hearts upon having me; -and, as the schoolboys say in their speeches, 'It must be so! Agnes, -thou reason'st well!'" - -"If we are sisters, hear me," replied Marion, in accents of breathless -indignation. "Agnes! you cannot, you must not think of going." - -"But, as the lover says in the Critic, 'I can, I must, I will, I ought, -I do!' Marion, you do not know the importance I attach to my excursion, -which will last only a few days. As for this absurd affair of Sir -Arthur's, you think every breeze a hurricane; but it is well over now, -and, since he is ordered quietness, he will miss me the less, or -perhaps not at all, if you never mention my absence. Certainly my forte -is not in a sick-room, and yours is. My chief fault, as an attendant on -sick people, is, that I am good for nothing. As for danger, Marion, I -do not see any." - -"Or, rather, you will not see any. Agnes, I would not for ten thousand -worlds leave him now. Our best--almost our only friend, and probably -dying," exclaimed Marion, while hot, scalding tears rushed in torrents -from her eyes. "The question now is not, whether Sir Arthur will be -restored as he was to us? but only, how many days or hours he can be -kept from the grave. Every passing moment is a knell of death to my -heart, when I think how few more we shall see before he is gone -forever. If you consider nothing but mere appearances, Agnes, you ought -to stay." - -"As for appearances," replied she, clasping her bracelet, "I am of -opinion with the Abbe Mordaunt on that point, as on most others, that -those who study appearances have seldom any realities to boast of." - -"Such sentiments might be expected from such a man, but I should not -certainly have supposed you would act upon them, especially now. -Believe me, Agnes, your own heart will reproach you forever after. The -danger is immediate and very great," said Marion, while her tears fell -drop by drop on the ground. "My uncle is hovering over the very brink -of the grave, therefore, for my sake, and for his sake, do not leave -us." - -"But for my own sake I must! You have a teazing, exaggerated way of -stating things; but pray, remember now, Marion, the maxim Madame -D'Ambert taught us at school, '_Pour porter legerement la vie, il faut -glisser sur bien des choses!_' I always prefer hopes to fears, and hate -that desolate, dreary look of yours, this morning. You wish to rule and -direct everybody, but I will not be governed or trampled on," said -Agnes, in an angry imperious tone. "I did not suppose as much could be -said on any subject in the world as you have said upon this. One would -think, from your way of talking, that Sir Arthur was nobody's uncle but -yours; or that I did not know how to act for myself! Well! I hope, for -my own especial happiness, very soon to be independent of those who -never have appreciated me." - -"At all events, we have loved you, Agnes." - -"Yes! of course. Ah! here is the carriage! Good bye, then! Sir Arthur -will never miss me while you remain; but write often, though where in -the wide world to direct your letters is more than I remember; but, -Marion, we see in the Times newspaper every day, advertisements -entreating persons who have left their homes to return, that all their -wishes may be granted, therefore, when you and Sir Arthur want me back, -pray insert something of that kind. Good bye!" - -With heightened color, and eyes fixed on the ground, Marion received -the hand of Agnes, and gave her one parting look of expostulation, -hoping to the last that nature and feeling might yet make themselves -heard; but when Agnes had sprung into Mrs. O'Donoghoe's carriage, and -kissed her hand with a parting smile, every trace of agitation vanished -from the face of Marion, but a band of iron seemed around her head and -her heart, as she slowly turned away, disgusted and astonished at her -sister's heartless levity, and in the privacy of her own room, she sank -upon her knees and offered up solemn, fervent prayers for the many to -whom she was attached, but, above all, for her much-loved uncle. - - - - -CHAPTER XLI. - - -With all the acute susceptibilities of youth, Marion now experienced, -for the first time, what it was to watch over an almost hopeless -illness, and, with a shuddering sensation of unutterable woe, she tried -to obtain that comfort from above, which nothing on earth could supply. -Days passed slowly on, the longest and most melancholy she had ever -known, while most of her hours were spent in prayer, but all around was -gloom. Nothing could be more oppressive to her than the subdued whisper -and stealthy step of Sir Arthur's attendants, his vacant seat, his -darkened room, the mute and solemn looks of his physician, and, above -all, the inward anguish with which, hour after hour, she sat with his -hand in hers, watching the fluctuations of his feeble pulse, observing -with awe and grief the pale ensigns of death gathering over his -features, and feeling as if every labored breath he drew gave him but a -momentary reprieve from the grave, while she could not bear to -contemplate the probability of burying with her beloved uncle, all the -dear and tender ties that bound them to each other. - -With no one to console her, and nothing on earth to screen her from the -desolating blast of grief, the whole fabric of her worldly happiness -seemed crumbling to dust. Her heart was like an exhausted receiver, and -her spirit sank, yet no inducement could have withdrawn her for an hour -from that scene of solemn, deep, and awful melancholy. Throughout the -long, dreary hours of night, each of which seemed an eternity of -anxious care, Marion felt too deeply impressed with the solemnity -around for the indulgence of any violent emotion. Nothing is so silent -as intense feeling! Stunned and stupified by the sudden affliction, a -wild chaos of sorrow, fear, and amazement rushed through her young -mind, filling her with agony, which tears could not relieve; but now -was the time for that supernatural aid given by Divine grace to the -humble, believing Christian. In silent, speechless prayer, Marion found -her first and only relief; then she felt that her heart was read, and -her sorrows pitied, by One who has shared every human grief, carried -every human sorrow, and to whom the suffering sinner never applies in -vain. - -One morning, the grey light of dawn stole through a crevice of the -shutters, while, in her lonely silence, Marion felt as if the whole -world were in a trance, and not a sound was heard, but the slow ticking -of the clock, reminding her that time and death are forever advancing. -She sat watching every minute change of that beloved countenance -shattered by sickness, and evidently sinking in decay, when Sir Arthur -unexpectedly opened his eyes, which once more beamed with intelligence, -as he fixed them with a look of touching mournfulness on Marion, and -called her by name. That voice, which had so long been dear to her, now -sounded strange and unnatural, being palsied by weakness, while the -glassiness of the grave was in his eye; but Marion, forcibly subduing -all appearance of emotion, stooped down, and, with a momentary gleam of -hope, kissed his pale forehead. - -"Marion! we have loved each other well," said he feebly, extending his -hand to her. "For your sake I would stay, old and weary as I am, but -the far better will of God is otherwise. Before that clock strikes -again, I shall be in a better world." - -Marion covered her face with her hands and attempted not to speak, for -she saw that the sure hand of time, and the heavier hand of sorrow, had -indeed done their work. It was but too evident that Sir Arthur would -never see another night, for he was about to awaken in the mighty dawn -of eternity, where no darkness ever would follow. The frail, old, -worn-out tenement of his body, so full of infirmities, was now to enter -its rest; his head, whitened with age and suffering, had been anointed -with peace, and, having partaken with cheerful thankfulness of the -banquet of life, he was evidently willing to make way, that others -might fill his place; not disgusted or dissatisfied with existence, but -thankful that he had tasted better joys than those of earth, and -desiring to enjoy them at last in never-ending perfection. A mysterious -conviction is generally given to the dying, when their disease becomes -mortal, but though nature shrank at first from the solemn change, -religion supported the powerful mind of Sir Arthur, who added, in a -tone of commanding calmness, while a beam of ineffable peace overspread -his countenance, - -"You are now my sole earthly care--as you are my only earthly comfort. -It breaks my heart to leave my Marion worse than alone, while Patrick -and Agnes remorsely pursue their own pleasure, careless how you are -trampled down in their wild career." - -"Dear uncle!" whispered Marion, wishing to soothe him, "you consigned -me to the care of Richard Granville, and year after year, while we -live, you shall be remembered by us both with the affection and -gratitude of children to a parent." - -"I did hope, my dear girl, that I should have lived to understand his -conduct, and even now, while standing in the gloomy porch of death, it -would cheer me to see him and dear Henry again. If Granville be the man -I believe him, he will come immediately to see you now, and all will be -satisfactorily explained--if not, the world is worse than I thought." - -"If Richard is alive, he will come, dear uncle--but oh! what a meeting -it would be, without you!" - -"Take comfort, dear Marion. Think of me often, but let it be with -consolation. My long life seems but a span! May yours be blessed with -every affection of this world--with every hope for eternity--and may -your death-bed be attended by one as dear and affectionate as mine is. -May your eyes be closed in the same undoubting faith, and may I be -permitted to meet you on the very threshold of heaven, and in the -august presence of Him, whom 'not having seen, we love, and in whom -believing, we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.'" - -With a face livid as death, Marion choked back her sobs and restrained -her tears, while she listened to every faltering word Sir Arthur said, -as if her life depended on hearing him. When he became silent from -exhaustion, she attempted to whisper a few broken expressions of grief -and affection in his ear. Unable, however, to think or speak under the -weight of her sorrow, she might have been mistaken for a corpse, but -for the look of living agony in her eye, while struggling with a sorrow -which tears or lamentations could not have expressed, and could not -have relieved. - -At length Sir Arthur's breathing became uncertain--his majestic chest -heaved convulsively--a damp, cold dew broke out on his forehead--the -heart which had beat with every kind and noble emotion, could beat no -more--and, giving a last glance of fond affection at Marion, a grey, -ashy hue stole over his features, and his countenance assumed that -strange, peculiar aspect which is seen in death, and in death only. -Marion saw it, and long afterwards that look was forever before her -sight. Nothing in all the earth is so unutterly sublime as death. -Strange and solemn was the mysterious horror, the inexplicable wonder, -with which Marion, for the first time, witnessed the soul forsaking its -earthly tabernacle. Day after day, when she returned to watch beside -all that now remained of her earliest and kindest friend, while her -heart seemed scorched and seared with grief, she gazed on the mortal -form in ruins before her--its light extinguished--its tenant -departed--its whole nature in a moment transformed--and, forgetting -sometimes for a moment her own grief, her loneliness, her deep and -fearful bereavements, she thought but of that purified spirit now -emancipated into the regions of eternal glory, and almost longed for -the period when she also might become as indifferent to things of time -as the inanimate corpse beside her. Often, however, she tried, with an -eye of faith, to look beyond the portals of the tomb, remembering that -death is to a Christian, like the setting of the sun, for while lost to -human sight, he still exists and shines with unfading glory and -everlasting brightness. - -When Sir Arthur's remains were placed in the coffin, Marion felt as if -the last link were severed between them. His better part had, indeed, -already departed, but the cold image before her was still associated -with all she had ever known of happiness or affection, yet, in the -strong agony of her grief, when all seemed a gloomy chaos of solitary -desolation, she felt consoled by reflecting that her own devoted care -had assisted in smoothing his passage to the grave; and she could not -but think how great must be the joys of another world, when such -affliction as her's was not worthy to be compared with them. A wide -horizon of sorrow seemed before her, long days of loneliness and longer -nights of grief; while, though young in years, she already felt old in -affliction, for a blight and a mildew were upon her spirit. Marion's -sanguine mind and ardent feelings had nothing near her on which to -rest, the whole energy of her being, for the time, seemed crushed and -withered; the future appeared to stretch before her mind in a long -vista of moving shadows, and the memory of past happiness, like gold in -the hand of a drowning man, sank her only the deeper in grief. Her -beloved uncle seemed still to be everywhere--yet she saw him not. In -all the earth there was not a thought which did not pierce her, or a -worldly hope which did not now bring an icy chilliness to her -heart--for a dark cloud had fallen between her and all those whose -affection once adorned her existence. - -It was now that Marion, like a tempest-tossed vessel, surrounded by -darkness and fear, turned for direction and help to that steady and -benignant light burning at a distance, which alone could direct her -into a haven of rest. Her sorrow became gradually illuminated by hope -and peace. She clung to every shattered wreck of happiness which -remained, and sinking on her knees, she felt that no one could ever be -completely alone, or completely miserable, who rightly used the -privilege of speaking her wishes in prayer to that great and holy -Being, who is the father and the friend of all his earth-born children. -Marion had long believed that the happiest life is that most conformed -to the will of God--that grief arises from not believing whatever is -appointed to be really best; and now she found in the Bible that -comfort which is nowhere else to be gained. The deepest emotions of -this world remain unseen and unknown to all around; for the strength of -character which gives power to feel, gives power also to hide, and -there is a modesty in real sensibility, which admits not of display; -but Marion, cut off now from all the tenderest sympathies of life, -became the more zealous and diligent in preparing for that hour when -"mourned and mourner lie together in repose." - - Oh! if belov'd ones from their hallow'd sphere, - May witness warm affection's faithful tear, - At this deep hour, they hear the mourner's sigh, - And waft a blessing from their homes on high. - - - - -CHAPTER XLII. - - -At Florence, Clara Granville lingered and recovered, and lingered -again, sleeping little, eating nothing, and patiently trying every -remedy, though she herself was without hope of recovery, till at -length, decorated in all the radiant coloring and bright beauty of -consumption, she sank slowly but surely, evidently hastening to the -grave, though still Mr. Granville, with the tenacity of affection, -continued to hope, and still he told himself that she might, perhaps, -yet be spared. Day after day he sat beside her couch, reading, -conversing, and praying with her, while his brotherly attachment seemed -to grow only the more engrossing and considerate the longer she needed -his care; but it became evident to all around, that his cares and hopes -on her account were drawing to a close, and that his sorrow must soon -be without hope in a present world, though full of hope in a world to -come. - -Letters now reached Mr. Granville, announcing that his long-pending -law-suit had been at length finally decided in his favor, giving him an -income more than equal to his utmost desires; but letters far more -deeply interesting to his feelings still were missing. Often and -anxiously had he watched for a single line from Marion, yet so well had -Sir Patrick arranged the measures which, as her guardian, he persuaded -himself it might be allowable to take, in order to intercept her -correspondence, that not a single letter ever escaped the vigilance of -his emissaries; and Mr. Granville, though he still cherished, as his -best earthly treasure, the belief of Marion's attachment, felt so -painfully perplexed respecting her, and so grieved for Clara, that the -almost unexpected change in his circumstances appeared scarcely worth a -thought, while a dense curtain of sorrow seemed gathered around his -spirits. - -If the vital spark of his own existence had been about to expire, -Richard could scarcely have felt more deeply than now, beside the dying -bed of his young and lovely sister, who took his hand in her own one -day, while a fixed expression of tenderness and grief appeared in her -speaking eyes, and there was a melting softness in her voice, when she -said: - -"My only reluctance to die, is, dear Richard, because I must leave you! -This is sorrow; but our sorrow shall hereafter be turned into joy. When -patience has had her perfect work, you, like myself, have a sure and -certain hope of a better world, and, unlike me, you have a hope also -for this life, which contains the best blessing left to man upon earth. -Yes, Richard, you will soon have a loved and trusted companion, suited -in every respect to yourself; and with her, I trust, you may enjoy a -long course of usefulness and of joy, after I am no more." - -Mr. Granville kissed his sister's forehead with deep and solemn -affection, while his cheek became pale and his lip quivered; but his -heart was too full to reply, and Clara proceeded: - -"We have saved ourselves much unnecessary anxiety by placing a firm and -well-founded confidence in dear Marion. Let that remain unshaken, -Richard, till you meet," said Clara, fixing her large, mournful eyes on -him; and slowly closing them as she faintly added, "Tell Marion I died -without a doubt of her constancy and truth. And now, there is but one -wish remaining to me in life, Richard--only one----" - -Clara hesitated, the hectic color deepened on her transparent cheek, -her lip trembled, and she became silent, while Richard took her hand in -his own, and listened with affectionate anxiety for what was to follow; -but it came not. With a look of desolate grief Clara turned away her -head and was silent, while Mr. Granville, using every term of -affectionate endearment, entreated her not to let him suppose there was -a wish of her heart unspoken, or a desire which he could grant -unfulfilled. After a short struggle, during which he was alarmed by the -greatness of her emotion, she seemed at length to have entirely -conquered her feelings, and said in a perfectly calm, unimpassioned -voice-- - -"A letter was conveyed to me last night--I know not how it came--from -Sir Patrick. He has been some time in Florence; he sends every morning -to inquire for me! I am told he even watches daily till the doctors -come out, and asks how I am!" - -"True, dear Clara, and I feel for him deeply." - -"Richard!" added she, raising herself up with sudden energy, and -clasping his arm, while her large, bright eyes became fixed on his, "I -wish to see Sir Patrick once again! to have a last conversation with -him on this side of the eternal world. There is a sacred power in the -words of a dying friend, and I would summon the whole faculties of my -being, to bid him a last and solemn farewell. He has always listened to -me. If I have any influence, let me use it now. Think what a blessed -consciousness I yet might carry to the grave, if our unhappy attachment -were no longer a source of misery to both, but of real and eternal -advantage. Let me make a final effort of life and of affection, to -leave in his heart a thought of immortality. Such a hope might almost -hold back my spirit from the gates of death! Dear Richard, I shall rise -for half an hour to-morrow, and then let me see him!" - -"It would destroy you, Clara! you are quite unfit for the effort; but -give me a message. Say what you please; and, painful as it must be, I -shall see Sir Patrick, personally. We can sympathise with each other -now, as we never did before, and I shall deliver your very words. You -are unfit now, Clara, for any agitation." - -"Dear Richard! you never yet denied me anything! Do not now refuse my -last--my very last request. Whatever be the faults of Sir Patrick, his -attachment was disinterested and generous. I cannot die in peace -without saying that I am grateful--without, at least, endeavoring to -convince him, for his happiness now, as well as hereafter, how true it -is, that 'he sins against this life who slights the next.'" - -"It might be a work of usefulness and mercy," replied Mr. Granville, in -a musing tone; "and if there be a pleasure in life you can yet enjoy, -dear Clara, I am not the person who could withhold it." - -"That I know. In this world which has so long been my home, Richard, I -have never lived a moment without being the happier for your affection, -and it will be so for ever. I am now counting the last grains of my -sand-glass as they fall, and ready to go alone through the portals of -the tomb. Every sorrow is about to be eternally forgotten, every -blessing to be eternally enjoyed. Most of my feelings and affections -are already transferred to another and a better world; while I ought, -as a dying Christian, to be like an eagle soaring to the sky, and -seeing nothing but the sun, yet, Richard, the hope of serving one whom -I loved only too well still lingers round my heart, and will not be -repulsed. Say then, Richard, that we may meet;--tell him that, standing -on the very brink of eternity, I feel as if, even in another world, it -would increase my felicity to know, if permitted to look back on -earthly scenes, that I had not left him without hope or consolation." - -"I do not believe, Clara, that the invisible world is very distant; but -only that it is hid by the grossness of our mortal bodies; and I do -believe, my dear sister, that we may both, perhaps, yet see the -influence of your prayers and of your last words upon one whom I most -sincerely pity," said Mr. Granville, observing the mild, full, -melancholy eyes of his sister fixed upon him, while gradually, as he -spoke, her countenance became irradiated with peace. "The ways of -Providence are indeed wonderful! If Dunbar be willing to forget all -that has ever been amiss between us both, I have forgotten it long ago. -If he choose it, we shall become friends, till Marion makes us -brothers." - -"Oh that I could live to see that day, and then close my eyes in peace; -but it must not be! In a few hours I shall have shed my last tear, -endured my last sorrow, and conquered my last enemy. Who would not be -willing, then, to change time for eternity, the sufferings of earth for -the joys of heaven, misery for happiness, and a dying life for -immortality!" - -A lovelier morning never had smiled on the glad earth, than that on -which Clara Granville received the visit of Sir Patrick alone. On a -couch near the window, into which the sun poured a flood of light and -warmth, propped up by cushions, Clara, with an unearthly brightness -glittering in her eye, and burning on her cheek, looked more like a -celestial spirit than a creature of earthly mould; but what passed -between them, during the long interview which ensued, no one could -tell. Clara's features, when it was about to close, betrayed no -agitation, but continued almost motionless for some time, while the -tone of her voice became slow and languid. Gradually her words appeared -fainter; her voice grew nearly inaudible; the color which had tinged -her cheek died away; and a death-like paleness succeeded. Not a groan -was heaved, nor a feature disturbed; but scarcely had Sir Patrick time -hastily to summon Mr. Granville, and to support her in his arms, before -her countenance became rigid as marble, and her ethereal spirit had -mysteriously fled from its mortal dwelling. - - Loveliest of lovely things are they, - On earth, that soonest pass away; - The rose, that lives its little hour, - Is prized beyond the sculptured flower. - - Ev'n love, long tried, and cherish'd long, - Becomes more tender and more strong, - At thought of that insatiate grave, - From which its yearnings cannot save. - -Sir Patrick's grief and horror now became almost delirious, and he was -tortured by a feeling of unutterable agony; yet still he seemed -resolute to doubt the fatal truth, to hope against hope, to believe -that by a miracle Clara might at length awaken from her seeming repose; -but her hand grew cold within his own, and the glassy fixedness of her -eye carried death to his heart. He felt and knew that all was over, yet -he could not allow himself to credit the solemn event; till, at length, -covering his face with his hands, he groaned aloud in all the anguish -of a sorrow without hope or resignation. - -Mr. Granville, forgetful, apparently, of his own grief, tried now to -impart consolation from that rich fund of sublime peace and everlasting -hope which belongs, at such an hour, to the Christian; for, though his -own feelings were lacerated and torn with a sorrow that seemed as -sudden as if he had never till now expected it, still there was a balm -for his wounded spirit, which soothed the first anguish of his -sufferings, and would at last, he knew, bring him daily more abundant -consolation. No affliction seems to come so directly from the hand of -God as the death of those who have been so truly loved; and in -contemplating the wide gulf which now divided him from Clara, the manly -spirit of Mr. Granville was overpowered with grief. This seemed a -moment too awful for vehement sorrow. He had watched the last struggle -of existence in one with whom every thought and emotion were hitherto -shared, and now, while her beloved and well-known features remained the -same, all intercourse and all sympathy between them had at once been -closed; and, in the hours of solemn contemplation which followed, -Richard felt more than ever a desire to learn what is seen and felt -when the gloomy curtain of life is withdrawn, and the glories of -eternity are first revealed; but, checking the speculations of a vain -curiosity, he opened the pages of holy inspiration, there to find an -inexhaustible fund of sublime and elevating comfort, convinced that, to -have his affliction sanctified, was even better than to have it -removed. - -The sympathy established between Sir Patrick and Mr. Granville now -brought them daily together, when the young Baronet learned, in such -society, to venerate and admire that holy faith, which as yet he could -neither feel nor comprehend; and every hour he became more conscious of -its happy effects on the mind and heart of Richard Granville, who -seemed always ready to forget every selfish thought, when the glory of -God or the good of others claimed his most arduous and zealous -devotion; and even his grief for Clara, deep and agonizing as it was, -found a vent in the most implicit attention to all her wishes, and -especially to her injunctions respecting the restoration of his -friendly intercourse with Sir Patrick. - - The darts of anguish fix not where the seat - Of suff'ring hath been thoroughly fortified - By acquiescence in the will supreme, - For time and for eternity. - - - - -CHAPTER XLIII. - - -There is said to be a stage in sorrow, after which an addition can be -borne with apathy; but this the heart of Marion seemed never likely to -reach. It is a natural source of comfort, however, in mourning over the -loss of those we love, to find that they are appreciated and lamented -by others; and many kind letters of condolence on the death of Sir -Arthur reached the young mourner, from old companions and young -acquaintances. Some were written with overdone and inflated expressions -of sorrow, as if the writer had lost a parent of her own; and if the -occasion had been less heartbreaking to herself, Marion might almost -have smiled at their tone of exaggerated grief. Others wrote studied -compositions, so beautifully got up, and with such skilfully turned -periods, that the writer must have felt certain of Marion's "Life and -Correspondence" being hereafter collected and published; while others -concluded with "Yours, in haste," as an evident apology for neither -head nor heart being much enlisted on the occasion; but all were -received with grateful interest, being more or less a proof of kind -intentions, very soothing to the feelings of a solitary girl. - -Each letter, as it came, caused her a palpitation of hope, followed by -a pang of disappointment; for every morning she arose with a confident -hope that now Richard Granville must certainly write, and every evening -closed in with an added weight of discouragement and sorrow; for now -indeed the roses of life seemed all to have faded, and the thorns only -to remain. - -As Shakspeare observes, "every one can master a grief but he that has -it;" and among the many well-meaning but commonplace acquaintances who -came to gossip over the sorrows of Marion, and to ascertain exactly how -much Sir Arthur had left, there was not one to whom she could unveil -her feelings. Each of her well-intentioned visitors said a few words in -praise of Sir Arthur, enough to convince Marion that no one but herself -could appreciate the hundredth part of his inestimable worth--a -sentence or two then followed of pious reflection, obviously spoken -with restraint, and picked up by rote from some volume of religious -meditations, and the whole was generally concluded in a masterly -manner, by repeating a few texts of Scripture, strung together from a -concordance. - -There is a solemn dignity in real grief, beside which all commonplace -or trifling consolations fall powerless and cold; but strangers in -return for their contributions of sympathy and comfort, evidently -expected from Marion an ostentatious display of affection, and were -often not a little disappointed, at the pale, still, concentrated -calmness of the lonely girl, who, subdued beneath the weight of her -recent sorrow, received visitors only when she felt able to do so with -composure, speaking to them with gentle, melancholy kindness, and -evidently endeavoring to derive all the comfort she could from their -society; yet often in the solitude which followed, did she feel -inclined to agree with an author, who remarks, that "_la pitie n'est -pas le plus due a celui qui pleure dans la solitude_." - -Marion seemed to live in a dream, yet she gazed on the daylight and the -people moving about on their errands of pleasure or business, till she -felt that the whole was a sad reality. The common, every day routine of -life seemed strange and unnatural, amidst the agony of her first -sorrow, when the tomb had so recently closed over her earliest friend. -She felt as if nature herself should have suspended her ordinary -course, and as if the melancholy awe so impressed upon her own heart -should extend to everything animate or inanimate around--as if the very -sun itself should scarcely rise and shine as heretofore; and nothing -appeared to Marion so strange, as that sameness visible in the outward -world, contrasted with the mighty revolution in all her own inward -feelings. Marion tried to take a lesson in cheerful resignation, from -thinking sometimes of the many created by the same Almighty Father, and -yet suffering far more than she had ever done; and her eye fell one day -on a blind beggar, seated near her window, shivering with cold, -emaciated with hunger, solitary and deserted, shut out from the light -of day, friendless, homeless, and desolate, with none to sympathize in -his sorrows, or to cheer him by their affection. "Yet," thought Marion, -"that miserable being finds an object to live for, and would not -perhaps willingly die! God gives something to all his creatures; and -who makes me to differ from the most wretched. But bodily wants are not -the real sorrows of life! O no! The mind, when relieved from such -abject cares, has more leisure to grieve over withered hopes and -blighted affections; yet all trials, if rightly received, are but -blessings in disguise. It is well if, by tasting such sorrows as -mine--and they are many--I am taught to avoid the far greater and more -permanent evils of futurity. In this world, we are suspended over the -abyss of eternity, by a thread which grows more feeble every hour; and -all events should be welcome which are ordained by infinite wisdom, to -prepare me for that hour when my place on earth shall be vacant, and my -place in eternity--in a ceaseless eternity, shall be filled." - -Time has wings, even when they move most heavily, and as day after day -passed slowly onwards, Marion felt more and more astonished to hear -nothing of Agnes, who had written but once, a very few days after her -departure from home, in gay and almost triumphant spirits, boasting of -the excessive attention she met with from all the party, of the -splendor in which they travelled, of the admiration she had herself -excited, and of several magnificent presents she had received from Lord -Doncaster. In a postscript to this letter, she expressed a careless, -patronizing hope, that poor, dear Sir Arthur was now convalescent; and -as for anything but a recovery, she seemed no more to doubt it than if -death had been altogether abolished. To Marion's surprise, when looking -at the signature of Agnes, a broad line had been drawn through the name -of Dunbar, and the whole was surrounded by a fantastic wreath of -flourishes, exactly imitating the very peculiar way in which Lord -Doncaster was accustomed usually to encircle his own autograph; and -much she marvelled what this uncommon device was intended to indicate, -though she secretly dreaded to hear the interpretation of it, which her -fears had at first suggested. - -As the mind and heart become more matured in this world, they too often -become, from sad experience, more apprehensive of evil, and more -suspicious of earthly friendships; but it was otherwise with Marion in -respect to Richard Granville; though a dark curtain had fallen suddenly -between them, all intercourse was most unaccountably suspended, and the -very thought of his attachment, once a pleasure without alloy, was now -accompanied by a heavy, leaden depression and anxiety. She told herself -a thousand times over that all would hereafter be explained, and yet -her heart seemed turning to stone, while day after day dawned and -closed without a line to give her comfort or to reassure her heart. - -In this state of wearing suspense a visiting card was brought to Marion -one morning of Captain De Crespigny's, accompanied by a letter which he -had brought from Sir Patrick, strongly urging on her, in almost -arbitrary terms, his earnest desire that she should reconsider her -decision against her friend, and no longer wasting her affections on a -penniless curate, who had proved himself undeserving of her,--bestow -them where they would be so much better appreciated, and where they -would exalt her to so distinguished a situation. Marion was astonished -to think how Sir Patrick could know that she had any cause of -dissatisfaction against Mr. Granville, whom she had never even named of -late; but resolute if possible to avoid meeting Captain De Crespigny, -she was denied again and again when he called, though to her surprise -he persevered in almost daily inquiring for her, and numbered his -visiting cards conspicuously on the corner till they amounted at last -to more than a dozen. - -Marion was sitting alone one evening, beside her solitary hearth, and -to a spectator she would have seemed of more than earthly beauty, -though the cold tear stood unheeded on her cheek, while her memory had -become haunted by the ghost of departed happiness. She thought of her -deceased uncle in his silent grave, yet it seemed as if still she could -trace his step and hear his voice by her side. All was still as death, -her soul seemed wandering in a mysterious existence, amidst the -solitary and deserted world, and hope itself grew dim within her -breast. The flood-gates of memory were now unclosed, pouring into her -heart and spirit a ceaseless stream of old recollections, old scenes, -and recent sorrows; while the bright mirror of joy which had once shone -in radiant splendor before her eyes seemed now broken to shivers. No -one seemed destined hereafter to know the deep mine of thoughts and -affections which lay unspoken in her breast. She felt as if the summer -might shine in its brightness, the spring might be gay with the -blossoms of hope, but that her spring and summer would return in this -world no more, yet she believed and knew that it was better to witness -the death of every dear affection, and the burial of every promising -expectation, if, when thus blighted and withered upon earth, they -became rooted and strengthened for eternity. - - "What empty shadows glimmer nigh! - They once were Friendship, Truth, and Love! - Oh! die to thought, to mem'ry die, - Since lifeless to my heart ye prove!" - -Martin had brought in the tea-tray, and Marion scarcely noticed his -entrance or departure while mournfully gazing on the dim embers -expiring in the grate, when her attention became suddenly attracted by -hearing a carriage draw up close to the door, and her pale cheek grew -paler, when a moment afterwards her sister hurried into the room, and -with a strange, wild, hysterical smile, clasped her arms around Marion, -and locked her in a long embrace. Marion thought no grief too great for -the loss they had both sustained, and yet she became startled to -perceive that Agnes was actually shivering with agitation; that her -eyes were blood-shot, her hair dishevelled, her whole form shrunk and -altered, while her lips quivered for a moment as if she would have -spoken but could not articulate; and a look of unutterable anguish -swept across her pallid countenance. At length, burying her face on -Marion's shoulder, she exclaimed, in a voice of thrilling agony, - -"I knew you would welcome me! I knew it, Marion! Cold and heartless as -I have been, you will not reproach me. You deserve a better sister." - -"I could love none other so well," replied Marion, alarmed and shocked -at the unexpected excess of Agnes' grief. "We are all the world to each -other now, Agnes!" - -"Yes! yes! Who ever dreamed it could come to this! You alone will pity -me, Marion! Here at least I shall find a refuge till I find one in the -grave! Do not look so alarmed, Marion! If I had brought disgrace to -this house, I never would have entered it again; but I have been duped, -made miserable, and, worse than all, ridiculous! The whole world will -laugh, and well they may; but in the living death I have brought upon -myself, still one friend remains who will never reproach me for my -folly. Dear kind Sir Arthur, too, if he had lived! Alas! Marion, I know -his value now; but I know it too late! To obtain his forgiveness, I -could follow him to the very grave." - -Marion gasped for breath, and tried to suppress her emotion, that she -might compose the mind of Agnes, whose voice had become hollow, her -eyes were brightened by fever, and there was a frantic energy in her -tone and manner so tearfully agitating, that Marion entreated her to -postpone all farther discussion till she was better able to bear it; -but Agnes continued to pour forth her words like a gushing torrent. - -"I shall be better when all is told! Hear me out now, Marion! Believe -me it is better! You remember Dixon!--that wretched woman who attempted -once to destroy me. She stole into my room at Mrs. O'Donoghoe's some -weeks ago. Imagine my horror and affright when she entered! Dixon -related to me her own history--seduced, ruined, and forsaken by Captain -De Crespigny. She fancied at first that he had deserted her for me; but -she has since discovered, as I have done, Marion, that he is attached -only to you!" - -"It matters little, Agnes, who Captain De Crespigny fancies for a -passing hour, provided it be one whose happiness cannot be injured by -his caprice." - -"Dixon added," continued Agnes, with a gasping sob of angry emotion, -"that Lord Doncaster had been equally deceived into believing that his -nephew liked me--that I was the only obstacle to his marrying the -heiress, Miss Howard; and his whole attentions at Harrowgate were paid -to expose my self-interestedness,--he had carried it on as a farce to -amuse an idle hour. The plot had amused him; and, after a time, he -became flattered by the consciousness that a girl, young, beautiful, -and admired, as I was, could be induced to accept him; but Mrs. -O'Donoghoe is now actually his mistress! Spare me, Marion, the -recapitulation of all that passed: it is too humbling, too dreadful. -She told me that Captain De Crespigny, the only man I ever loved, had -spoken of me to his uncle--as--as I deserved, with scorn, derision, and -censure! She repeated the whole scene, and I then saw myself as I am in -the sight of others--seared in heart, degraded, contemptible, wretched! -and oh! how ungrateful to those who were, indeed, my friends!" - -Marion saw that Agnes, when she spoke, gazed at the portrait of Sir -Arthur; and tears sprang into the eyes of both, as they looked upon -that silent memorial of past worth and affection. - -"My reputation must be irreparably injured in the world's eye by such -association!" continued Agnes, rapidly. "All is agony and horror! While -Dixon yet spoke, I hated myself and everything around. Shame and -mortification overpowered me! All became shadowy, confused, and -wavering in my thoughts. That night I was seized with fever and -delirium. A sick-nurse was placed to attend on me; and I am thankful to -find that Mrs. O'Donoghoe, with her party, instantly left the house. I -am ashamed to think what folly my ravings must have disclosed! The -worst horror of fever is, that it betrays all to others! I hovered on -the very brink of the grave! Oh! that I had been as fully prepared to -enter another world as I was to leave this! How happy are those whose -trials and mortifications are buried in the silent grave, and whose -pulse is no longer like mine--the knell of a living death! Life is, -indeed, an awful gift, with its deceitful hopes and consuming sorrows!" - -"Yes, if we will not be satisfied with the happiness provided for us by -God himself; if we will persist in laying out a plan of life for -ourselves, and in being wretched when the infinite wisdom of our -Creator sees fit to alter it. Even now, Agnes, you may, if you choose, -have peace and cheerfulness. How much better it is, to lose all your -lovers, than to marry a bad husband! Let us live for each other; let us -improve our minds; let us console the many who are worse off than -ourselves; let us encourage one another in all the difficulties of -life; and, whatever is wanting to us now, we can look the more -thankfully forward to those regions of eternal joy, for which our -sorrows here are all sent on purpose to prepare us. Dear Agnes, for my -sake you must not despond." - -"I ought not, Marion, while you are my sister! I hate the world and -every thing in it, but who would not love you," replied Agnes, in a -voice of dark and stormy grief, while no tear was on her cheek. "My -heart seems dry as summer dust! My body is a dreary sepulchre to my -mind, all dark, cold, and desolate. There is nothing in life worth -living for!" - -Though little of Agnes' depression was really caused by Sir Arthur's -death, yet her grief became now as deep as crape and bombazine could -make it. She had not the generosity to struggle against her mortified -feelings, or to spare those of Marion, but from day to day her wayward -mind seemed to cherish the chagrin which inch by inch consumed her. No -gentle self-renunciation appeared in her sorrow, but she seemed to -fancy that in all the world there was no tear except of her -shedding,--no sigh but of her breathing,--and she forgot to observe how -Marion had banished all her own anxieties and cares while listening to -the egotism of grief in another, thus bearing the whole burden of both. -Agnes gradually delivered herself up to a state of peevish, listless, -apathetic despondency. If she attempted to read, her eyes looked only -on a wilderness of words without meaning; she had no taste for work, -not a correspondent in the world, and never had cared for a newspaper; -therefore unable to fix her attention on any employment, she proceeded -with sullen, mechanical indifference, through the ordinary routine of -life, without energy and without interest. - -Agnes' mind was like a crushed butterfly, disfigured and valueless; all -its buoyant hopes and fantastic flights for ever at an end. She knew -not that sunshine of the heart, often divinely given amidst the darkest -hours of life, when inward peace, amidst external sorrow, might be -compared to a cheerful, quiet room, while a torrent and tempest are -raging unheeded around. Agnes mistakenly believed that the only -possible aggravation to her melancholy would arise, if her thoughts -were turned to religion, since hitherto she had seen in it nothing but -the gloomy terrors of futurity. She never had cultivated any taste for -reading that infallible balm to the depressed, and least of all would -she have thought of appealing to the Holy Scriptures for relief from -the cankering irritation of her proud but broken spirit, and nothing -had ever annoyed her more, than when Marion, one day, from the fulness -of her own heart, observed with soothing gentleness, that they should -be too grateful for the blessings bestowed, to repine for those which -were withheld, especially as affliction was generally the surest way to -amend the heart. - -"Yes! but in mending you may break it," replied Agnes, discontentedly. -"My existence here is a living death, with nothing to care for, nothing -to hope for, nothing to do, meditating continually on my feelings, -hating life, and yet dreading death." - -"But," replied Marion, laying her hand on the Bible, "here, Agnes, I -find enough to care for, enough to hope for, and more than enough to -do. No mortal being has all his wishes granted, and why should we -expect to be an exception? The world and its affections have deprived -us of peace, and this is the only guiding-star which can lead us to -find it again. If we were to study a portion of this volume together -every day----" - -"Marion! I am surely melancholy enough already, without becoming -methodistical!" interrupted Agnes, impatiently. "I wept when I was -born; and every day since shews me I had cause to do so! If I ever do -get up my spirits again, I may perhaps read the Bible more carefully, -but, not while I feel so low and depressed." - -"You remind me, Agnes, of Lady Towercliffe saying last year, that she -felt much too ill to see a doctor, but would send for one if she became -better. We find ourselves lonely and benighted now; but here is a -bright path of glory pointed out, and strength offered us to pursue -it." - -"Well, Marion! if you must soar to the clouds, pray leave me to grovel -on the earth!" replied Agnes, peevishly. "You are so fond of reading -now, that, like Petrarch, your head will be pillowed on a book when you -die; but can you not talk of something more cheerful to me? Those -mournful subjects are fit only for a deathbed, or a tract. When people -talk to me of religion, I always feel like the felons at Newgate in the -condemned pew, with their coffins gaping at their elbow! What makes you -always talk so dismally about resignation now, Marion?" - -"My own sorrows and your's, Agnes. We both need comfort, and neither of -us can find any, except in religion. 'God gives what bankrupt nature -never can.' The effect of time would be only to benumb our hearts; but -faith could restore them to cheerfulness." - -"You might as well plant flowers on a tomb-stone, as attempt to enliven -me, Marion! It is a hopeless endeavor! No! the wing of hope is broken -within me for ever and ever. It is the misfortune of having too much -feeling! Life seems to me a cold and bitter blast, with all its events, -like snow-flakes, driving in my face. I have been brought into it -without my consent, and shall be torn from it against my will, while - - Dream after dream ensues; - And still I dream that I shall still succeed, - And still am disappointed." - -"Yet, Agnes, there is not probably a single living being with whom you -would change places!" - -"Yes! hundreds! thousands!" - -"Indeed! Would you take the looks, habits, tastes, age, health, and -conversation, of any other person who could be named, instead of your -own?" - -"No! not exactly! Probably no person living would agree to such an -exchange, and least of all one who has in some respects such ample -reason to be satisfied," replied Agnes, with a complacent glance at the -mirror, which was not, however, so satisfactory as in former days; for -her eye had lost much of its lustre, the bloom had faded from her -cheek, and her very features looked crushed and contracted by the -gnawing effect of mortification. "I should like to have the fortune of -Caroline Howard, the rank of Charlotte Malcolm----" - -"But Agnes! you are not entitled to expect such a pic-nic of happiness, -'made of ev'ry creature's best.' No; the more we look into life, the -more we shall see how equally distributed are its enjoyments--satiety -to the rich, contentment to the poor, and compensation of one kind or -other to all, for their various privations; but one only gift of God -makes life a blessing or a curse, according as it is given or withheld; -and it is only in proportion as we have the gifts of Divine grace -showered upon us, that we can measure our own happiness, or that of any -other mortal being." - -Agnes's ill-humor was growing rapidly into misanthropy, and her sorrow -seemed never likely to be of that kind which "forgets to weep, and -learns to pray;" but Marion's more happily gifted mind clung to every -natural source of enjoyment which offered itself, being resolute, even -when she was not happy, for the sake of Agnes, to appear so. Marion's -sorrows taught her to feel tenfold for others; but the sympathies of -Agnes were concentrated entirely on herself. - -There is not merely piety, but good humor also, in being happy; and -much ill-humor is invariably associated with that grief which refuses -to be consoled. Agnes had strewed her own path with thorns, and would -not be comforted; her heart had now the frozen coldness of an ice-bound -stream, on which the breeze might play, or the sun might shine, while -it still continued cold and cheerless as before; but Marion, resisting -all the selfish supineness of sorrow, found out many around to whom her -time could be made useful. With no schemes of worldly ambition, she -felt that there must be, in every heart, some object to live for; and -in her solitary walks, the very trees and flowers became her -companions, while the brightness of nature's coloring, the hum of bees, -the chirping of birds, the ripple of a pebbly stream, or the daisy she -picked on the grass, reminded her that there are simple pleasures she -was born to enjoy, and of which she had formerly been deprived during -the long years when her best feelings had been heartlessly wasted in -the tumult of education at Mrs. Penfold's. On first beholding any sign -of human life and enjoyment, it seemed to Marion strange and unnatural. -The joyous laugh of children at play in the fields grated harshly on -her ear; but before long, she pleased herself with listening to the -milk-girls gaily singing as they passed along the road, and was ready -to feel for that most desolate of all beings, the blind fiddler, -playing his melancholy tune on a rainy night. Religion was to Marion -now like the sun behind a fog. She knew that it would before long warm, -cheer, and revive her; yet for a time it seemed shorn of its brighter -beams, and, in the words of a Christian poet, she was ready to say, - - "Give what Thou can'st, without Thee I am poor, - And with Thee rich, take what Thou wilt away." - -The emotion which Agnes felt on first returning home, had been only -like the last quiver of molten lead before it becomes cold and hard for -ever. She now grew daily more peevish and discontented, and, far from -affording any relief to Marion only aggravated her distress; for if -there were any subject more disagreeable than another to be harped -upon, she fastened on it with ceaseless irritability, continually -prophesying evil, and recollecting injuries. She took the most teazing -view of all subjects, attributed the worst motives to everybody's -conduct, and spoke with incessant and bitter invectives against all -those by whom she thought herself ill-treated. Far from forgiving -injuries, she seemed never, even for a moment, to forget them, while -the effect of her tedious vituperation was like that of a file upon -velvet, to the gentle Marion, who tried often to give a more Christian, -as well as a more cheerful turn, to their _tete-a-tete_ conversation. - -It was singular that Agnes still evidently found a mysterious pleasure -in exercising to the utmost her powers of torturing; and in nothing did -she so deeply wound the feelings of Marion, as by constantly comparing -the conduct of Richard Granville to that of Captain De Crespigny, -speaking coldly of both, as being selfish, hypocritical, and deceitful. -Marion's whole heart shrank from allowing any resemblance, while once -or twice she spoke warmly and eloquently in defence of her absent -lover; but finding that this only lifted the veil which concealed her -own inmost feelings, and exposed them to one who made no generous use -of her confidence, she at length passively allowed Agnes to follow the -bent of her humor, and kept their discussions as much as possible on -indifferent topics, taking always as cheerful and contented a view as -she could of life. - -"You know, Agnes," observed Marion one day, in answer to some peevish -lamentations of her sister's, "we might as well attempt to carry the -ocean in an oyster-shell, as to satisfy our immortal souls with -anything in this life. Christians must not let their imaginations run -wild after every fancy, but put on the strait-waistcoat of reason and -religion, to curb their inclinations. We should not only expect, but -desire the correction which is necessary, as much for us as for others. -You cannot expect all our years to be summers!" - -"No!" replied Agnes, discontentedly; "but they need not all be winters! -You seem to think we are like the Indian savages, who must carry a -weight on their heads to make them upright." - -"Yes, Agnes, I do!" added Marion, gently. "It often occurs to my mind -what a character mine must naturally have been, which has required so -much discipline to correct it; for every sorrow or anxiety I feel is -absolutely necessary for my good, I know, or it would not be sent. -Though the blossoms of hope lie withered at our feet, however, let us -reap the fruit hereafter, and who could wish to be fed with the -promises of spring, rather than with the fulfilment of autumn?" - - - - -CHAPTER XLIV. - - -During the deepest midnight, the unseen light is still incessantly -approaching, though man remains insensible of its progress till the -glorious dawn of morning; and thus the march of coming events hurries -daily on unnoticed and unknown. Never before had it appeared, to the -impatient mind of Agnes, that the sands of her hour-glass fell so -slowly and silently. In her heart there was scarcely sufficient depth -of soil for grief to strike a very permanent root, as her superficial -feelings were calculated only to produce a mushroom crop of petty -discontents and selfish grievances. Sharp and acute as the pang of her -disappointed vanity had been, it seemed destined not to be very -lasting, as Marion, on returning one day from a long walk, almost -smiled to find Lady Towercliffe seated in their small parlour, and -diligently pouring a torrent of lively gossip into the ears of Agnes, -who felt little disposed at first to become interested in all the -ill-assorted marriages people might choose to make, or to care who had -died, or were likely to be born: but gradually her mind had been opened -to the consideration of whether Miss Brown were a suitable match for -Mr. Grey--whether L500 a year might possibly be enough to maintain -Captain Jackson of the 10th and Lady Maria Meredith, whose individual -expenditure on dress amounted to L400 per annum each, and whether it -would be best for Lieutenant Stanley and Miss Maynard to marry and -settle in Australia, or to continue single and remain at home. - -Agnes had no possible chance of seeing the parties, or of influencing -their decision. She would probably never hear more of them, nor had she -been previously aware of their existence, yet the magic of Lady -Towercliffe's eloquence gradually led her on to argue the merits of -each case, as if she had been the arbiter of their fate, till at -length, being insensibly roused from her stupor of melancholy -indulgence, the visit was concluded by Agnes joyfully consenting to -dine at Lady Towercliffe's next day, to meet a party of friends. - -After having feared that her sister never would smile again, Marion -now, with glad surprise, heard Agnes once more actually laugh, and she -could not but wonder that Lady Towercliffe, by putting her through a -course of gossip, and administering to a "mind diseased" a strong -mixture of love affairs, quarrels, sicknesses, and bankruptcies, had -acted on the spirits of Agnes as a counter-irritation, so that, in the -contemplation of other people's miseries, she attained a spurious -resignation beneath her own. As sorrow is the rust of the soul, -everything that traverses the surface, has a tendency to scour it away, -and the scattered links of Agnes' happiness seemed brightening now -again, as if they might at last be reunited into as glittering a chain -as before, while her cheek resumed its wonted hue and her tongue its -wonted volubility. After the first great affliction of life, it is said -that the sufferer never is again the same, "that the heart can know no -second spring;" but now there seemed every probability that, though the -drooping pinions of her ambition had been lowered, Agnes might soon put -a patch on her worn-out spirits, and be only too much restored to her -former self. When the carriage next day arrived, which was to convey -her to Lady Towercliffe's, Marion, ever ready to enjoy any happiness -reflected from the eyes of others, bid her good night with a sensation -of real pleasure at this unexpected revival. - -There are strange coincidences in every day life, and the small dinner -party at Lady Towercliffe's accidentally contained the two last persons -on earth who would have wished to meet. When Lord Towercliffe received -Agnes with friendly cordiality at the door, he had not yet relinquished -her hand before he suddenly felt his own grasped with a convulsive -start, and when he hastily looked up, the countenance of his newly -arrived guest had grown pale as that of a spectre, her eyes were -closed, and he felt her hand become as cold and heavy as lead. Too -well-bred to notice her strange emotion, which there was an evident -effort to conceal, he naturally ascribed it to the remembrance of -recent family affliction, when now, for the first time, entering -society again, and he silently led Agnes to a seat beside Lady -Charlotte Malcolm and Miss Howard Smytheson. - -Agnes did not once look round the room, but she heard the low, deep -tones of a voice with which she had too long been familiar, though now -it must for ever be to her the voice of a stranger. Captain De -Crespigny had been, some time previously, dividing his fascinations -between the only two young ladies in the room, and he continued still, -with the same light laugh as before, to exhibit his rare gift of -conversational humor and vivacity, after giving a slight bow to Agnes, -which she did not even see. A mist was before her sight--a ringing in -her ears--her very heart seemed benumbed--and her only desire being to -avoid notice, while her parched lips refused to articulate, she -silently fixed her large eyes on Lady Caroline Malcolm, assuming an -aspect of attention, and inwardly thankful that there was something in -the room at which she could look, while circumstances had thus so -painfully and so very unexpectedly "awoke the nerve where agony was -born." - -The world, usually one great "School for Scandal," had not yet -circulated the story of Captain De Crespigny's inconstancy, and Agnes' -disappointment; therefore, dreading above all things the contemptuous -pity bestowed on a case like hers, she now exerted herself, from the -fear of ridicule more than even of censure. The strongest emotions of -existence are concealed in the great drama of life; and though Agnes -felt herself grow blind when dinner was announced, yet she afterwards -retained a confused recollection of having walked down stairs, leaning -on the arm of an officer whom she had never seen before, discussing the -hue of a ribbon, or the probability of a war, while her whole heart, -mind, and spirit, were torn with contending emotions. - -Strange is the ignorance in which people may live respecting the real -thoughts and feelings of those with whom they are at the moment in -actual contact! Agnes possessed an energy and pride of spirit which -supported her now, while with flushed cheeks, and eyes brightened by -agitation, her volubility became like a delirium. What she said to the -stranger might be sense or nonsense, she neither cared nor knew, while -her own laugh sounded unnatural in her ears; but still her companion -listened and smiled, looking even more admiration than he felt, and -while Agnes rattled on with apparent recklessness, he was inwardly -conjecturing whether this could possibly be the beautiful Miss Dunbar -who had endeavord to "entrap" his brother officer De Crespigny, -artfully attempting what she had not been artful enough to achieve. - -When the endless dinner was ended at last, and the ladies rose to -withdraw, Agnes could willingly have fled from the house for solitude; -but Lady Towercliffe, to beguile the interval, importunately begged for -music, and persecuted her to sing. It was weeks since Agnes had -attempted a note, but, anxious to avoid notice, she tried to remember -the songs best known to her. Each as it rose to memory, seemed filled -with remembrances in which she dared not indulge. Who but the unhappy -can tell the power of music in recalling vanished years and vanished -joys! One song Captain De Crespigny had formerly accompanied, another -he had admired, a third he had copied out for her. All their sentiments -of love and constancy he had with ready flattery applied to herself, -and each had been played or sung only for him. - -Hopes and feelings now for ever extinct, crowded into her memory; a -cold, curdling anguish gathered round her heart; the notes died away -inaudibly, and Agnes at length, leaning her forehead on the music-desk, -burst into an irresistible flood of tears, while her eyes rested at -these words,-- - - "Long hours have passed on - Since that name was too dear; - Now its music is gone, - It is death to my ear!" - -"Poor thing!" whispered Lady Towercliffe, "Her uncle's death makes a -sad change in their circumstances, and she lives too much alone now. -People rave about the pleasures of solitude, but I never could find -them out! They are excellent for poetry, but, like the Arabian apple, -they turn to ashes when tried. I never could keep up the shuttle-cock -with only one battle-dore." - -"Nor I! particularly in conversation," said Captain De Crespigny, -entering. "There is old Crawford below stairs, with single-handed -diligence, stringing off his whole book of anecdotes; I left him at No. -5, so he has three yet to come, before the gentlemen escape! The last -he told was perfectly stupendiferous! That man's mind is like an old -chest, but there is an end to all agreeable conversation, when people -begin drawing for it on their memories! I am so wearied now, that I -shall give any one L5 who can amuse me for half an hour!" - -The solitude at Seabeach Cottage was not destined to remain much longer -uninterrupted, as the very evening subsequent to Lady Towercliffe's -party, after Agnes had retired in feverish dejection to spend some time -in her own room, Marion was startled by a loud impatient peal at the -bell, and the next moment her hand was eagerly clasped in that of Henry -De Lancey, whose countenance, in returning thus to his altered home, -was pale and haggard with strong emotion. Marion started up, giving an -exclamation of sudden joy at his unexpected appearance, while a -momentary smile flashed on her countenance, like a gleam of sunshine on -the dark face of a wintry cloud; but his eye sadly wandered towards the -portrait of Sir Arthur, with a long lingering look of deep affection, -and, covering his face with his hands, he threw himself on a sofa, -remaining for some time buried in silence while his whole frame shook -with emotion, one burst of grief following another. - -It was long, very long before Henry could listen to the mournful detail -of all Sir Arthur had said and suffered in his short and fatal illness; -but the feelings of Marion were soothed thus to meet at last with one -who thought and felt like herself. Grief that disperses itself in words -and tears is speedily over; but theirs was of that calm, concentrated -nature which consumes the heart, though Marion assured Henry that -nothing had yet done her so much good, as this happy, but most -unexpected meeting. - -"Did you suppose, Marion, that I could remain absent at a time like -this! Impossible! I no sooner heard all, than I applied for leave. It -is sad, indeed, to find so changed a home. I cannot speak of that! He -was too good for this world, and is gone to a better! I can only weep -to look around me here, where his affectionate smile can welcome me no -more." - -"Yes!" faltered Marion. "But memory, like a miracle, restores him to me -every day! I seem to behold his face, to hear his voice, to know his -thoughts. That calm and cheerful portrait appears to tell me sometimes -how gladly he is done with all the weary business and heart-sinking -trials of this vain, perplexing world." - -"When such friends part, 'tis the survivor dies," observed Henry, -mournfully. "But it has been hinted to me, Marion, that the man I esteem -the most in this world has trifled with your affections! I cannot -believe it! I was long in his confidence, and if there be truth in man, -he loves you with an attachment which nothing can alter. Half the -miseries in life proceed from a want of explanation. No! there is some -mystery we cannot solve. A thousand mistakes may occur in the absence -of friends; but for his sake, as much as your's, and for my own sake, -most of all, I shall outstrip the swiftest courier, and return with his -entire justification. But there is another business also to be -discussed," added Henry, with a sudden change of tone and countenance, -while his face glowed with a look of strong excitement, and he bit his -lip till the very blood seemed ready to spring out. "Your sister, -Marion! Agnes has been made the sport of an unprincipled, heartless, -coxcomb. His conduct embittered the last days of my benefactor and -friend! He must and shall be made to repent it!" - -"Henry! what do you mean?" interrupted Marion, startled and alarmed by -his evident irritation. "Do not make me regret having entrusted you -with all our girlish fancies and follies! Such things happen every -day!" - -"No, Marion! Had the insult been only to Sir Patrick, he considers the -happiness of others, and even his own honor, as trifles compared with -immediate convenience. His sister's peace of mind might be destroyed -without his having the wish, or me the right to interfere, but, in -respect to Agnes, as the niece of Sir Arthur, it is not so. I know how -her heart was gained, and has been crushed. It is said that ten years -of ordinary suffering would not have made such ravages as are already -visible in the countenance of Agnes, and she must not be so treated -with impunity. But a day of retribution may come upon him, yet!" - -"Dear Henry!" interrupted Marion, anxiously, "Do not add to what we -have already suffered, by imprudence on your part. I little thought -that any circumstance could ever make me otherwise than happy to meet -you, but your impetuosity now really alarms me!" - -"It does no such thing! at least it should not," said Henry, assuming -for a moment his old vivacity of manner, but it would not do. A tone of -cheerfulness in that house, now jarred painfully on his ear, and again -fixing his eyes on the portrait of Sir Arthur, he added, in a low, deep -tone of intense feeling: "No, Marion!--in this room, consecrated to -kindness and affection,--on this seat, so long occupied by the most -generous of benefactors, and before that Holy Bible in which be -instructed us both, I promise to speak, act, and think, as he would -have dictated. My situation now is most perplexing! De Crespigny has -acted the part of a brother towards me since I joined his regiment. He -has courted my friendship and intimacy to a degree for which I can -scarcely account, but for which I felt most grateful, till within these -few days, when a strange and most perplexing communication has been -made to me." - -An air of deep and anxious thought gathered over the countenance of -Henry; he covered his face with his hands, and Marion listened in -silence, when he continued in a rapid, agitated voice. - -"The unhappy madman, Howard, wrote me lately a long, incoherent letter, -in which he accused De Crespigny of having instigated him twelve years -ago, to that dreadful deed which made me motherless; adding, that the -very peculiar weapon then found on the bed, had been furnished by him; -and I have ascertained since from Martin, that De Crespigny, when a -boy, had precisely such a knife given to him. I am told that he has -been making many secret inquiries lately, respecting the papers found -in my mother's bureau; and he frankly mentioned the subject once to me -himself, saying, I little knew the deep interest he still had in -investigating that affair. He is a man I cannot, and do not suspect of -a dishonorable thought in his transactions with gentlemen; but though -entirely acquitting him on that point, Marion, I am determined to speak -my whole mind to De Crespigny this night. He is now at Mrs. -Smytheson's, in the next house, and we are going to town together, when -his ears shall ring with my opinion of his conduct to Agnes!" - -"Then, dear Henry, be prudent! It would not benefit us, if you and -Captain De Crespigny were to get into an Irish rage, and shoot each -other. Love once extinguished can never be forced back, and we cannot -bring repentance to those who are destitute of feeling; therefore, for -our sakes, be silent." - -Young De Lancey strode a few hasty turns up and down the room, in -agitated silence, and seemed preparing to depart, when the door was -slowly opened, and Agnes glided into the room, while Henry started, -looking doubtfully at first, as if he scarcely recognised her; and then -advancing, he received Agnes with an expression of warm-hearted -kindness, which brought the hectic color for a moment to her cheek. - -When Henry glanced at the expression of settled melancholy on the -beautiful features of Agnes, a gleam of indignant emotion flashed -across his countenance, but it was succeeded by an effort to appear -cheerful; and by "smiles that might as well be tears," when he extended -his hand, saying, with all the vivacity he could assume, - -"Here I am, quite unexpectedly, Agnes! like snow in summer, or a burst -of sunshine at midnight! A little surprise will do you and Marion good! -It acts like an electric shock! I remember the time, Agnes, when you -never gave me above three fingers to shake, and now your whole hand is -presented, therefore I may feel really welcome." - -"Yes, Henry!" replied Marion, seeing her sister unable yet to speak; -"we shall now endeavor to get up our spirits!" - -"That may be easy for those who have any spirits to get up!" added -Agnes, in a tone of peevish melancholy. "But if Marion chooses to look -through a Claude-Loraine glass, and declare that the whole earth and -sky are _couleur de rose_, must I wipe my eyes with my elbow, and say -the same? All I can do is, if possible, to forget myself to stone. You -were always a light-hearted being, Henry! Would it make you serious to -be told of one like me whose heart is turned to ashes! The world is a -Castle of Desolation now, with not a tie that binds me to the -earth--not one!" added she bitterly, while her eyes were purposely -averted from the reproachful kindness of Marion's expression. - -"Agnes," interrupted Henry, in his kindest manner, "you wasted much -good advice on me formerly, but now it is my turn. As an old French -lady once judiciously remarked, '_Il n'y a pas de plus grande folie, -que d'etre malheureux_.' For Marion's sake and your own, do not -treasure up grief as if it were gold! When one plan of happiness fails, -we should always change horses, and drive on with another! It is a -fatal mistake to throw up the game of life, if our favorite hope fails! -Try pleasure now, on some new pattern! We should look on both sides of -existence, and keep hold of it with the best handle!" - -"I will! I will!" exclaimed Agnes, flinging back the long entangled -ringlets from her pallid face, and forcing a wild, haggard smile into -her distorted features. "Does that please you, Henry? Do I look -sufficiently happy? Why are you so disconcerted? Let us all be cheerful -again! Shall I sing to you, or how shall we be merriest?" - -"Surely, Agnes, as we cannot mend the past, or direct the future, you -might make some of the present. Remember the old proverb, 'There is a -silver lining to every cloud,'" continued Henry, assuming a tone of -animation. "You might find a thousand occupations which become an -excellent substitute for what people call happiness. Try geology, or -book-making, or worsted work! But, Agnes," added he, more seriously, -"above all, take the strong staff of religion, rather than the feeble -reed of earthly hope, which has pierced you, as it will pierce all who -trust in it. Why are we placed on earth? Not to contrive a plan of life -for ourselves, but to learn from above what is the real meaning of -happiness--its surest source--its brightest fountain! Behind the -machinery of all human events, God is at work for our real good, and -every misfortune may be transformed into a blessing, if we receive it -as a Fatherly correction, and take the good it is intended to do us." - -With absent, listless indifference, Agnes took leave of Henry when he -was about to depart; but Marion's eye glistened with emotion, as she -wished him good-night, entreating that he would return soon and often. - -"Trust me for that, Marion! It can never become a mere duty to visit -here," replied Henry, hastily dashing away a tear. "This room is my -home, more than any other on earth. Every chair and every table is -endeared to me, and how much more the living inhabitants. Even that old -geranium, all run to wood, and covered with dust, is consecrated by a -thousand old recollections. Adieu!" - - - - -CHAPTER XLV. - - -After Henry left the room, Agnes, having inveighed with more than her -usual bitterness against all persons, good or bad, and all events, -past, present, or to come, retired to bed, leaving Marion to muse with -saddened feelings on the untoward turn which her sister's mind was -likely to take for the future, which rendered her every day a more -uncongenial companion, as now Agnes had come to the final conclusion -that she was herself the victim of unmerited and unmitigated -misfortune. - -About ten o'clock, Marion lighted her candle to retire, and was slowly -leaving the room, when she became startled by suddenly hearing, -immediately below her window, in the street, a noise of scuffling and -shouting, mingled with vehement cries for help, and dreadful oaths, -till at length a wild and horrid shriek arose, which thrilled to her -very heart. Having hastily summoned Martin, who hurried to the door, -she paused some moments in an agony of alarm, and then rushing to the -window, threw it open, and gazed out, being so close to the combatants -that she could almost have touched them. Two men were engaged, -apparently, in desperate conflict, while Marion's eyes became fixed on -them with the fascination of fear. She could not scream--she could not -move: she seemed to have lost all power of motion, while watching the -whole scene with harrowing interest, yet with the vague indistinctness -of a dream. It seemed as if some frightful night-mare were upon her, -and as if she were chained to the spot, yet there was a frightful -reality in all that followed. It was a fierce and deadly struggle, -carried on with the energetic strength of despair. Again and again, in -a hoarse, deep voice, the fearful cry arose on the night air, of -"Murder!" mingled with agonizing cries for help. Marion clung to the -window for support, and shivered from head to foot; while she still -heard the loud trampling of feet, the fierce tones of defiance, -threatening, groans of suppressed anguish, and then a loud, delirious -shriek of agony, followed by a sharp, gasping cry, when one of the -combatants fell suddenly to the ground, as if a hundred daggers had -pierced him. - -Windows were now thrown open on every side, the watchman's rattle -became audible, there was a tread of many feet, the sound of many -voices, and all seemed to promise speedy aid, when, amidst the -death-like silence beside her window, Marion heard a strange, unearthly -laugh, which sounded more appalling in a such a scene than all she had -yet beheld. A mysterious dread fell over her heart, her eyes swam, her -brain reeled, a faint sickness came upon her, she made a feeble attempt -to support herself against the window, and, with a convulsive sigh, -sank almost insensible on a seat. When Marion recovered, a low, -murmuring sound of many voices became audible. Martin hastily opened -the door, and a crowd of strange faces appeared, pale and full of -horror; while several men almost staggered beneath the weight of a -shutter, on which lay a motionless figure, partly concealed by a cloak, -with a bloody napkin over the face; while the stillness, the stiff and -rigid look of that immovable form, could indicate nothing but death. - -There was that in the voices of those who entered which caused Marion's -nerves to creep with apprehension. A low murmur stole through the -crowd, while, shivering with apprehension, she silently gazed on the -stone-like, lifeless image before her. The hair was damp and matted -with gore, the hands were clenched in agony, the dress soiled with clay -and blood; but the tall figure retained a look of solemn dignity; and -Marion felt a cold thrill shoot through her heart, while her eyes -became riveted on that ghastly object. - -Though unable to speak, or to ask a single question, her mind was -intensely conscious of all that passed; while many surmises were -whispered around respecting the cause and origin of this fearful -catastrophe, and much impatience was expressed for the proper -authorities to arrive and take cognizance of the circumstances. Marion, -at length, feeling herself alone among so great a concourse of -strangers, had slowly turned to leave the room, when her ear was caught -by hearing the name of De Lancey, and, turning hastily round, she -started to find Lord Wigton close beside her, in earnest conference -with an officer, who remarked, in low, ominous accents, "I am perfectly -well aware that several discussions took place between them lately, -respecting the circumstances of his childhood, though I understood them -to be of a friendly nature; but this very evening, at Mrs. Smytheson's, -some very high words, passed relating to a young lady." A faint chill -came over Marion as she heard these words, and turning, with a -bewildered look, to the speaker, she asked, in a low, deep voice, if he -knew anything of Henry De Lancey. - -"Yes! only too much, if all be as we suspect," replied the stranger -sternly. "I always liked De Lancey; but if he had any hand in this -business, great as the provocation may have been, he would be more like -an Italian assassin than a British officer. He was heard once to -declare the greatest abhorrence to duelling; but these canting sort of -speeches never come to any good. At Mrs. Smytheson's, not two hours -ago, he seemed very violently irritated against my unfortunate friend -who lies murdered there." - -Marion's countenance became pale and terror-stricken; she looked -irresolutely round, and then, with faltering steps, approached a table -on which the corpse had been laid. She could not speak, and her hand -trembled convulsively; but she grasped a napkin which shrouded the -features of the deceased. Slowly and fearfully she raised it, gave one -shrinking glance, and, with a broken shriek of astonishment, beheld, -stained with blood, and rigid as marble, the well-known features of -Captain De Crespigny. - -Marion's heart stood still, a cold shiver ran through her frame, and, -tottering back, with a gasp of pallid horror, she sank upon a seat, -where her blanched cheek and quivering lip revealed the agony of her -amazement and horror. Conscious at once that this must be the work of -Ernest Anstruther, still the world seemed to rock beneath her feet, -with the vibration of crime and misery; while, covering her face with -her hands, she tried to shut out the very thought of all she had -beheld. - -Martin had sent an express instantly to Lord Doncaster; and, meanwhile, -the dreadful tale flew far and wide; while the universal appetite for -horror seemed on this occasion more than satiated. A young, handsome, -and talented officer, thus brought down, by some mysterious agency, to -the dust of death! It was appalling; and throughout the whole -neighborhood, a spirit of eager, burning, impatient curiosity, became -general. - -A summons at length arrived, for all present to proceed instantly to -Kilmarnock Abbey, that depositions might be taken before Lord Doncaster -and the nearest magistrates, while Marion as a witness was obliged -immediately to appear there, that her testimony might assist with that -of others in clearing up the tragical mystery. The unwarrantable -suspicions which had been expressed respecting Henry, formed a strong -additional motive to Marion for consenting to accompany the melancholy -cavalcade, as she was anxious at once publicly to acquit him, knowing -that, as the proverb says, "if a lie has no feet on which to stand, it -has always wings with which to fly round the world." - -Marion hastened into a carriage which had been sent, that she might -follow the body to Kilmarnock Abbey, where she was ushered before long -within the house. It was a solemn scene! That large, old hall hung with -antique armour, spears, horns, cross-bows, and portraits of many a -long-forgotten ancestor. The gothic stained window, magnificent in its -proportions, the ancient grained roof, the black oaken panels, the -cumbrous, carved woodwork, the marble floor, and the faded tapestry, -all dimly illuminated by the glimmering of a single lamp hastily -lighted for the occasion. An uncertain, mysterious gleam was cast on -the nearest objects, while the more distant recesses were thrown into -gloomy shadow, and the tumultuous agitation of those around contrasted -strangely with the locked and riveted limbs of that motionless figure -to which all eyes were directed, the rigid stillness and stern -composure of that countenance now invested with all the majesty of -death, from which Marion turned with shuddering sympathy and amazement, -while the multitude of servants and spectators continued in a state of -wild excitement, uttering on every side subdued exclamations of horror. - -At length Lord Doncaster himself slowly entered, with several -gentlemen, some of whom looked deeply concerned, while others were -evidently no more affected than if they had come to see the fifth act -of a well-performed tragedy. Among the first to appear was Henry De -Lancey, to whom Marion had instantly sent an express, and, totally -unconscious of exciting more than ordinary notice, he advanced to Lord -Doncaster with an expression of heartfelt sorrow, wishing to volunteer -his services in unraveling the appalling and mysterious events of the -night. While some eyes were turned on Henry with eager and intense -scrutiny, an anxious investigation was commenced, though without -success, for no clue could be obtained which threw any light upon this -treacherous and unaccountable murder. - -Not a whisper was heard, while Henry at once related all which had -passed that night between himself and Captain De Crespigny, during the -angry dialogue which had been overheard between them; but as delicacy -to Agnes prevented him from being perfectly explicit respecting the -cause of their dissension, several questions were asked, which he felt -obliged to decline answering, though a cloud of suspicion gradually -gathered over the countenances of several spectators, when he -acknowledged having been in company with the deceased a very few -minutes before the catastrophe, and that they had separated in anger. - -All that could be ascertained for certain was, that Captain De -Crespigny had passed the evening at Mrs. Smytheson's--that he seemed in -unusual spirits, which is always remembered to have been the case with -those who suffer some sudden calamity--that he had spoken of plans -involving many years of life and health--that he had mentioned to Lord -Wigton differences having arisen lately between him and Henry De -Lancey--and that some one had been observed lurking near the door, when -he took leave at night of his cousin, Miss Howard, to whom he said in -his usual tone of characteristic gallantry, "I shall count the minutes -till we meet to-morrow." - -Little did he then, in the bright glow of youth, health, and spirits, -foresee what that to-morrow should produce! - -No farther information could be elicited except the evidence of Marion, -who described, in faltering accents, the deadly conflict she had -witnessed; but, being unable to see the assassin, she could afford no -assistance in identifying him; though she declared in the strongest -terms, that in height and form he bore no resemblance to any one she -had ever seen before, unless it were the madman, Ernest Anstruther. To -have explicitly denied that it was Henry, would have seemed like a -tacit acknowledgment that such a thing might have been conjectured; and -Marion abhorred the very thought of his name being at all implicated in -a catastrophe so revolting. - -Some time elapsed before it occurred to the imagination of Henry, that -the eye of suspicion could for a moment rest upon him; and when the -idea flashed into his mind, it seemed so perfectly preposterous, as to -be scarcely worth a thought; but he now perceived with indignant -astonishment, that there were those among the spectators who cast on -him dark glances of doubt and suspicion; therefore feeling that to be -accused, even in momentary thought, of a deed from which his very soul -would have shrunk, was intolerable, he advanced without a moment's -hesitation towards the table before which Lord Doncaster was seated; -and, placing his hand upon that of the corpse beside him, he spoke in a -firm and decided tone, though evidently with deep emotion, while the -spectators crushed forward to hear him, and the dead silence around -gave a solemn distinctness to his words, uttered, as they were, in a -low, impressive tone. - -"I perceive--with what degree of astonishment no words can -describe--that I--the last man on earth who would seek the life of -another, even in open and honorable conflict--that I, who had for my -benefactor and instructor the most upright and excellent of men--am -now, by a strange combination of circumstances, likely to become -suspected of a dastardly and treacherous assassination! I disdain to -make any paltry asseverations of innocence! yet, let me not blame any -man for what he thinks! This is a time of sudden and mysterious alarm! -The calamitous event is as little to be accounted for, as it is deeply -to be deplored. Already I have buried in oblivion every cause of -irritation which had recently arisen between us. Nothing personal to -myself had caused our alienation. The deceased acted on many occasions -towards me formerly with the kindest consideration, which I am as ready -now to remember, as I am also to forget all that ever was painful or -unsatisfactory between us." - -Henry bent his head to Lord Doncaster with an air of resolute but -melancholy composure, and stood back while several other persons gave -their evidence, and Marion observed with surprise, that, instead of -being occupied in attending to their depositions, young De Lancey gazed -with a look of wondering perplexity all around the large, old-fashioned -hall, while, with an expression of absent astonishment, his eye -wandered over the gigantic chimney-piece of quaint device, the rusty -armour and trophies of the chase, the old historical furniture, the -tapestried chairs, the statues, and the richly sculptured ceiling. At -length he glanced towards Lord Doncaster, who had been for some time -keenly observing him, but whose looks were now hastily averted, while -apparently occupied in arranging some papers, and it was evident that -the aged peer's hand shook with agitation. Much might, of course, be -attributed to the fearful event of the night, and yet Marion felt that -this emotion did not originate from the same cause, for the Marquis -cast frequently a furtive glance at Henry, though avoiding observation, -and his excitement obviously increased. - -Young De Lancey seemed evidently struggling with some painful, -agitating perplexity! Again he perused the room with a scrutinizing -gaze, and again his eye became fastened on the aged features of Lord -Doncaster with a steady, earnest examination; while still the -expression of doubt and wonder on his countenance became more obvious, -as if he were attempting to stir up some recollections which would not -come at his bidding. Turning at length to Marion, he whispered in a -low, almost dreaming tone, "It is long,--very long since I have been -here! When did I see this apartment last?" - -"You, Henry! never! My uncle ceased to visit Lord Doncaster ages ago! -Indeed, they rather disliked each other than otherwise! We never were -in this old hall before!" - -"And yet, Marion," replied Henry, in a tone of increasing decision, -while his eye still wandered round with a look of intense curiosity, "I -could swear that every object in this room is familiar to my memory. -That oak roof blackened with age; those time-stained walls; those -strange old portraits and their massy frames! I seem to look back -through a dark mist, and to remember scenes and circumstances which -occurred in this apartment long ages ago!" - -"Yes, Henry! every person living is subject to these unaccountable -delusions! It has often been mentioned as extraordinary, that, when any -very agitated scenes occur, people are apt to feel that sort of -dreaming fancy you describe, as if the whole had been acted over in -their sight before." - -"No, Marion, it is not so! The whole is a distinct reality! A hundred -recollections arise like phantoms, and struggle in my memory. Yes! I -have stood upon this floor in former years! I have gazed upon every -object you see there! This was once my home! There, in that large old -chair, I have sat on my mother's knee, and the aged countenance of Lord -Doncaster himself is indelibly imprinted on my recollection." - -"Impossible!" - -"True, Marion! most true! A thousand remembrances pour in like a flood -upon me! This room has often appeared before my eyes in a dream! it is -connected with my earliest years! Look at the farthest corner of this -hall,--behind that damask curtain stands a secret door, and it leads to -a room where I could swear that some hours of my life were formerly -passed, when or why I cannot even guess. Marion, the house is crowded -at present, and we shall not be remarked, let us verify my -recollection, by gradually approaching the concealed door, and then you -will be convinced that memory has not deceived me." - -When Henry, by a slow and difficult progress, had piloted Marion -through the dense mass of persons who filled the hall, they reached at -length the spot he had indicated, where, lifting the tapestry, he at -once opened a door, so nearly resembling the paneling as scarcely to be -discernible, and they entered a small, low room, which seemed to Marion -no larger than a four-post bed, so dusty, dark, and neglected-looking, -that it had evidently not been occupied for years. Long cobwebs hung -like banners from the roof,--it was almost destitute of furniture--and -they found a picture placed on the floor, its face towards the wall, -representing a lady, young and dazzlingly beautiful, and a boy beside -her, playing with a large Newfoundland dog. - -Henry silently strode across the room, and, as if perfectly familiar -with its arrangements, he threw open a small cupboard, into which had -been thrown the broken fragments of several childish playthings. He -paused and gave an agitated look towards Marion. His countenance had -become pale, and wore the same expression as at first, of almost -agonizing perplexity, while he was evidently groping through the -darkest recesses of his memory for that which still eluded his grasp. -Leaning his head on his hand, with eyes fixed on the portrait before -him, Henry remained long in this agitating reverie, his countenance -flushed by the inward tumult, while hunting through his recollection -for a more defined shadow of that which flickered in his brain, and -Marion silently observed him. She did not speak, she scarcely even -breathed, for now it seemed to her as if some mystery were there too -deep for her to fathom, connected probably with Henry's early history, -and a secret hope glimmered on her mind that possibly the time had come -at last when a clue might be obtained to the mystery of Henry's birth -and misfortunes. - -The child, whose portrait they had here discovered, bore an obvious -resemblance to Henry De Lancey, as she first remembered him. The very -dress was similar, and all around brought to mind what Henry had once -described of his early home. It seemed to Marion as if this were the -very crisis of his existence, and she waited in silent hope, expecting -that the moment might come, when he would again speak to tell her his -thoughts; but a deep oppression seemed gathering over his spirit, he -riveted his hands over his face, as if anxious thus to shut out the -world, and every thing in it, from his shrinking memory, and there was -a silence around like death itself. - - - - -CHAPTER XLVI. - - -While Henry continued thus entranced with perplexity, Marion's -attention was gradually attracted by a noise at her side, and, looking -suddenly round, she was startled to behold crouching in the remotest -corner of the room, the figure of a human being, which filled her with -horror and dismay, so haggard, so emaciated, so unlike anything she had -ever looked upon before, that scarcely could she suppress a shriek of -dismay. It was a face of woe and wretchedness, once seen never to be -forgotten, and she had formerly seen it. The sunken temples, the hollow -eyes, the lurid glare of insanity in the eye, and the clusters of hair, -black as death, blown by the night-wind in large damp masses on his -forehead, all brought the wretched Howard instantaneously to her mind; -and, grasping Henry's arm, with an exclamation of terror, she attempted -to hurry with him out of the room. Scarcely, however, had she made a -step towards the door, when the madman darted forward, and closed it, -then wheeling round, he said, in a low, husky voice, while his strength -seemed so subdued, that the grasp of an infant might have mastered -him,-- - -"You have discovered me, and there is no escape! Be it so! 'Welcome -death,' as the rat said, when the trap fell down. Here the tragedy -began, and here let it end!" - -He paused for several minutes, and gradually his face assumed a look of -ungovernable anguish, while he added, in a dreary, desolate tone, -unlike any human voice,-- - -"I could weep for my own ruin,--for my sister's,--but the time is past. -Never shall I shed another tear! Our sin be on the Abbe Mordaunt's -head! The withering curse of a dying man be on his head! The misery of -eternal ruin be on his head, as it is on mine! For his own purposes he -nurtured every wild passion in our young blood. He taught me the mad -ambition that was my ruin,--promised me impunity here and hereafter, if -I assisted in his schemes; and now, after being his tool, I am, like a -useless tool, cast aside! But could he silence my outraged conscience? -No! The gibbet is forever hovering before my sight, and the curse of -heaven is borne to my soul in every blast!" - -"Yet you are still in this world of hope, where none can be finally -condemned," said Henry, solemnly. "Till the grave closes over your -head, mercy and pardon may yet be asked, and may yet be granted! Ernest -Anstruther, from the hour of my mother's death until now, you have most -barbarously injured me, but mortal man must not keep up immortal anger. -I only obey our beneficent Creator in saying, that if you repent, I -heartily forgive you. Your life is probably forfeited to the outraged -laws of man, but may your soul find mercy in its utmost need." - -"I have been your deadliest foe, De Lancey, and haunted your steps with -my hatred from childhood; but it is done," continued Anstruther, with a -look of bleak and barren agony. "I will not live to be caged in prison, -a spectacle of scorn and infamy, to die a death of shame. How different -from what I once hoped! There shall be no to-morrow for me in this -world! A fire is at my heart, which can only be quenched by death! It -is better not to be, than to be miserable! I shall give my body to the -beasts of the field, or the birds in the air. I shall find a bed where -no dreams shall haunt me, and a sleep from which there is no awakening! -A wolf may lose his teeth, but you cannot change his nature! As a -madman I have lived, and as a madman I shall die! We must sleep in the -bed we prepare for ourselves! Before that sun shall have traveled -another hour, you, Henry De Lancey, shall be raised to honor, and I -shall have died, covered with infamy and disgrace. I never stir now, -without the fatal means of release." - -Marion shivered from head to foot, at the ghastly sound of Anstruther's -voice, but paralyzed with terror, she dared not stir, for already a -loaded pistol was in his hand. A fearful ghastly smile distorted his -countenance,--the smile of a maniac,--a smile such as may be seen on -the lips of a corpse, and an expression gleamed in his eye, which it -curdled her blood to look upon, and might have struck terror into the -strongest mind; but Henry, in a calm, deliberate voice, replied,-- - -"There is no such dreamless sleep, Anstruther, as you describe! Even -Satan himself believes in futurity! Whatever be your sorrow, and worse -than sorrow, your sin, do not madly hasten to that world where there is -no peace and no pardon. Take pity upon yourself." - -"Mine has been a desperate life, and it shall have a desperate end," -replied Ernest, with a sullen, deadly smile on his bloodless lips; but -trying to assume a tone of reckless indifference, he added, "I never -was one to choke upon the tail! I have gazed at the moon, and fallen in -the gutter, but, De Lancey, for the sake of that good old man, Sir -Arthur, who was your benefactor and mine, I will not die without doing -you justice. The wax of secrecy may now be broken, and here are papers -clearly and indisputably to prove that you are the legitimate son of -Lord Doncaster. They purify your mother's character from every -aspersion, and testify without doubt your title to be Lord Dunraven." - -Had an apparition arisen through the floor, or had a cannon gone off at -Henry's ear, he could scarcely have been more startled and astonished, -while, with an exclamation of joy and rapture, Marion rushed up to him, -saying, in accents of tremulous joy, while he stood bewildered with -surprise, and then grasping the packet in his hand, staggered to a -seat, "It is then as uncle Arthur once almost believed! Oh, Henry, what -joy! If he had but lived to hear it! Can this be possible!" - -After a few moments given to emotion and wonder, while Henry seemed -almost as if his spirit had taken wing from the body, Marion having in -some degree recovered herself, looked round, and observed with surprise -that they were alone! The madman, taking advantage of Henry's -agitation, had rushed wildly from the house, to be seen and heard of no -more. Henry rose, intending instantly to give an alarm, and to follow -in pursuit of Anstruther; but scarcely had he stirred a step, before he -and Marion were startled by hearing, in the adjoining room, a shriek so -shrill and appalling, so heart-broken and delirious, that in an agony -of alarm, they hurried forward to the hall. A confused murmur, a buzz -of suppressed astonishment had arisen among the assembled crowd, in -which were many countenances expressing strong fear, others wearing -only an air of gaping curiosity, many with their hands clasped in -amazement, and others expanding them in terror, but all listening with -looks of motionless attention, while every eye was turned towards the -table on which the murdered body had been laid, and a deep silence -ensued, of hushed expectation, as if the stage were about to exhibit a -tragedy of exciting interest. - -Henry glanced rapidly around, and saw standing beside the corpse a tall -female, whose aspect filled all present with surprise. Her worn and -haggard countenance seemed cold and rigid as the figure on a -tomb-stone, and her cheek had become overspread with a damp and leaden -paleness; while in speechless horror, which seemed as if it amounted -almost to insanity, she pointed her long, ghastly finger towards the -body. A hundred eyes were now bent on hers, and her bewildered glance -swept for a moment round the assembled crowd, with a look of -unutterable wretchedness, till at length her eye fell on Lord -Doncaster. On him she now fixed an unshrinking gaze, while she spoke in -a low, hoarse whisper, which sounded with terrifying distinctness -through the large old hall, and fell upon every ear with a solemnity -and awfulness like the knell of death. - -"I knew all, but could not hinder it! No! I would have died to prevent -this! There was death in my brother's eye when he left me! I pursued -him, but it was too late! Day by day, step by step, we have sunk into -deeper crime and misery! Who would think that I had ever been young, -innocent, and happy? The barrier was first thrown down by him who lies -here! Hour by hour the deepening shadows grew darker! Long, long have -these eyes been drenched with the tears of a broken heart! My wretched -brother swore that every pang I suffered should be avenged! I would -have pardoned, I would have forgotten all, if I might but have saved my -brother, and sheltered _him_ from death. I have warned, I have wept, -implored! I have prayed on my very knees; but in vain! All is now over! -Every law of God and man has been violated! None in all this assembly -can see as I do the horror of our guilt--none can hate it more! The -past maddens me, and the future--oh! what is there in the future for -me!" - -With a shuddering groan, Mary Anstruther sunk back on a chair, and she -trembled like a leaf in the blast of autumn, while a mortal silence -ensued. Lord Doncaster with brows knit, and lips firmly compressed, -seemed resolute to conceal the emotions evidently struggling and -boiling within his breast; and the by-standers, in dismay, had all -shrunk back from the unhappy woman; but Henry now, with an irresistible -impulse of pity, approached, and spoke a few soothing words to her, -when she suddenly looked up, and seeing the expression of unfeigned -commiseration with which he gazed at her, burning tears forced -themselves into her eyes, and, with a look of piercing woe, she added -in a low, husky, choking voice-- - -"I have asked pity, and all are not pitiless! I am used to misery--that -cannot draw tears from me now, but kindness does,--your kindness -especially. My heart was dumb and frozen! I never thought to weep -again. Many is the long day since I have been pitied! Many is the long -day since I have deserved it! Yes!" added she, grasping Henry's arm -with almost iron force, while she spoke in a voice so strange and deep, -it thrilled to every heart. "The time is come for me to tell all and -die. The secret of your life was begun with bloodshed, and here in -bloodshed it has ended. The thought that your mother died by my -brother's hand has, from that fatal hour, gnawed like a fiery serpent -at my heart. My soul is shaken to the very dust; but while I have -breath to speak, let me confess how we slandered your mother--how we -caused her to be driven as an outcast from this house--how we deceived -your father, and cheated you, Henry De Lancey, of your birthright." - -At this moment Lord Doncaster, who had seemed almost paralyzed with -agitation, and as if the springs of life were drying up within him, -suddenly rose, and waving back the Abbe Mordaunt and others who were -crowding around him, he placed himself opposite the wretched woman, and -fixed a look of searching examination on her death-struck countenance, -while he seemed afraid to trust his own voice, lest it should betray -the tumult of his feelings; but after a momentary struggle, he passed -his hand across his eyes, and said in a low tone of doubt and -uncertainty,-- - -"It seems like a resurrection from the dead! It cannot be! Is Mary -Anstruther yet in being?" - -"I have dreamed of such a man once," replied she, casting a desolate -look around. "My heart was not then bursting, as it is now, because -none can help me." - -Henry's eye became fastened with a look of settled intensity on the -countenance of Lord Doncaster, who walked a few agitated steps about -the room, and then added, in a voice of stern astonishment: - -"You speak of a deception! Let me know all? What of Laura Mordaunt?" - -"Not of Laura Mordaunt, my Lord, but your lawful wife! The story of -your previous marriage, invented by the Abbe, was a hideous lie. Had -she been told the reason why you spurned her from the house, she could -have disproved it. We told her only that your affections had been -changed. She was too proud to complain; yet she did at last write a -letter, which never reached you. She there made a solemn appeal to your -justice and compassion, claiming for her son the affection and the -station to which he is entitled. She became persuaded, by the Abbe's -contrivance, that her marriage had been illegal. All--all was foul and -horrid falsehood. We each had our various interests to serve! the Abbe -to embezzle his niece's fortune--Ernest to keep his place near the -succession--and I----" - -Mary Anstruther's almost unearthly voice, which sounded unlike the -voice of a human being, now entirely failed; her teeth chattered, she -shivered from head to foot, and her eyes became fixed on the stiffened -corpse by her side, while Lord Doncaster, with a scarcely audible groan -of bitter regret, locked his hands over his heart, as if to still its -palpitations, and listened, in agitated silence, for more. At length -the wretched woman continued, while her voice became faint, and her -very blood seemed to freeze at the sound of her own words. - -"The slow progress of a breaking heart was not rapid enough for -Ernest's hatred. He believed she was the cause of our ruin, and he -murdered her! I would die a thousand deaths now to restore Laura -Mordaunt--to undo all that I have done! Oh! that memory itself would -fail! I am haunted and tortured by those over-living remembrances!" - -Lord Doncaster looked as if a flash of lightning had blinded him, -while, after gazing for a moment in almost vacant astonishment at Mary -Anstruther, he put his hand to his head, and, with a suppressed groan, -leaned against the table for support. A feather might have thrown him -down, but he was evidently trying to collect his senses, and murmured -hurriedly to himself in broken accents, "No! no! Impossible! It is all -proved! She was guilty! Who can doubt it?" - -"My Lord! it was a cruel, horrid, slanderous falsehood!" cried Mary, in -a tone of solemn earnestness. "Night and the grave seem already closed -over my wretched head. Take, then, the assurance of a dying creature, -that Lord Mordaunt was innocent. Let me do one good action on the -earth, before I perish for ever! She deserved a better fate! Let her -young son enjoy the titles and honors of his ancestors. Letters will be -produced after my death, proving his right. I desire all here to -witness the last words I shall speak before my lips are sealed by death -in everlasting silence, that there stands Henry, Lord Dunraven, the -lawful son of Lord Doncaster! And now my destiny is accomplished! -Already I seem separated from the living, though not yet united to the -dead! Let my end come quickly, as it comes surely." - -Henry's very heart trembled with agitation, and it seemed as if his -veins ran lightning, while he fixed a long and agitated look on Lord -Doncaster, whose countenance became convulsed with agitation, his brain -seemed contracted by a spasm, the thread of life appeared suddenly to -snap, a thick mist obscured his sight, and before his newly found son -could rush forward to his support, he had fallen to the ground as if -shot. - -The room was immediately cleared of strangers, and the Abbe Mordaunt -fled without delay to the continent, where he soon after buried himself -in the monastery of La Trappe. - -During several succeeding days, all that mortal man could do was done -to restore Lord Doncaster, while Henry watched over his -recently-discovered parent with incessant attention, and hoped, but -hoped in vain, that Lord Doncaster might live to recognise and bless -him; but the varied and vehement emotions of the last few hours had -been too much for his aged frame. He continued during some time -insensible, and, at length, after a short but severe struggle, expired. - -Henry was acknowledged, however, before long, and recognised by the -world, as not a doubt could remain on any mind of his identity and his -claims, after those papers had been read bequeathed to him by the -Anstruthers, and before the wretched Mary had quitted the earthly scene -of her misfortunes and crimes, she was consoled by the forgiveness and -the prayers of young De Lancey, now Marquis of Doncaster. - -The whole unfathomable abyss of Henry's feelings and affections was now -irradiated with hope, and he felt himself almost overwhelmed by the -torrent of happiness about to pour upon him, when, hiding his face with -his hands, tears of indescribable--of almost insufferable joy gushed -from his eyes. The change seemed sudden as spring, bursting forth -amidst the arid deserts of Siberia, after the snow has been melted away -in the night, and the barren ground is, as by magic, clothed with -blossoms, and warmed with sunshine. It appeared as if a word might yet -break the charm--as if he might awaken and find the whole a dream of -enchantment, but the crowning of all his earthly joy, was, when he at -length claimed, in the open face of day, that true, constant, and -disinterested affection of Caroline Smythe, which had so long been to -him like a spring of water in the desert to a lonely traveller, -cheering and refreshing his heart in the long pilgrimage of life. - - Oh, doubly sweet is sunshine after rain, - Rest after toil, port after stormy seas. - -The language of happy love, interesting above all else to the parties -themselves, is uninteresting to others, but who ever had a brighter lot -than Caroline and Henry, while they looked far into the future, -anticipating together a long life of mutual confidence, cheered by "the -soul's calm sunshine, and the heart's best joy." - -"I begin now to fancy nobody in the world happy but myself!" exclaimed -Henry, gaily. "I am almost ashamed to be so much better off than I -deserve! but, as Lady Townly says, Caroline, 'We must squeeze as little -as possible of the lemon into our matrimonial sherbet!'" - -"Must I actually give up the delightful romance of loving you as a -friendless adventurer, Henry? What would Lydia Languish have said to -such a droll, every-day, common-place reality? I do not absolutely hate -you," said Caroline, with a conscious laugh, and a slight relapse into -her usual capricious vivacity, "but we must have one little quarrel -yet! There is a circumstance respecting me, which has hitherto, for -very good reasons, been kept secret, and now, it must, most -unfortunately, come out!" - -"What can that be?" asked Henry, smilingly watching the variations of -Caroline's countenance. "I am quite as ready for a quarrel as you are; -therefore tell me the worst at once!" - -"It is an objection against me which I heard you once say would, in any -case, be insuperable!" added Caroline, archly. "When all is told, you -will certainly change your mind!" - -"Then I shall be much changed, indeed! What magical spell do you intend -to use?" - -"Henry! you made a rash vow once, in my hearing, never to marry an -heiress," said Caroline, trying to speak in a tone of gravity, and -looking away. "Would you not abhor and avoid the heiress of Howard -Abbey, including all the broad acres of Beaujolie Manor?" - -Henry looked at Caroline in silent perplexity; but the blush, the -frolicsome laugh, and the air of arch caprice with which she spoke, all -at once enlightened his mind, and, seizing her hand with the most -lover-like _empressement_, he gaily exclaimed, "Well, Caroline! since -it must be so, I forgive you for being an heiress; but in no one whom I -liked less could I have endured this! I love you in spite of it! I do, -indeed! You merited already more than I ever can offer; but, Caroline, -we love each other truly; and, for better, as well as for worse, I -shall love you forever!" - - - - -CHAPTER XLVII. - - -Events come in clusters; and the very same day on which Henry was -publicly recognised as Marquis of Doncaster, Marion received a letter -from Sir Patrick, announcing his intention immediately to return home. -He alluded, with a degree of feeling which surprised and deeply -affected her, to the death of Sir Arthur, and spoke of happy days yet -to come, when he hoped she might, at length, be united to "the man -whom, above all others on earth, he esteemed the most, and liked the -best." In reading these words, Marion felt a pang of melancholy -sympathy for her brother, believing, of course, that they alluded to -his friend Captain De Crespigny; and deeply did she deplore the grief -he was about to suffer, when first he should hear of that appalling -event which had filled every heart with grief and consternation. - -It was on a gloomy evening in the month of February, when the sun, -having all day failed to disperse a thick fog, had sunk into darkness, -that Marion, expecting her brother's return, used all the little -ingenuity of affection to render his reception cheerful. The fire -blazed brightly; the tea urn was on the table, and she herself had -taken more than usual pains with her dress, besides having decked her -face with unwonted smiles for the occasion. - -When Sir Patrick at last arrived, there was a tone of unusual kindness -in his manner to both Agnes and Marion, who were surprised by the -genuine warmth with which he expressed his happiness on seeing them -again, and at the subdued melancholy in his voice. The fatal news of -Captain De Crespigny's death had reached him on the road, and there -appeared a profound solemnity in his manner when he alluded to it, more -affecting than the loudest expressions of grief; but it was a subject -on which he seemed incapable of speaking; while Marion scarcely thought -a human countenance could have expressed so much anguish. While Agnes -preserved an almost statue-like silence, Marion took her brother's hand -in her own, and endeavored, by every affectionate endearment, to -testify her sympathy, till at length he clasped her in his arms, -saying, in accents almost choked with agitation, "Your sisterly -kindness, Marion, has survived all my neglect and misconduct. Let me -thank you for that; but could it survive if I were to tell you of a -cruel and heartless treachery?" - -"It can survive anything--everything," whispered Marion, earnestly. -"Say nothing that distresses you, Patrick! Never think of it again!" - -"I must not only think of it for ever, Marion, but show my regret by -telling you all," replied he, in a tone of deep, concentrated feeling. -"But not now, Marion; not yet! I could not bear to do so in the full -tide of our happiness at meeting. You deserve to be loved as you are -loved by one who is every way worthy of you." - -The color rushed over Marion's countenance, and vanished as rapidly -again; but her eyes, which had been fixed on those of Sir Patrick with -sparkling affection, now fell sadly to the ground, while she made no -reply, evidently trying to avoid her brother's notice, who seemed bent -on reading her thoughts. - -"Marion," said he, gravely, "to what do you attribute Richard -Granville's strange and unjustifiable silence?" - -"It is strange, Patrick; but I could pledge my life it is not -unjustifiable," replied Marion, in tremulous accents. "When I gave him -my heart, it was with a perfect conviction that he is incapable of -deceit or dishonor, and I believe him so still. I trust him as I would -be trusted myself. In this world or in another we shall understand each -other again." - -Marion's features kindled as she spoke; bright and beautiful tears -gathered in her eyes; her manner became more energetic; her whole heart -seemed on her lips, and the deep melody of her voice was eloquence -itself, as she advocated the cause of her absent lover. - -"But surely, Marion," said Agnes, turning round, as she was about to -leave the room, "there are pen, ink, and paper to be found on the -Continent, if he pleased to use them." - -"Yes," added Sir Patrick; "and if Granville ever returns, Marion, you -will of course receive him coldly, give yourself all the airs of -injured merit, and, in short, treat him from the very first as a -flagrant criminal." - -"Not at all, Patrick!" replied Marion, surprised at the lurking smile -she traced on her brother's countenance. "I place no dependance on my -own attractions, or I might indeed despair; but my reliance rests on -the consistency and generosity of Richard himself, in which I cannot be -mistaken. The features of his character, like the features of his -countenance, are unalterable; and I could not believe in his identity, -if he were deficient in honor and truth. Even at the worst, Patrick," -added Marion, while her glittering, wet eye-lashes drooped on her -glowing cheek, "where we love it is a pleasure to forgive; but my -confidence as yet is unshaken." - -"Then, Marion, you deserve to be happy--happier than I ever was, or -ever shall be; and never, believe me, had any one a brighter lot in -prospect. Those tears have no business there! They will soon, I hope, -be strangers to your eyes!" - -There was a look of joyous emotion in the countenance of Sir Patrick as -he spoke, which made the heart of Marion leap to her very lips with -agitation, while in broken and hurried accents he continued, - -"I did intend to give you a long and painful explanation of my -conduct--to tell you of my recent dangerous illness abroad, during -which I was attended by the most inestimable of friends; to describe -how the slow progress of my recovery left me leisure for the counsels -and conversation of the best of men; to say how the death of De -Crespigny has overawed and afflicted me, taking the gloss from my whole -future existence on earth; and to tell you that the loss of Clara -Granville, and the last scene we had together, have put a climax to the -entire change of all my thoughts and feelings in life. I am returned, -Marion, now, to do justice wherever it is due; by years of careful -restriction to discharge the uttermost farthing of my debts, and to -make two persons happy who deserve it." - -A bright, quick flush passed across Marion's cheek, and a bewildering -hope darted into her mind, when Sir Patrick smilingly added, with a -thrilling tremor still in his voice, - -"A stranger is waiting for me below, who can explain all better than -myself. May he come up? I am too much agitated to be distinct!" - -Scarcely had her brother left the room, before Marion heard a light, -springing step on the stairs. The door was flung open; and if joy ever -killed, it would have been now, when Marion, with almost incredulous -astonishment, again beheld Richard Granville; his features lighted up -by the smile of former days; his eyes radiant with joy, and his -countenance almost convulsed with agitation, while, giving an -exclamation of rapturous delight, he presented himself before her. - -If Marion's life had depended on her speaking a word, she could not for -some moments have uttered it; but there is a silent eloquence in deep -emotion, more powerful than language; and, giddy with excessive -astonishment, tears and smiles seemed to struggle for the mastery in -her countenance, like the summer light and shade upon an aspen tree. - -All was mutual confidence, and mutual affection now, while Richard -Granville rapidly, and almost incoherently, conveyed to Marion's heart -the surpassing felicity of his own, telling her how the long hours of -his absence had each and all of them been counted over with -unimaginable impatience; that, she had never been a moment absent from -his thoughts, and that, having seized the first instant to hasten to -his happiness, he had now returned to claim his promised bride, and in -the sight of heaven and earth, to dedicate to her all his earthly -affections--to make her his own forever. - -With a deep sob of gratified emotion, Marion listened; her feelings -were strained to the uttermost; but she frankly received all his joyful -protestations of unchanged and unchangeable attachment, and attempted -not to conceal her own, saying, in low, tremulous accents, as soon as -she could command her voice to speak,-- - -"I think the more of myself for being loved by you. It will take a -life-time to testify how deeply I value your affection." - -"My happiness would be nothing if it could be expressed in words," -continued Richard, in accents of the deepest tenderness. "But let -future years, my Marion, speak for me. It is said that no man would -willingly consent to live his life exactly over again; but we shall be -so happy in each other, that nothing would make us hesitate except the -hope of a still better life to come." - -"And now," said Sir Patrick, entering, with some degree of his old -vivacity restored, "your sails are full set, with a brisk breeze, for -the haven of happiness! May you both obtain everything you have been -disappointed of in former years, and find nothing left to wish for in -the future." - -"That would be misery, rather than happiness," replied Mr. Granville, -smiling. "No, Dunbar, for myself, and for my Marion, my still dearer -self, I trust that we shall contentedly see the stream of events flow -on, in sunshine or shadow, without a wish to change them. We shall be -one on earth, one in heaven, and one throughout eternity, confiding in -each other with entire and unalterable affection; while every action of -our lives and every thought of our hearts shall be consecrated by -implicit obedience to that Beneficent Being who has bestowed on us so -much." - - Our mutual bond of faith and truth - No time can disengage; - Those blessings of our early youth - Shall cheer our latest age. - - Those ills that wait on all below - Shall ne'er be felt by me; - Or gently felt, and only so, - As being shar'd with thee. - - COWPER. - - -THE END. - - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Modern Flirtations, by Catherine Sinclair - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MODERN FLIRTATIONS *** - -***** This file should be named 43358.txt or 43358.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/3/3/5/43358/ - -Produced by Robert Cicconetti and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, -set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to -copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to -protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project -Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you -charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you -do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the -rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose -such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and -research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do -practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is -subject to the trademark license, especially commercial -redistribution. - - - -*** START: FULL LICENSE *** - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project -Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at - www.gutenberg.org/license. - - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy -all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. -If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the -terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or -entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement -and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic -works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" -or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the -collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an -individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are -located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from -copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative -works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg -are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project -Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by -freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of -this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with -the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by -keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project -Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in -a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check -the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement -before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or -creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project -Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning -the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United -States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate -access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently -whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, -copied or distributed: - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived -from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is -posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied -and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees -or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work -with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the -work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 -through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the -Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or -1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional -terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked -to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the -permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any -word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or -distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than -"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version -posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), -you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a -copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon -request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other -form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided -that - -- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is - owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he - has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the - Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments - must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you - prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax - returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and - sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the - address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to - the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." - -- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or - destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium - and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of - Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any - money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days - of receipt of the work. - -- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set -forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from -both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael -Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the -Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm -collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic -works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain -"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or -corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual -property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a -computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by -your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with -your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with -the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a -refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity -providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to -receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy -is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further -opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER -WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO -WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. -If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the -law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be -interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by -the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any -provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance -with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, -promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, -harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, -that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do -or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm -work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any -Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. - - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers -including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists -because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from -people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. -To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation -and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 -and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org - - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive -Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent -permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. -Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered -throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at 809 -North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email -contact links and up to date contact information can be found at the -Foundation's web site and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -For additional contact information: - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To -SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any -particular state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. -To donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic -works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm -concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared -with anyone. For forty years, he produced and distributed Project -Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. -unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily -keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: - - www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - |