THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 GIFT OF 
 
 Mrs* George Papashvily 
 
THE 
 
 LlLLINGSTONES 
 
 OF 
 
 LILLINGSTONE. 
 
 BY 
 
 EMMA JANE WORBOISE. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 NEW YORK : 
 
 DODD & MEAD, PUBLISHERS, 
 
 762 Broadway. 
 1873. 
 
GIFT 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PART I. 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 FAMILY FOIBLES 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 THE UNBIDDEN GUEST .... * ...... 15 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 THE SCENE CHANGES ........... 26 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 "ENAVANT!" ............. 43 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 THE FIRST LAURELS ........... 59 
 
 CHAPTER 71. 
 "THE CAMPBELLS ARE COMING!" ....... 74 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS 88 
 
 037 
 
vi CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Page 
 
 COVE HALL .............. 371 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 SEPARATION ............. 381 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 THE GARDEN WALKS ............ 398 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 THE DOXOLOGY .............. 410 
 
PART I. 
 
THE 
 
 LILLINGSTOMS OF LILLINGSTME. 
 
 PART I. 
 CHAPTEE L 
 
 FAMILY FOIBLES. 
 
 IT was a beautiful afternoon in the month of May. 
 Lillingstone looked its loveliest, with the calm, 
 sweet sunshine on its grey mellow walls, on its 
 flowery terraces, and its wavy upland lawns, that, 
 half park and half field, sloped away to the broad 
 belt of pine woods skirting the line of rocky, lonely 
 hills, at the eastern extremity of the estate. 
 
 The gardens gave rich promise of flowers and 
 fruitage yet to come ; the hawthorns were all one 
 sheet of pearly fragrant beauty ; the delicate green 
 branches of the acacia waved gently in the warm, 
 soft air, mingling their white, tress-like blossoms 
 with the golden chains of the laburnum. The large- 
 flowered scented lilac shed its perfume on every 
 
2 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 passing zephyr; the snowy, rose-tipped spirals of 
 the horse-chestnut were dropping their petals on 
 the thick velvet sward ; while the silvery, foam-like 
 balls of the guelder-rose, the pure ivory of the 
 luscious syringa, and the glorious tints of magni- 
 ficent rhododendrons and azaleas, made beautiful 
 every mound and plot and terrace of the large, old- 
 fashioned parterres of Lillingstone Hall. 
 
 The house itself was such as we often see in our 
 country rambles, and wonder whether it is ancient 
 or modern. It was built of dark grey stone, all 
 weather-stained and lichen-grown, and it was orna- 
 mented with heavy balustrades and balconies, broad 
 gables, several massy buttresses, and divers pert 
 pinnacles, that shot up turret- wise where one would 
 least expect to see them. 
 
 There were plate-glass French windows opening 
 on the south terrace, and heavy mullioned case- 
 ments, with tiny leaded panes, on the north. There 
 was the Tudor style predominant; there was also 
 the style of Queen Anne ; and here and there un- 
 mistakeable evidences of the style of Queen Yictoria. 
 The nephew and assistant of the village doctor 
 confidently pronounced Lillingstone to be "pure 
 Grecian." Why he made such an assertion, no one 
 ever knew ; but the rector's son, who read Buskin, 
 and was great upon mediaeval architecture, and there- 
 fore pitied the ignorant multitude who could not 
 discern between a Saxon and a Norman arch, called 
 
FAMILY FOIBLES. 3 
 
 it a commingling of the Byzantine, and Renaissance, 
 and Pointed Gothic eras. Perhaps he was right ; 
 certainly there was no one at hand to contradict 
 him ; but when, once upon a time, an archaeological 
 party caine that way, they retreated in disgust, de- 
 claring that Lillingstone was "very lase!" The 
 house was the same jumble within as without ; 
 there were lofty, elegant rooms, broad staircases, 
 and noble corridors, that would not have disgraced 
 the mansions of Belgravia ; and there were also low- 
 ceiled, dark wainscoted chambers, narrow corkscrew 
 stairs, and long, gloomy, vaulted passages, savouring 
 strongly of the time when every respectable family 
 mansion had its own legend, and its own ghost. 
 
 But through and over all there was an unmistak- 
 able air of life and brightness and comfort ; there 
 was nothing glaring or showy in the grander rooms, 
 and nothing mean and scanty in those of humbler 
 aspect at least, in those of them that were inhabited. 
 It was quite clear that Lillingstone was the abode 
 of persons of gentle birth and refined education. 
 
 In a large, low room, having no less than six 
 windows, looking north and west, sat, on that sunny 
 May afternoon, a party of young people, all busily 
 occupied, save one, a girl of eighteen or nineteen 
 years of age, who was dreamily gazing out on the 
 broad sunshiny landscape that sloped gradually down- 
 wards, till the soft hazy distance melted into the 
 grey sea-line that bounded the horizon. Her work, 
 
 B 2 
 
4 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 some pretty trifle of embroidery, lay at her feet; 
 and her fingers wandered unconsciously through the 
 clustering brown curls that shaded a fair, sweet, 
 but rather anxious countenance. 
 
 At another window sat a youth of sixteen, busy 
 with some construing, but every now and then rais- 
 ing his handsome face to gaze cautiously at his sister 
 Katharine, as if the shadow of care that rested on 
 her smooth, open brow, were something that puzzled 
 and discomfited him. 
 
 At the large central table were two more girls 
 and another boy ; the latter a pale, delicate-looking 
 child of nine, with large, serious blue eyes, and 
 girlish ringlets of golden hair. The young ladies, 
 Bertha and Mildred Lillingstone, were respectively 
 fifteen and thirteen years old. The elder of the two 
 was copying music with extraordinary neatness and 
 rapidity, ruling her bars with scrupulous exactness, 
 dotting her crotchets and quavers with the preci- 
 sion of a connoisseur, and marking clefs with all 
 the skill and action of a practised draughtswoman. 
 She was dressed like her sisters ; but there was an 
 air of trimness and daintiness in her simple attire 
 that was peculiar to herself, and presented a remark- 
 able contrast to the costume of her younger sister 
 who sat by her side, stooping low over a water- 
 colour drawing, at which she was working with 
 more speed than success. Mildred was tall and 
 thin, with long arms and a very dingy complexion. 
 
FAMILY FOIBLES. 5 
 
 Her dark hair hung in heavy curls round a face 
 that, in spite of its large nose and mouth, and its 
 worse than mere absence of lilies and roses, looked 
 bright and pleasant. But the abundant tresses were 
 rough and sadly tangled, and quite innocent of any 
 gloss, either natural or artificial ; while Bertha was 
 slight and small, and exquisitely fair, with such 
 snowy little hands, and such rosy-tipped palms and 
 fingers, and such shining, wavy bands of golden hair, 
 smoothed round a well-formed head, that was set on 
 the slender white neck and drooping shoulders- like a 
 faultless capital on a perfectly symmetrical shaft. 
 
 Mildred's dress was of precisely the same fashion 
 and material as Bertha's ; but it looked at once too 
 large and too small ; and an apron, which seemed 
 to have done extra duty as duster and pen- wiper, 
 was pinned on her waist, instead of being fastened 
 in the legitimate way. Her feet were crossed as 
 decidedly as any crusader's in efiigy, and ever and 
 anon one foot went poking and sliding about in 
 quest of a disreputable-looking slipper, that was 
 manifestly disqualified for the position it was ex- 
 pected to fill ; and, to crown all, she had been trying 
 her paints on the backs of her hands, and on her 
 arms, thus giving herself a striking resemblance to 
 a wild Indian in holiday costume. 
 
 There was still another inmate of the room. Helen 
 Lillingstone, a tall, graceful girl, in age between 
 Katharine, the eldest of the family, and Alfred, the 
 
6 THE LTLLINGSTONES. 
 
 dark- eyed youth, who was so busy with his Euri- 
 pides. Helen was quite as dark as Mildred, but 
 much handsomer if, indeed, it were fair to make 
 the comparison at all. She sat apart from the rest, 
 lounging not ungracefully in a large easy chair, and 
 devouring one of the green-covered numbers of 
 " Dombey and Son " with a rapidity and a zest 
 that evidenced her thorough enjoyment of the tale. 
 Presently Eertha rose ; she had finished her task, 
 and she laid her MS. music-book on the pianoforte 
 to dry. " Katharine," she said, at length, breaking 
 the unwonted silence of that room, " at what hour 
 to-morrow shall we go to Sandmouth?" 
 
 "To Sandmouth?" replied Katharine, dreamily; 
 " what are we going for ? " 
 
 "Is it possible you can forget? For wools, 
 canvas, beads, tinted note-paper, stamps, the May 
 number of ' Dombey,' and l Elackwood,' and oh ! 
 fifty things besides !" 
 
 " I suppose we must have the postage-stamps," 
 said Katharine, still abstractedly. 
 
 " We must have all the things ; we want them," 
 returned Eertha, looking rather surprised. " Dear 
 Kate, you made out the list yourself yesterday, and 
 we should have gone to-day, only papa had an en- 
 gagement with that stupid lawyer, and we could 
 not be sure about the carriage." 
 
 "While this dialogue was going on, Alfred was 
 watching Katharine intently. He came up to his 
 
FAMILY FOIBLES. 7 
 
 sisters, and taking Kate's arm, he said, "You have 
 that wretched headache again, old Katty. Never 
 mind the shopping ; come with me into the garden." 
 
 " Yery well only one moment ; let me put these 
 wools into my basket." 
 
 Meanwhile there was a general movement. Helen 
 flung her "Dombey " on the piano, and it swept in 
 its flight the yet undried page of Bertha's copying, 
 making all the array of crotchets and quavers look 
 like a swarm of comets, with their tails blazing 
 one way. Walter saw the disaster first, and cried 
 out, " Oh, Bertha, look! what a smudge !" 
 
 Bertha turned quickly, the impatient crimson 
 glowing on neck and brow as she beheld her work 
 defaced and spoilt. Her little fingers trembled as 
 she took up the unfortunate book, and remarked 
 with no small asperity that perhaps Helen would 
 re-copy it for her in the evening. " Not this even- 
 ing," returned Helen, with very little demonstration 
 of regret. " I am sorry, dear, I have spoilt your 
 neat copying ; but you need not remove the page : 
 when it dries, we can scratch out the worst of the 
 smears ; it will read just as well ! " 
 
 . " Read just as well!" returned Bertha, indig- 
 nantly; " do you think I could ever place such a 
 blurred, marred page before me ? I never care for 
 a thing unless it be perfect of its kind." 
 
 " I know that. Well, let me see ! to-morrow no, 
 the day after I will try what I can do ; but I warn 
 
8 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 you, Bertha, that any copy of mine is sure to be 
 erroneous, if not illegible." 
 
 "You need not trouble yourself. I know your 
 style : your MS. music is about equal to Mildred's 
 sewing." 
 
 ""Well, I am sorry," continued Helen, opening a 
 book; "but don't make such a fuss: it was un 
 accident, and accidents will happen." 
 
 "They need not; they ought not," said Bertha, 
 hotly. 
 
 "Oh, Bertha!" put in Mildred, "how can you 
 say so. I don't mean things come by chance ; but 
 there must le accidents sometimes." 
 
 "Yes, if one is careless and foolish!" replied 
 Bertha, with intense disgust, as Mildred, in order 
 to emphasise her " must" struck her tumbler of 
 dirty water instead of her colour-box, and deluged 
 her drawing, and Alfred's Greek verses as well. 
 Every one rushed to the rescue. Katharine snatched 
 up her wools with a glance of reproof at Mildred. 
 Bertha held out to Alfred his soaked hexameters; 
 Walter laughed at the confusion, and Mildred her- 
 self coolly unpinned her unfortunate apron, and 
 began to mop up the water with it. 
 
 " Mildred ! how can you ?" cried Bertha, severely. 
 " Oh, this intolerable carelessness ! It is useless 
 to try to keep things in order. I do so wish wo 
 might have a governess again ! " 
 
 Mildred made a face " Not one like Mademoiselle 
 
FAMILY FOIBLES. 9 
 
 Agathe Yirginie Palmyre Melanie de Montalem* 
 bert ! " slie ejaculated, as she vigorously sopped up 
 tlie remaining fluid, crumpled up her spoilt drawing, 
 and threw it into the fender, and finally polished 
 up her paint-hox with her pocket handkerchief. 
 
 " Mademoiselle Anything," retorted Bertha, an- 
 grily. Before she could say more, Katharine came 
 quietly forward, took the handkerchief from Mildred's 
 parti-coloured hands, and rang the hell for a servant. 
 
 "Now don't, Katty!" cried Mildred; "it's all 
 right ! " Katharine pointed gravely to the drenched 
 table-cloth, and to the carpet, where a small lake 
 was gradually absorbing. The servant came an 
 elderly woman who had been in the family for more 
 than one generation and as she carried off the 
 cloth, she exclaimed, " One of Miss Milly's awkward 
 tricks, I'll be bound ! " 
 
 By this time Mildred had fairly succumbed to 
 censure, and Katharine, telling her she looked like 
 a decorated savage, gently bade her go to her room, 
 and make herself fit to be seen. She ran off, after 
 a hasty skirmish for the missing slipper, and then 
 Katharine perceived that all the others, excepting 
 Bertha, had likewise disappeared. 
 
 4 < Bertha dear, don't be vexed," she said to her 
 sister, who was still hanging over her luckless music- 
 book; "it is very troublesome to have one's things 
 spoiled, and it is a great pity that Helen is so 
 careless and Milly so untidy ; but it will do no 
 
10 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 good to be angry. It is the best, and, indeed, the 
 only way, to be patient, in a large family like ours. 
 If we cannot bear with each other's foibles, what 
 shall we do in the world ? If we are cross with 
 each other's mistakes, surely strangers will be cmel 
 and spiteful." 
 
 "Mistakes need not occur ; foibles should be cor- 
 rected," replied Eertha, impatiently. "I tell you, 
 Katty, there ought to be another governess. It is 
 six months since Mademoiselle went away, and I 
 do not believe mamma has made one effort towards 
 finding her successor. She would not even look at 
 the advertisement I showed her the other day, and it 
 was exactly what we wanted." 
 
 Katharine looked uneasily at her sister as she 
 replied, "I do not think, Eertha, either you or I 
 are qualified to judge what kind of governess we 
 require, and we maybe sure mamma's delay proceeds 
 from some very sufficient cause. We have as little 
 right to question her inaction as to criticise her 
 decisions." 
 
 "No one ever seems to see things," returned 
 Eertha bitterly ; and feeling that her temper was 
 fast escaping from her control, she wisely retreated 
 to her chamber, where, unhappily, she found Helen 
 lying on her own bed reading " Hyperion." The 
 temptation to worry, and lecture about careless- 
 ness, idleness, and selfishness, was irresistible ; and 
 at length Helen was fairly roused, and turning 
 
FAMILY FOIBLES. 11 
 
 down the leaf at tlie legend of the Fountain of 
 Oblivion, she set herself to answer Bertha's inuen- 
 does with what she called proper spirit. So the 
 quarrel that had died ont in the school-room was 
 revived in the bed-room, and the young ladies battled 
 on with charge and counter-charge and retort, till 
 Bertha, felt as if she hated everybody, and Helen 
 gave way to hysterical tears. 
 
 Meanwhile, Katharine went into the garden, where 
 Alfred was awaiting her, and for some minutes 
 they walked up and down the broad walk without 
 speaking. Then Alfred began "Katty! what is 
 the meaning of all this ? What makes papa so cross, 
 and mamma so wretched, and you so anxious ? And 
 why do not the girls have another governess ? There 
 is Helen reading novels the live-long day; Milly 
 such a slattern that she is a libel on girls in general ; 
 while Bertha's conceit and fastidiousness are growing 
 unbearable ; and all for want of some one to exercise 
 the proper authority ! Even little Alice runs wild, 
 and Walter is fast becoming a juvenile hypochon- 
 driac. I see these evils, Katty : you are in the midst 
 of them ; and we never perceive how things increase 
 when we look at them every day ; but if you had 
 been from home, as I have, ever since the winter, 
 you would be startled to find how wrong and out of 
 joint everything and everybody in the house seems 
 to be!" 
 
 "I know I am a very bad eldest sister," began 
 
12 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 Katharine, humbly; but Alfred stopped her: "I 
 didn't mean that, old Kit, and it isn't, fair to say 
 it of yourself. Don't you hear them their lessons, 
 from Bertha to Alice ? don't you nurse and comfort 
 mamma, and order the dinner, and pour out the tea ?" 
 
 " The last duty is the only one I perform to my 
 own satisfaction. Cook never obeys my orders ; and 
 I think sometimes it is a good thing she does not ; 
 and as for the children's lessons, they make me 
 wretched. I have no influence with Eertha: she 
 sets me at defiance, in her quiet way; and dear 
 Milly, though she is humble and obedient as a little 
 child, wearies one sadly with her untidiness and her 
 blunders, and her curious ways, and still more curious 
 ideas about things that the rest of us never think of. 
 Eeally, sometimes I feel that I would rather teach two 
 Berthas than one Milly there's less responsibility ! " 
 
 "But why should you teach either? It was all 
 very well for a few weeks, till a new governess could 
 be engaged. Surely we might find some highly 
 eligible person willing and able to undertake the 
 education of the five Misses Lillingstone I beg 
 pardon, Katty, I mean four. Of course, a governess 
 would have nothing to do with you, and not much, 
 I suspect, with Helen." 
 
 "Helen has lost so much time that she ought to 
 have another year ; mamma says so. As for myself, 
 I should be only too glad to study under some nice, 
 clever, large-minded woman. " 
 
FAMILY FOIBLES. 13 
 
 "Then why not have one? The hest governess 
 in the world may be had for money ! " 
 
 " That is exactly where it is. Papa seems to 
 think I cannot tell what he thinks; hut he told 
 mamma she need not trouble herself about a gover- 
 ness at present ; and when she said I was not com- 
 petent, he was so angry, and he muttered something 
 about ' hundreds thrown away then.' I am afraid 
 he meant on me." 
 
 " There is something wrong," said Alfred, se- 
 riously. "Katty, do you really think there is any 
 trouble about money ?" 
 
 " I am almost sure there is ; but, you know, papa 
 never says anything. Mamma does not know cer- 
 tainly, but she is sadly afraid." 
 
 " I say, Kittums, it might be a good thing for us 
 to be jolly poor for a bit. We want something to 
 turn us round and stir us up ; we are all angles and 
 corners, and everything that is unsatisfactory. But 
 then how could I go to Oxford ? And if I were 
 hindered going, I should be ready to drown myself." 
 
 " I hope not, Alfred ; but whatever happens, there 
 is the Pounder's Kin at Oldminster, and you might 
 get an exhibition or something." 
 
 "I might, I WOULD ! but fancy going to Oxford 
 on 60 a year! Well, Katty, I don't know it 
 might not be quite pleasant but I believe it might 
 make a man of me to have to fight my own way in 
 the world." 
 
14 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 Katty looked doubtful. 
 
 " I'll tell you what it is, old Kittums, we are all 
 sixes and sevens, because we have nothing solid to 
 go upon. "We are by no means a religious family. 
 If we were I don't know, but I fancy things 
 might take a turn and be different." 
 
THE UNBIDDEN GUEST. 15 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE UNBIDDEN GTJEST* 
 
 KATHAEINE and Alfred came in somewhat cheered 
 and refreshed from their confidential tete-a-tete 
 among the lilacs. Tea was ready in the drawing- 
 room, and Katharine hastened to throw off her hat 
 and take her seat at the table. 
 
 Mr. Lillingstone was not present, and Mrs. Lilling- 
 stone sat, as usual, in her lounging-chair, looking 
 paler and more fragile than was even her wont. 
 The shadow had passed from the sweet, blooming 
 face of her eldest daughter, but it rested, as it 
 seemed abidingly, on a face almost as fair and sweet, 
 though long ago faded by illness and sorrow and 
 anxiety a face that wore a strange, troubled ex- 
 pression, a wistful sadness, that seemed to tell how 
 the darkness and the storm had gathered long ago 
 over the landscape of life, that might have been so 
 bright, and to question piteously, though not re- 
 piningly, WHY this were so ! 
 
 Helen read and sipped her tea at the same time. 
 
16 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 Her face had not Bertha's faultless beauty; her 
 skin was dark, but clear ; her eyes deep and shadowy; 
 and sometimes beaming with an expression that 
 lighted up cheek and brow with a radiance that 
 never shone on Bertha's perfect features; and her 
 tall, slender figure, might have served as a model 
 for the delineation of a Grace. She bent now over 
 her volume of Tennyson, her long, dark lashes 
 sweeping the roses that poetic enthusiasm mantled 
 on her cheeks. The "May Queen" was thrilling 
 her whole soul, and it was not to be expected that 
 such sublunary things as shrimps, and bread and 
 butter, and marmalade should command any portion 
 of her attention. Alfred sat by his favourite Katie, 
 managing the hot water for her, and thinking how 
 she had said in the garden that pouring out the tea 
 was the only duty which she performed to her own 
 satisfaction. 
 
 Bertha had by no means recovered her equanimity, 
 and she sat the very personification of neatness and 
 propriety, gravely spreading her dry toast, with 
 neither too much nor too little butter, eschewing 
 marmalade as childish, and shrimps as untidy, and 
 stirring her tea with the unexceptionable air of a 
 young lady accustomed to genteel society. But the 
 perfect features and the exquisite complexion, shaded 
 by glossy, wavy wreaths of bright hair, did not look 
 so very lovely after all. Kate thought Bertha was 
 unusually serious ; Alfred privately decided that she 
 
THE UNBIDDEN GUEST 17 
 
 was sulky. Mildred also liad a book before her, 
 but she laid it aside in a moment at a glance from 
 Katharine; and she began forthwith stirring her 
 tea as if sugar had ceased to be soluble. After a 
 minute's vigorous use of the spoon, she burst out, 
 " That is a glorious verse !" 
 
 " Milly, my dear, you did so startle me!" said 
 the invalid mother, crimsoning with nervousness at 
 the loud, abrupt tones of her young daughter. 
 
 11 Oh ! did I, mamma ? I am so sorry ! I wish I 
 could be quiet like Bertha, or thoughtful like Katty ; 
 but it is a right glorious, grand verse ! " 
 
 " What is?" asked Helen, who having finished 
 " The May Queen," drew a long breath, and began 
 to apply herself to the comestibles. 
 
 "Listen! 
 
 ' Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, 
 Is our destined end or way ; 
 But to act, that each to-morrow 
 Find us farther than to-day/ 
 
 There's another, better still : 
 
 ' Trust no Future howe'er pleasant ; 
 Let the dead Past bury its Dead ! 
 Act act in the living Present, 
 Heart within, and God overhead ! ' * 
 
 6 ' Longfellow's ' Psalm of Life' a very old thing ! " 
 remarked Helen, in a tone that would have been 
 contemptuous had it been less languid. 
 
18 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 " Why, Hilly, liave you never heard that before ?" 
 asked Alfred. 
 
 " Oh yes, to be sure I have ; but it never struck 
 me before. It was just a piece of poetry, and 
 nothing else ; but now it seems to speak to me to 
 tell me something." 
 
 " I hope it will tell you to brush your hair, and 
 to put your things away, and to tidy your drawers 
 and your boxes !" interrupted Bertha. 
 
 Mildred looked humble and ashamed. She re- 
 membered how that very morning she had hastily 
 thrust her winter flannels into the drawer where she 
 kept her muslin collars, her ribbons, and, in fact, all 
 the little finery she possessed ; and just because she 
 would not take the trouble to go into the next room, 
 where Katty and Bertha had been arranging all the 
 clothes not needed for the summer season. 
 
 "But it means something higher than that," she 
 said at length. "It doesn't mean little, common, 
 every-day things ! " 
 
 " Perhaps not," was the sententious answer ; " but 
 turrets stand upon towers, that stand upon stones, 
 that lie level with the ground." 
 
 "Excellent, sister Bertha!" cried Alfred. "Pray 
 may I ask whether that oracular speech is original 
 or cribbed?" 
 
 "I do not know what 'cribbed' means," rejoined 
 Bertha, with dignity. 
 
 " Oh yes, you do ! When I told you I had 
 
THE UNBIDDEN GUEST. 19 
 
 cribbed your new piece of India-rubber, you re- 
 marked that I had singular notions of property! 
 Don't you remember?" 
 
 A dignified silence was the only response. 
 Helen's musical voice was heard next : 
 " Your glorious poetry, Milly, is, after all, nothing 
 more than a moral enunciation in measure and 
 rhyme. It is terribly rough ! There is something 
 about 'dumb, driven cattle' in another verse, a 
 most uncouth metaphor ! " 
 
 " 'Be not like dumb, driven cattle, 
 Be a hero in the strife ! ' " 
 
 shouted Mildred, growing very red in defence of 
 her cherished " Psalm of Life." " Listen, Helen 
 
 ' Lives of great men all remind us, 
 We can make our lives sublime, 
 And departing, leave behind us, 
 Footsteps on the sands of Time ! ' 
 
 ' The sands of Time ! ' That is a beautiful expression ! 
 The wild shore, with its rocks and its sands, life; 
 the great ocean, eternity" 
 
 "It may be^we," said Helen, critically; "but it 
 is unmelodious. Now, if you want real poetry, listen 
 to this: 
 
 < Where Claribel low lieth, 
 
 The breezes pause and die ; 
 Letting the rose-leaves fall ; 
 But the solemn oak-tree sigheth, 
 c 2 
 
20 THE LILLINGSTONE&. 
 
 Thick-leaved, ambrosial, 
 
 With an ancient melody, 
 Of an inward agony, 
 
 Where Claribel low lieth.' " 
 
 Mildred acknowledged the musical rhythm of the 
 words. To hear them in Helen's sweet, deep tones 
 was like listening to the dying thrills of Eolian 
 harp- strings. But she asked directly, ""Who was 
 Claribel?" 
 
 "I cannot say," replied Helen; "probably a 
 creation of the poet's exquisite fancy." 
 
 "It is very pleasant to hear," returned Mildred; 
 " but I think my ' dumb, driven cattle ' does one 
 more good. ' The Psalm of Life,' you see, does for 
 everybody ; while half the people will never care 
 whether Claribel is buried under an oak tree or in 
 a town churchyard, with marbles rolling, instead of 
 rose-leaves falling, on her grave." 
 
 This was too much for Helen. Boys playing 
 marbles on Claribel' s grave ! where the beetle boom- 
 ing, and the wild-bee humming, and the clear- voiced 
 mavis dwelling, combined to make sweetest music ! 
 Alfred said he thought Mildred had the best of the 
 argument, and that Tennyson was a fine fellow, 
 and had written better stuff than that mawkish 
 1 1 Claribel ; " whereupon Helen withdrew into herself, 
 with a sense of fueling and seeing beauty that no 
 one else perceived or appreciated. 
 
 "My dears, you must take a walk this evening," 
 
THE UNBIDDEN GUEST. 21 
 
 said Mrs. Lillingstone, when the cause of Longfellow 
 versus Tennyson had heen dropped. " It has been 
 very warm all day, and the evening will be delight- 
 ful. You had better go over Shepperton downs, and 
 round by the Priory, and so home through the lanes. 
 Alfred, are you busy ? Can you escort your sisters ?" 
 
 " I am at their disposal, mamma. "Who is going ? 
 all of you?' ' 
 
 Everyone seemed willing to fall into Mrs. Lilling- 
 stone' s plan, which willingness, it must be remarked, 
 was by no means an event of daily occurrence. 
 There were so many whims and wills to be consulted 
 at Lillingstone, that it was no uncommon case for so 
 much time to be wasted in debate or dispute, as to 
 leave none for the execution of the scheme finally 
 adopted. 
 
 " Will not papa take some tea ? " asked Katty, as 
 Alfred applied for a fourth cup. "No one answered. 
 Mr. Lillingstone' s habits were proverbially erratic. 
 Dinner was the only meal which he regularly 
 honoured with his presence, and he was never waited 
 for if he came not at the second ringing of the great 
 bell. 
 
 " I'll go and see!" cried Mildred, dropping her 
 spoon on the tray with a clatter that brought the 
 flush once more to her mother's pallid cheeks ; and 
 away she rushed like the wind on a March morning. 
 She came back before Mrs. Lillingstone had recovered 
 her composure: "No, Katty; he's in the study, 
 
22 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 very sleepy, and lie scolded me for disturbing 
 him." 
 
 "No wonder," retorted Bertha, "if you hurst 
 upon him in your usual boisterous fashion ! " 
 
 The others left the room to prepare for their walk. 
 Bertha lingered. 
 
 " Mamma, when shall we have a governess again? 
 Mildred and the children are being ruined. Helen 
 does literally nothing from one week to another; 
 and there are so many branches of study I wish to 
 pursue." 
 
 Mrs. Lillingstone looked annoyed. Again the red 
 flush mantled brow and cheek, and the thin white 
 fingers moved nervously in the fringe of her shawl. 
 "Bertha, my dear! it is useless to worry about a 
 governess ! Papa says you must do without one : 
 Katty must teach you." 
 
 "Kattyhas no authority; and besides "began 
 Bertha, but her mamma said, "My dear! I cannot 
 enter on the subject now, I am so weak and nervous. 
 Pray go and prepare for your walk, or the others will 
 have to wait for you." 
 
 " Ah ! Mildred has upset you with her noises and 
 har abruptness," said Bertha, as unwillingly she 
 went away to her room- 
 There were fewer clashings during that evening's 
 walk than might have been expected. Helen and 
 Mildred both loved beautiful scenery, and they 
 strolled amicably, arm-in-arm, over the short, thy my 
 
THE UNBIDDEN GUEST. 23 
 
 turf, watching, almost in silence, the rich red light 
 on the dark pines that skirted the solemn hills, and 
 the golden streak that heaved and quivered far away, 
 as the sun went down on the restless, surging sea- 
 water. Katharine and Alfred enjoyed the quiet 
 ramble and their pleasant converse ; while Eertha 
 strolled apart, now and then joining them with some 
 particular question or observation. The sun had 
 gone down long before the walk through the winding 
 lanes was over ; and as they crossed the upland heath 
 that almost skirted their own grounds, they saw the 
 young May-moon, shining like a bow of silver in 
 the clear, calm, nightfall sky. Yenus was lustrous 
 on the western horizon, and a few pale stars gleamed 
 faintly in the zenith. They quickened their steps 
 lest their mamma should be anxious, and lest their 
 papa should bethink himself of the drawing-room 
 and music, and, finding his daughters still absent, 
 nurse up his wrath against them. 
 
 Mildred flung open the side wicket that led into 
 the garden, and Eertha chid her for her violence; 
 but the others were drinking in the calm beauty of 
 the hour, and they passed on to the house in silence. 
 Mildred interrupted Eertha' s lecture unceremo- 
 niously. She saw a white pony fastened near the 
 sido entrance, and she knew it belonged to the doctor 
 at Sandmouth. 
 
 " Mamma is worse!" she cried; and, shaking 
 herself from Eertha, who would have held her back, 
 
24 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 she flew into the house. In the wide, gloomy hall, 
 there was a single lamp hurning on the floor, as if set 
 down by some one in urgent haste. Mildred rushed on 
 to the drawing-room ; but there was no one there, and 
 no light ; so she hurried to the dining-room, where 
 there were candles ; and that, too, was deserted : 
 only Mr. Parson's hat and whip lay on the table, 
 testifying to his presence in the house. 
 
 Again Mildred crossed the hall, and she lingered 
 in fear of she knew not what. Presently came one 
 of the servants, a young girl, who had been lately 
 taken to help the cook, aad Mildred cried, with a 
 beating heart, "Oh Ann! what is it? where is 
 mamma?" 
 
 "In the study, Miss Milly," said the girl. She 
 looked too awe-stricken to say more. Mildred saw 
 the white face and the awed aspect, as the lamp on 
 the floor flickered and flashed in the draught of the 
 open doors, and she shuddered and crept, trembling, 
 down the long inner passage, till she came to the baize- 
 covered door of the study. It was ajar, and she stood 
 for a minute or more, too frightened to go in : then 
 she heard sounds of bitter weeping, and Mr. Parson's 
 voice, saying something that was meant to be conso- 
 latory. Unable to bear the suspense, she went 
 suddenly in : all the rest were there. Even Walter, 
 and little Alice, in her nurse's arms, with her 
 night-gown on, and wrapped hastily in a large 
 ghawl. The child had been taken from her cot, from 
 
THE UNBIDDEN GUEST. 25 
 
 her rosy, innocent slumber, into the presence of 
 death. 
 
 Alfred's arms were round his mother, who was 
 gasping, rather than sobbing, on her son's shoulder. 
 Katty and Helen were weeping unrestrainedly, their 
 tears falling unheeded, more like rain than ordinary 
 tears ! Eertha stood cold, white, and motionless, as 
 if frozen on the spot; and on the couch, by the 
 library table, lay Mr. Lillingstone, never again to 
 rise and speak to wife, or child, or friend ! 
 
 The fine manly form lay there, as if wrapped in 
 quiet slumber : the dark piercing eyes were closed, 
 never more to open till the Resurrection morning : 
 the dust was ready to mingle with its parent-dust ; 
 the spirit had returned to the God who gave it. 
 
 All alone and troubled, he had been musing there 
 when the summons came : "The Master is come, 
 and calleth for THEE." Often before had the 
 Master called, and His loving voice had been un- 
 heeded ; but the unbidden guest, the pale messenger, 
 who came now, brooked no delay, no temporising! 
 And Mildred, as she stood for the first time in the 
 presence of the dead, remembered that it was 
 written " Therefore, be ye also ready ; for in such 
 an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh ! " 
 
26 THE LILLINGSTONES, 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE SCENE CHANGES. 
 
 ONE dull, chilly afternoon, in the beginning of 
 October, Katharine and Alfred Lillingstone were 
 sitting together, looking out upon the quiet, clean 
 High Street of the little country town of Oldminster. 
 Everything around them was in the direst confu- 
 sion : the carpet hastily thrown down, without 
 regard to the peculiarities of recesses; the table, 
 roughly cleared at one end, and at the other piled 
 with books, boxes, portfolios, and one or two articles 
 that seemed strangely out of place, inasmuch as 
 they belonged to the culinary department ; and the 
 high antique mantelshelf encumbered with as many 
 small useful and ornamental chattels as it could 
 possibly be persuaded to accommodate. 
 
 Katharine looked very weary and dispirited. Her 
 black dress was dusty and torn, and her bright 
 flowing curls were hidden away under a net, as if 
 their owner wished to be as practical and as un- 
 adorned as possible. The shadow of care that had 
 rested on her brow in the pleasant school-room at 
 
THE SCENE CHAHGES. 27 
 
 Lillingstone was deepened now, as she lay back in 
 an arm-chair, her hands crossed listlessly in her lap, 
 and her head bent forward, the very personification 
 of mental and physical exhaustion. Alfred, too, 
 seemed jaded and worn ; but his whole aspect was 
 less crushed and hopeless than poor Katty's. He 
 sat erect, with his lips resolutely compressed, and 
 his dark eyes flashing with some hidden thought as 
 he glanced round the dull comfortless room a 
 thought that related unmistakably to the renewal 
 of hope, to energy fresh-born, and to a purpose 
 both settled and definite in the boy's half sorrowful, 
 half joyous heart. 
 
 " Katty !" he said presently, as his gaze fell on 
 his sister's pale weary face; "you are tired to 
 death, and no wonder ! Here you have been doing 
 the work of mistress and three housemaids com- 
 bined since six o'clock this morning. Why does 
 not Bertha see about tea ? We should all be much 
 the better for it." 
 
 " Bertha is busy in the drawing-room ; she wants 
 to finish there before mamma, and Helen, and the 
 children come. I do not think she would like to be 
 disturbed even if tea were on the table." 
 
 "Never mind what she would like; the question 
 of like and dislike is not to be mooted by any of us 
 just yet. What we must do, and how we shall do 
 it best and quickest, is all that concerns us at present. 
 I shall go and tell her we want tea." 
 
28 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 Straightway lie departed to the drawing-room, 
 where he found Bertha, who in some incomprehen- 
 sible way had managed to keep herself and her attire 
 in presentable order. She was daintily dusting the 
 books, and arranging them in due order on the shelves. 
 " Bertha!" he said, winningly, "do come and see 
 about a cup of tea for poor Katty and me! "We 
 have had no real dinner, and Kate is so worn out 
 that I really think she will knock up unless she has 
 something or other to revive her. I don't believe 
 we could find a glass of wine if we tried." 
 
 "I will come when I have finished what I am 
 doing ; but it is impossible, you know, to attend to 
 two things at once," replied Bertha, with her usual 
 cold sweetness of tone. But in another moment she 
 had descended from the chair on which she had 
 been standing, and, duster in hand, came down to 
 terra firma. Alfred hoped and believed that, for 
 once, she was going to consult the convenience of 
 others; but he was speedily undeceived: she only 
 changed her position in order to regard with a more 
 critical eye the result of her labours, and she ap- 
 pealed forthwith to her brother as to whether the 
 Humes, and the Robertsons, or the Blackwoods 
 looked better on the second shelf than on the third. 
 
 " Do not be absurd ! " replied Alfred, impatiently. 
 " Where is the sense of arranging books and orna- 
 ments when there is not another room in the house 
 fit to sit down in?" 
 
THE SCENE CHANGES. 29 
 
 "At least this room is fit to sit down in; and 
 when the fire burns np everything will be com- 
 plete. We can have tea here properly when mamma 
 comes," returned Bertha, complacently. 
 
 " And that will be two hours hence ! Yery well ; 
 if I have to call for smelling-salts and sal volatile 
 on Katty's behalf you will have yourself to thank 
 for it." 
 
 " Cannot Sarah get tea ?" asked Bertha, angrily. 
 "What is the use of a servant in the kitchen if 
 we are to prepare our meals ourselves? " 
 
 " She is not in the kitchen ; she's in chaos ! It 
 is very clear you have avoided the back settlements 
 to-day, or you would at least understand Sarah's 
 position. Hampers, boxes, pots, pans, rubbish, and 
 hay, and everything that goes to make up a medley, 
 is tumbled into that unfortunate place that ought to 
 be the kitchen ! Well, good-bye, Bertha ! thank you 
 for arranging those books so geometrically ! Quite 
 in accordance with the laws of perspective, are they 
 not? And thank you for washing all those gim- 
 cracks ; it does me good, and refreshes me after my 
 hard day's work, to know that Psyche has a clean 
 face if I haven't!" 
 
 He went back to Katharine. "Well, Katty, she 
 will not stir ! The drawing-room is ready to receive 
 company, and you may lay your hand immediately 
 on any volume you want, if that's any comfort to 
 you ! Don't now, Katty dear ! don't look so mourn- 
 
30 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 fill ! I know there's enough to make us all miser- 
 able ; but crying our eyes out won't mend the matter. 
 We have lost our old position, and we must find a 
 new one, and make it as comfortable and as agree- 
 able as we can. Come ! look up, Katty ; you'll feel 
 better to-morrow ! " 
 
 "Oh I Alfred, I am dreadfully ashamed of my- 
 self; I meant to be so strong! Even leaving dear 
 old Lillingstone did not seem to be so very bad ; but 
 here, everything looks so wretched, so sordid ! This 
 house will never seem like home, or feel like it 
 either. "What can we do with this room ? It is the 
 dining-room, you know : did you ever see anything 
 so dark and low and ugly ; so utterly miserable and 
 fbrlorn?" 
 
 " My dear Katty, an apartment in Buckingham 
 Palace would look miserable and forlorn if it were 
 left in this state of confusion. Bare boards and 
 doubled-up carpets, undraped windows, and decan- 
 ters and sauce-tureens on the chimney-piece, would 
 give a dolorous aspect to any room. Besides, dear, 
 you are dreadfully fagged ; you have been working 
 all day to make the bed-rooms habitable with only 
 my incompetent self and poor awkward Milly to 
 help you ! By the way, where is Milly ?" 
 
 "Here!" cried a loud cheering voice, pushing 
 open the door; " and here is something better than 
 Milly a good cup of tea for tired folk ! " 
 
 And Milly came forward in a very decided state 
 
THE SCENE CHANGES. 31 
 
 of deshabille, but bearing a small tray, on which 
 were two cups of fragrant steaming tea, and a plate 
 of nice buttered toast. She placed one cup in poor 
 Katty's cold, nerveless hand, and the other in 
 Alfred's ready grasp, and then began to watch them 
 as a physician would watch the effect of his potion. 
 " It will do you no end of good, Katty !" she said, 
 as she saw her sister languidly stiring the contents 
 of her cup. " Come, eat some toast, and let me see 
 you enjoy yourself for a few minutes !" 
 
 "Zam enjoying myself, I assure you, Milly!" 
 said Alfred. " I never remember a cup of tea tast- 
 ing so good before ; but surely you did not make it ?" 
 
 " Indeed, but I did! I don't know who else 
 could have found time ! Sarah is unpacking hampers 
 yet, and she is the least bit cross ; and it was not to 
 be expected that' Bertha would come down ; so I 
 found the bellows in the clothes-basket, and I blew 
 the fire and made the kettle boil ; and I found some 
 tea, and the tea-pot, and some cups ; but I could not 
 find the toasting-fork; however, I managed very 
 well .without it." 
 
 " And burnt your hand ! " said Alfred, taking her 
 long, dark fingers gently in his own. 
 
 " Yes ! just like me. I really have some asinine 
 propensities. One of them is an infantile forgetful- 
 ness of the properties of hot iron. It never occurred 
 to me that the bars of the grate would burn if I 
 touched them, but they did ! " 
 
82 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 " The ordeal by fire would certainly not suit you, 
 then ! But, Milly, what other mischief did you do ? " 
 
 ' ' I upset the kettle on the hearth, and I might 
 
 have scalded the cat, and 1 am very sorry, Katty, 
 
 but I dropped one cup as I was washing it, and it 
 broke ! " 
 
 Kate smiled faintly ; the good tea was doing its 
 work. " Never mind, dear Milly, I am afraid there 
 will be more important breakages before the un- 
 packing and the settling is over. It was very nice 
 and thoughtful of you to trouble yourself about us ; 
 the more so, because such little matters are quite out 
 of your way." 
 
 1 l They have been, Katty, but I mean to be useful 
 now. I think being poor will do me good. I shall 
 try to leave off being careless ; you must scold me 
 well whenever I begin to fall into my old bad ways. 
 ]$~ow I must go and take Bertha some tea, but I am 
 sure she will be angry with me for this torn frock ; 
 and what can I do ? There are corners of things all 
 ever the house, and I have a natural affinity to things 
 that catch hold and tear one !" 
 
 In a few minutes Mildred returned looking very 
 grave, and ready to replenish the empty cups. She 
 had unquestionably received the anticipated scolding. 
 
 " And now," said Katty, considerably revived; 
 " now that you have been waiting upon us, we ought 
 to wait upon you. Sit down in this chair while I go 
 into the kitchen on your behalf." 
 
THE SCj&XS CH^fGES. 33 
 
 "No, indeed, Katty, you'll do nothing of the 
 kind ! I am going to give Sarah some tea, and then 
 I will take excellent care of myself," and she was 
 Dut of the room and out of hearing before Kate was 
 provided with a rejoinder. 
 
 " Dear, good Milly ! " said Alfred; " she has given 
 us the first sunbeam in our dingy new home. I 
 really believe she never thinks of herself. I dare say 
 at this moment she is emptying the pot for Sarah, 
 and contenting herself with the second watering!" 
 
 Which was precisely the truth. Mildred cared 
 very little for her own creature comforts. To see 
 the tired servant gratefully drink the warm strong 
 tea was better than imbibing nectar herself. Care- 
 less, thoughtless, wild, and sometimes idle, Milly 
 certainly was; but selfish never! And every now 
 and then she mourned over continually recurring 
 mishaps, and made up her mind to be steadier, and 
 quicker, and more like good, thoughtful Katty, and 
 the managing, correct Eertha. Poor, heedless Milly ! 
 she forgot her resolution the next hour, and then 
 submitted with the meekness of a little child to 
 Eertha' s angry lecture, or, worse still, to her keen, 
 stinging sarcasms. 
 
 " Now then, Katty," said Alfred, when they 
 were alone again, ' ' let us look our position full in 
 the face. "We are no longer the Lillingstones of 
 Lillingstone ; but in spite of adverse circumstances 
 we mil prove ourselves true and worthy Lilling- 
 
34 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 stones, worthy of our name and of our race ! If I 
 understand things aright, we ought to have turned 
 out long ago. The mischief hegan with those mines 
 in poor grandpapa's time, and poor dear papa tried 
 to mend matters hy railway speculations; hut " 
 arid Alfred's voice hecame husky and unsteady "it 
 was not to he ! Oh, why did he keep all the misery 
 to himself ! I was hut a hoy ; what more am I 
 now? But I was his eldest son after him, the 
 head of the family and I might have devised 
 something hefore it came to the worst !" 
 
 " And now Lillingstone is gone that is, virtually 
 gone from us, for ever ! " 
 
 "No, Kate! no! Please God, we will have it 
 again! It must he a long time first; hut I will 
 work and toil and never weary till dear, darling 
 mamma goes hack to the dear old house, where she 
 came a hride twenty years ago, and where you and 
 I and all of us were horn." 
 
 "And what will you do, Alfred?" 
 
 "I really cannot say yet. I suppose I am fit for 
 very little at present. I must finish my education, to 
 do which I must get the Scholarship without fail ! " 
 
 "Yes, yes! Of course you will, you must, he 
 successful in that: the advantages of Pounder's 
 Kin is the great thing that reconciles me to Old- 
 minster. And then the house heing our own, and 
 so roomy, and, I suppose, convenient I am thankful 
 it is left to us, though so much else is gone. After 
 
THE SCENE CHANGES. 35 
 
 all, I dare say it is an excellent thing that mamma 
 decided on living at Oldminster." 
 
 "No donbt of it. I encouraged the idea from 
 the very first. I did not like to propose it, because 
 it seemed selfish, I being the person most interested. 
 The Pounder's Kin would be of little avail had not 
 my mother chosen to reside in the town." 
 
 "And when is the Scholarship to be gained?" 
 
 " Next Midsummer twelvemonths. I wish it 
 were sooner : it seems a long time to wait before I 
 can take the first step in the road I purpose to 
 travel : but I shall only be eighteen then." 
 
 Mildred rejoined them just then, and she wanted 
 to know whither the road alluded to was to lead her 
 brother. 
 
 Alfred explained. She listened with glowing 
 cheeks and flashing eyes, and burst forth at last 
 "Yes, yes! I see, Alfred! the time is come for us 
 to act it out ! It must be only poetry no longer I " 
 
 "What can you mean, Milly?" asked Kate; 
 "you are as mysterious as a Pythoness, and almost 
 as enthusiastic!" 
 
 "Not at all! that is, I'm not mysterious; for I 
 do feel running over with enthusiasm : but I forgot, 
 you do not know how I have been unpacking all 
 day, and saying to myself 
 
 'Not enjoyment and not sorrow 
 
 Is our destined end and way ; 
 
 But to act that each to-niorrow 
 
 Find us farther than to-day ! ' " 
 
 D 2 
 
36 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 "Farther than what, Milly?" asked Kate won- 
 deringly. She had no conception of the strong, 
 high thoughts that had all day long been thronging 
 Mildred's mind. Alfred little dreamed how, as she 
 handed cups and saucers to Eertha, who was ar- 
 ranging china, all morning, she was schooling her 
 own excitable, impetuous nature, and trying to see 
 clearly the path which duty called her to follow. 
 Bertha merely thought she was stupid, as well as 
 awkward, and scolded her, for want of something 
 else to say. 
 
 "Partner in doing right farther in goodness, in 
 duty, and therefore farther in happiness," replied 
 Mildred. 
 
 "But how can we be sure about our duty?" 
 asked Kate earnestly. She forgot that Mildred was 
 only fourteen, and she five years older. Milly was 
 doubtful what to answer, and she looked to Alfred 
 for help, but he was silent ; and at last she said very 
 gravely, " I think if we do the thing that is straight 
 before us that comes to us as the day's work, 
 whatever it may be that is our duty." 
 
 " But suppose it is a wrong thing ?" 
 
 "Then, of course, we must not do it; but the 
 things that come to us, without choice of our own, 
 are seldom wrong, I think, though we may make 
 them wrong by the way we do them.. It is the 
 things we seek out for ourselves, and to please our- 
 selves, that generally get us into trouble." 
 
THE SCENE CHANGES. 37 
 
 "And" we can ask God's guidance," said Alfred, 
 much struck with what Mildred put forth. 
 
 " I never thought of that," replied Mildred. 
 "Do you think we may ask His direction in little, 
 common things? May I ask Him to make me 
 thoughtful and tidy, like Bertha?" 
 
 " Don't ask Him to make you like any human 
 "being," quickly returned her brother; "but I am 
 sure you may ask God's aid in all your difficulties, 
 ordinary and extraordinary ; and till you do ask it, 
 and seek it, Milly, you will never be really better 
 for any length of time." 
 
 "I see," was Milly' s subdued answer. A new 
 light was breaking in on her mind ; and Katty, too, 
 felt as if she had suddenly found a key to many a 
 knotty problem of her young life which hitherto 
 she had vainly tried to solve. 
 
 The evening was fast closing in, and there was 
 no more leisure for converse : it was time to prepare 
 for Mrs. Lillingstone's arrival, and they all went to 
 the drawing-room, where a bright fire was burning, 
 the curtains drawn, and the glass and china of the 
 tea equipage reflecting the flickering flames and the 
 ruddy glow from the hearth. The two girls, and 
 even Alfred, confessed that Bertha's labours were 
 crowned with complete success though, by-the-bye, 
 Bertha's share in the great work had been entirely 
 confined to what Alfred called "titivation." And 
 Bertha herself had changed her dress, and smoothed 
 
38 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 her silken hair, and made herself as gay as her deep 
 mourning would allow. 
 
 "Milly!" she exclaimed, "do go and take off 
 that ragged frock before mamma comes, and pray 
 do something to your hair; and you must excuse 
 me if I say that your hands and face would be the 
 better for a little clean water." She glanced at 
 Katty's soiled dress, but said nothing. 
 
 "Well, I am horribly dirty!" said Mildred in- 
 genuously, examining her hands. "Bertha, your 
 advice is good ; I will take it." 
 
 "And I will go with you," interposed Katty. 
 " I shall do no more to-night : I may as well attend 
 to my toilet before mamma and Helen come." 
 
 And twining their arms round each other, the 
 two sisters left the room. Alfred and Bertha were 
 alone. !N"ever had Alfred seen his sister look lovelier. 
 She was not wearied and dispirited like Kate. The 
 soft, bright pink had not faded from her cheek, and 
 her small, slight figure did not droop ungracefully 
 as she sat by the fire, glancing round the room, 
 evidently well satisfied with her day's work. Her 
 black dress suited her it contrasted so well with 
 the snowy whiteness of her skin ; and the rippling 
 braids of her shining hair caught a richer tint from 
 the firelight glow. Her first words, however, dis- 
 pleased him. 
 
 "I never in my life saw anyone so untidy and 
 BO unhandy as Milly." 
 
THE SCENE CHANGES. 39 
 
 " She seemed to me the handiest person in the 
 house when she brought us our tea a little while 
 ago. Bertha, you underrate Milly. She is worth 
 more than you and I put together. She will make a 
 glorious woman, when she has conquered her girlish, 
 childish faults." 
 
 " Ah I when she has! But when will that be? 
 It is easier to confess to bad habits than to cure 
 one's self of them." 
 
 " It is something to confess them, Bertha ; and 
 instead of discussing Hilly 's foibles, do you not 
 think we had better investigate our own. Reforma- 
 tion, like charity, must begin at home. There 
 are other things besides roughness and untidiness 
 that mar a woman's character; but I will leave 
 you, for I mean to follow my sisters' example, and 
 attend to my personal appearance. Having con- 
 cluded my labours as carpenter, light porter, and 
 upholsterer, I may as well resume the gentleman !" 
 
 The young people had scarcely reassembled when 
 the sound of wheels was heard, and they hastened 
 to meet their mother and Helen and the two little 
 ones. Alfred led his mother into the house, and 
 placed her on the sofa, which had been drawn up to 
 the fire, while Kate gently unfastened the cloaks 
 and shawls in which the invalid was wrapped. 
 Helen sank on the first chair she came to ; she had 
 suffered more than any one, except her mother, at 
 leaving Lillingstone ; and during the long journey 
 
40 THE LILLINGSTONES, 
 
 the cliildren had harassed her, and her mother's 
 silent grief had tortured her, and she was wearied 
 exceedingly. Life had been to her a fairy tale 
 a beautiful poem a lovely romance. It was so 
 no longer ; it had become a hard, practical, pitiless 
 reality, and the young girl shrank back trembling 
 from the discipline from which there was no escape. 
 She felt too hopeless to weep too tired to talk 
 and almost too crushed to think ; and when Mildred 
 came and offered to show her to her room, the effort 
 of moving and answering was painful beyond con- 
 ception. 
 
 Mrs. Lillingstone was very calm and quiet. She 
 praised Eertha for her industry in making things so 
 complete, and hoped she was not greatly fatigued ; 
 and Eertha smiled, and declared herself quite ready 
 to begin the same thing over again next day. Katty 
 could not help feeling that her own toil and fatigue 
 were rather overlooked; and Alfred thought his 
 aching limbs might have been considered, as well as 
 Eertha' s soft white hands, that really had known 
 very little of the day's drudgery. Mildred actually 
 believed that she had been more of a hindrance than 
 a help, and though she felt extremely tired, she was 
 quite inclined to scold herself for laziness. 
 
 JSTo one seemed disposed to talk much. The 
 children were cross and sleepy, and Mildred felt a 
 strong inclination to doze, and Kate could scarcely 
 repress the fit of yawning she had caught from little 
 
THE SCENE CHANGES. 41 
 
 Alice. Bertha proposed that everybody should go 
 to bed early, and Helen rose at once as if it would 
 be a relief to break up the party. 
 
 " Stay one minute, Helen dear! do not go, Bertha!" 
 interposed Alfred. "I have something to say to 
 mamma to propose to you all ! I have been thinking, 
 mamma dear, if you do not object, and if my sisters 
 would like it, it would be a pleasant thing to have 
 family prayers every night before we separate ; and 
 if we begin to-night, it would make us feel more 
 reconciled to our new home, and we should begin 
 the new life that we must lead here in a good and 
 hopeful way." 
 
 " I do not object, my dear," replied Mrs. Lilling- 
 stone, "and I am sure your sisters will approve of 
 the plan." Katty quietly signified her entire appro- 
 bation ; Helen looked up wearily, without speaking ; 
 Bertha thought it was very right and proper to have 
 family prayers ; she had even thought of proposing 
 it herself when they were settled; but they had 
 better not sit up any longer that night. Mildred 
 called out, " I know where there is a Bible ! " and 
 rushed away to find it. 
 
 She soon returned, and Sarah was summoned ; and 
 then the young man opened Mildred's little school- 
 room Bible, and read the 27th Psalm. But no ray 
 of light stole over Mrs. Lillingstonc's faded face, 
 though she raised her head when her son read the 
 closing verse "Wait on the Lord; be of good 
 
42 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart ; wait, 
 I say, on the Lord." The prayer that followed was 
 very short and simple, and rather disjointed, and 
 nervously tittered. But when they rose up, some of 
 them felt as if the promise were beginning to be 
 fulfilled already. They had waited on the Lord, 
 and their hearts were strengthened ! 
 
"EN AVANT!" 43 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 "EN AVANT!" 
 
 SUNDAY came the first Sunday at Oldminster. It 
 was a calm, sweet day such as often, brightens the 
 fading beauty of the waning year. "The crimson 
 and golden leaves waved gaily in the dying wood- 
 laAds ; and the soft, sober sunshine slept peacefully 
 on the quaint old houses in the town, on the grey 
 ruined cloisters, on the grand old minster itself, and 
 on the quiet churchyard sloping down to the river's 
 brink the " God's acre" of that ancient country 
 town, where the dead lay at rest beneath the shadow 
 of the everlasting hills. 
 
 A grand cathedral-like temple was the ancient 
 parish church of Oldminster. It was very lofty, 
 with a groined and vaulted roof ; and Gothic arches, 
 dim and high, divided the long, shadowy aisles. It 
 boasted a decayed but still beautiful altar-screen, a 
 "Ladye-chapel," some fine monuments of the Cru- 
 sading era, and a font of rare sculpture and great 
 antiquity. Many of the windows, especially those 
 
44 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 at the eastern end, were of stained glass, and many 
 a bright, soft hue, caught from the ruby, and 
 emerald, and amethyst tints of the antique- storied 
 easements, rested on the marble features of the mail- 
 clad knights and ruffled dames, who, side by side, 
 had reposed for centuries in the venerable minster. 
 
 While the deep-toned bells were yet chiming, 
 Alfred, with his sisters, Katharine, Bertha, and 
 Mildred, and the two children, came across the 
 deserted market-place, through the grey, mouldering 
 cloisters, and the deep porch which led into the 
 southern aisle, to their appointed seat in the sanc- 
 tuary. The church gradually filled. First came 
 Miss West and her young ladies, to the number of 
 twenty-seven ; then little Miss Binks, the purveyor 
 of fashions to the female population of Oldminster ; 
 and then Mr. Golding, the banker, with his hand- 
 some wife and fine young family, and many others ; 
 and each and all had a glance for the group in the 
 pew by Sir Ralph's monument ; and Bertha became 
 quite indignant at the coolness with which every 
 fresh arrival turned to take a survey of the strangers. 
 But presently the chiming ceased, and the "tolling- 
 in bell" rang out its sharp, quick vibrations, and 
 the congregation generally began to demean itself 
 with propriety. The large pew before that occupied 
 by the Lillingstones remained vacant; but just 
 before service commenced, a sweet- looking lady, 
 apparently between thirty and forty years of age, 
 
"EN AVANT! " 45 
 
 entered, and took her seat, without lifting her eyes 
 to the place where the young ladies were sitting. 
 
 The service began, and there was something 
 about it that struck both Alfred and Kate im- 
 mediately : it was not rattled through, as if both 
 minister and people were reciting a mere formulaiy, 
 that could neither be omitted, nor repeated with 
 anything like pleasure ; nor was there any of that 
 high-pitched drawling which in country places 
 sometimes stands for "intoning" There was the 
 usual allowance of chanting ; the Venite and Jubilate 
 being given in good old Church of England style, 
 the congregation joining heartily, and the school 
 children doing their best to perpetuate the musical 
 fame of Lord Mornington. There were no little 
 boys or irreverent young men clad in dirty surplices ; 
 the communion table was neither a conservatory nor 
 a fine lady's toilet; and the rector never dreamed 
 of marching about from desk to lectern, and from 
 lectern to faldstool, or of turning his back on his 
 hearers, or of making bows to gold-thread crosses 
 and gilt candlesticks ; but he prayed the prayers of 
 the Church to which he belonged, and read the 
 Psalms and Lessons, with a devotion and an emphasis 
 that attested at once his reverence and his regard for 
 the Holy "Word of God. The sermon was simple 
 and earnest; there was nothing about baptismal 
 grace, or the decrees of the Church ; no assumption 
 of priestly authority ; no jargon from " the fathers ;" 
 
46 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 but a clear and forcible setting forth, of the way of 
 salvation through. Jesus Christ. The text was, 
 "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life," &c. 
 Mildred listened as if entranced; Alfred and Kate 
 with, breathless attention ; Bertha with due decorum 
 and some curiosity. 
 
 They walked home almost silently. Bertha 
 opined that the gentle-looking lady in the large pew 
 was the rector's wife ; Mildred remarked that she 
 had never cared for the Litany before ; Alfred and 
 Kate did not speak till they stood together on the 
 landing leading to their rooms, and then Alfred 
 grasped his sister's hand, and in a low voice said, 
 "I see it now, Katty! I see where we were all 
 wrong : first of all, there was no care about religion, 
 and then the care was of the wrong sort. Please 
 God, we will begin afresh, and do better !" 
 
 Katharine returned the pressure of her brother's 
 hand, but she made no answer : she was longing to 
 be alone; her heart was full; the mists of years 
 were rolling away, and the light of the glorious 
 Gospel was dawning on her soul. When she had 
 shut herself in, she knelt down and begged her 
 Heavenly Father for Christ's sake to give her a 
 place in the Christian Church, to own her as His 
 child, and to grant her grace and strength to walk 
 in the ways of holiness to her life's end. She could 
 not linger, for she heard Alice's voice, raised in 
 angry appeal against some one who wanted to take 
 
" EN AVANT 1 " 47 
 
 off her bonnet and prepare her for dinner. Kate 
 knew she must go, for it was Bertha's clear, musical 
 tones that bade the child stand still ; and somehow, 
 Bertha's attentions to Alice always ended in loud 
 and prolonged crying. Helen she saw walking in 
 the garden; Mildred had enough to do to make 
 herself presentable at the dinner-table. Alice began 
 to whine, so there was nothing to be done but to go 
 at once; and, with a sigh for the quiet half-hour 
 she longed to secure, she went into the next room, 
 where the oft-repeated scene was enacting. 
 
 Katharine gravely bade the little girl come to 
 her, and chid her for her naughty temper, while 
 Bertha grumbled at being interfered with, and 
 wished she might be left for once to carry her point, 
 and Kate began to feel provoked ; but she controlled 
 the rising impatience, and led little Alice away to 
 her own chamber. 
 
 "I won't be naughty to you, Katty!" said the 
 child, as her sister began to comb out her long, 
 curling hair. " I love you, Katty !" 
 
 "And you love Bertha, too," replied Kate, stop- 
 ping with a glance the baby-tirade that was tremb- 
 ling on the quivering rosy lips. "But, Allie, my 
 pet, you must be good to people, whether you love 
 them or not. Now, hold that little head still, and 
 I will teach you a verse of a pretty hymn." 
 
 The little one learnt her lesson readily, for she 
 was naturally quick, and she generally liked to do 
 
48 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 anything that sister Katty wished ; and then Kate 
 talked to her about the birds, and the flowers, and 
 the calm sunshine that was filling all the blue dome 
 of the clear autumnal sky with its peaceful radiance, 
 till the wayward displeasure against Bertha was 
 charmed away, and the childish heart was filled 
 with sweet, serious thoughts, and happy associations 
 of the holy Sabbath-day with the heaven that her 
 hymn told her was " beyond the sky." 
 
 The tall sister and the tiny one went down hand- 
 in-hand little Alice thinking that it was nice to be 
 good, and Kate feeling that she had taken one step, 
 though only a little one, in the path of unselfishness 
 and duty, which she. had resolved, by God's grace, 
 henceforth to tread. 
 
 In the afternoon Sarah took the children with 
 her to church, for they were eager to see the painted 
 windows again, and to look at the monuments in the 
 chancel after service. Helen and her mother dozed 
 together in the drawing-room, and Bertha took her 
 book, which was none other than Baxter's " Saint's 
 Rest," into the summer-house at the end of the 
 garden. So Kate and Alfred and Mildred had the 
 dining-room to themselves. 
 
 "And to-morrow morning you go to school?" 
 said Milly. 
 
 ' ' Yes, Milly ; to-morrow morning I begin my 
 work. There is a great deal to be done, and little time 
 to do it in. I long to be thoroughly busy once more." 
 
" EN AVAOT ! " 49 
 
 " And you mean to get back Lillingstone ?" 
 
 "I do, Hilly. I will not cease toiling till 
 mamma and all of you are there once more." 
 
 "But, Alfred, it will take years!" 
 
 "I know it, Milly, but I snail not tire. I begin 
 to-morrow, and I shall finish when I am once more 
 master of Lillingstone. My first effort will be to 
 gain the Scholarship ; then there will be toil enough 
 at the University, and then the harder and more 
 prolonged work of manhood, which must never 
 slacken till the goal of my aspirations is reached." 
 
 "Oh, Alfred dear!" exclaimed Mildred with 
 genuine surprise, "but surely the 'goal of your 
 aspirations' is something better than getting back 
 dear old Lillingstone? It would be good to get 
 that, very good ; but if I were you I would aim at 
 something higher and nobler than mere possession. 
 Why, you might be a missionary perhaps you 
 might even be a martyr !" 
 
 ' ' I am afraid I have not the martyr spirit, Milly. 
 One may be killed by the enemies of the truth, and 
 yet be no martyr at all ; and one may be a true 
 martyr, and yet not suffer a violent death." 
 
 "I know that; but but I really don't know 
 how to say what I mean ; only I want you to have 
 grand and noble aims. I should like you to be rich 
 again, and to have your proper position, and I should 
 like you to be clever and learned ; but I should like 
 you to be more than I have said ! " 
 
50 THE ULLINGSTONES. 
 
 " ' Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His 
 righteousness, and all these things shall be added 
 unto you/ " said Kate, gently. " Alfred dear ! it is, 
 it must be right for you to try to recover your lost 
 inheritance ; but it must not come first the Scholar- 
 ship must not be your highest aim now." 
 
 Alfred looked troubled. " Oh, Katty ! you are a 
 woman. Men cannot altogether look at things in 
 such a light ; they want to succeed, they want to be 
 foremost in this world." 
 
 " ' The fashion of this world passeth away,' " 
 said Katharine, almost involuntarily; and Mildred 
 took up the key-note, and repeated solemnly, " 'Lay 
 not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where 
 moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves 
 break through and steal ; but lay up for yourselves 
 treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust 
 doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through 
 and steal; for where your treasure is, there will 
 your heart be also.' " 
 
 There was silence for several minutes in the 
 quiet sombre room ; the only sound that broke the 
 stillness was the regular ticking of the time-piece 
 on the sideboard. The holy words were spoken and 
 died away, but the strength of them lingered in the 
 hearts of the young speakers for many and many 
 a day. 
 
 "But Katharine! Mildred! one must seek some- 
 thing here; the earthly nature must have some 
 
" EN AVANT ! " 51 
 
 earthly treasure. God can never mean that we 
 should be indifferent to all the good things of this 
 life." 
 
 "JSTo," rejoined Kate, "not indifferent; but not 
 over anxious. I know there are things belonging 
 to this life that must be sought earnestly and per- 
 severingly ; but they must not come first. I sup- 
 pose we ought to enjoy, and in a lawful way to 
 strive for, the good things of this world ; but if for 
 them we neglect the better things that will last 
 throughout eternity, we do wrong, and, sooner or 
 later, disappointment and suffering will follow." 
 
 "Katty, you are thinking of the sermon Mr. 
 Herbert gave us this morning." 
 
 "I have thought of little else since I heard it. 
 It seems to me that my whole life has been a mis- 
 take. I have been trying to do right of myself 
 ever since I was a little child, and weary work it 
 has been, though I am glad I never quite gave up. 
 And now, now I see how the love of Christ con- 
 strains Christians to walk in the ways of holiness, 
 and I think I understand what Paul meant when 
 he said, ' Not having mine own righteousness, which, 
 is of the law, but that which is through the faith 
 of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by 
 faith.' " 
 
 Alfred looked at Kate with some surprise, and 
 then a gladsome smile broke over his face, and he 
 said, "I see how it is, dear old Katty! you have 
 E 2 
 
52 THE LILLINGSTONBS. 
 
 found the straight way to heaven, and, I suppose, 
 the happiest way on earth. Now I know exactly 
 what you haye found, but I cannot lay hold of it for 
 myself. I suppose I am too worldly. The thought 
 of Lillingstone in the possession of strangers is 
 wormwood and gall to me ; the thought of winning 
 it back by any toil, however painful and arduous, is 
 my deepest joy. Even now I am impatient to begin 
 the contest, and ready to strain every nerve for the 
 Scholarship that will be awarded next June twelve- 
 months. I only wish the time were nearer, and yet 
 I shall have as much work as I can accomplish in 
 the interim. I have lost ground, you see, by this 
 long unavoidable holiday, and a year ago I was" not 
 half as diligent as I ought to have been. Ah, 
 Milly! study hard, and learn all you can; you 
 cannot know how much or how soon your know- 
 ledge may serve you. If I had not been idle with 
 Mr. Meredith, I should be in the fifth form to- 
 morrow. As it is, I may think myself lucky if I 
 find myself in the upper fourth." 
 
 " Eut you will work hard now," said Milly, con- 
 solingly. " Listen, Alfred ! I have adopted a motto, 
 and it is " 
 
 " < Excelsior!' " cried both Alfred and Kate at 
 once. 
 
 " Wrong!" replied Milly ; "but it was reading 
 Longfellow that made me think of it. It is l En 
 Avant!' Always going on, you know; never turn- 
 
"EN AVANT ! " 53 
 
 ing back ; never sitting down by the wayside. I 
 mean to be like the village blacksmith : 
 
 'Toiling, rejoicing, sorrowing, 
 
 Onward, through life he goes ; 
 Each morning sees some task begun, 
 
 Each evening sees it close : 
 Something attempted, something done, 
 Has earned a night's repose.' " 
 
 " I like yonr motto, Milly!" said Alfred; "but 
 since you repudiate ' Excelsior,' I think I shall 
 claim it." 
 
 "Yes; and be found lifeless but beautiful, on 
 some freezing Alpine height!'' retorted Katty, 
 smilingly. "< Excelsior' is not always a safe 
 motto : incessant climbing must, in process of time, 
 dehumanise one. "Who cares to live on the summit 
 of Mont Blanc?" 
 
 " "Would it be safer if one were a Christian, think 
 you?" asked Alfred. 
 
 " Yes ! wouldn't it ? A Christian must have one 
 pure ambition that will always keep under inferior 
 aims, however dazzling and plausible. There would 
 be little danger of his destroying himself by super- 
 human efforts to gain any elevation below the 
 skies." 
 
 "I see, Katty! "Well! I will try to keep my 
 aspirations within bounds ; but till I find a better, 
 'Excelsior' shall be my motto." 
 
 "And yours, Katty?" asked Milly, with girlish 
 eagerness ; " you must have a motto too ! " 
 
54 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 Kate thought a little; presently she said, "I 
 have found one, but it is neither French nor Latin ; 
 only good plain English 1 1 press towards the 
 mark!'" 
 
 1 1 l For the prize of the high calling of God, in 
 Christ Jesus, 7 " added Hilly, gravely. " Oh, Katty ! 
 if we can hut win that prize !" 
 
 Just then Bertha came in, and Mildred, much to 
 Alfred's annoyance, began to impart to her the 
 mottoes they had chosen. At first she said it was 
 foolish, and she hoped if Mildred were always to go 
 forward, it would be in quite a new direction, since 
 nothing could be gained by progressing in the paths 
 of carelessness and neglect. 
 
 Mildred humbly avowed her intention to turn 
 over a new leaf, and reminded Bertha that she had 
 folded up her things and put them away on her 
 return from church. 
 
 "Which was an exaggeration of neatness, and a 
 waste of time," retorted Bertha ; " since I heard 
 you say you meant to go to the evening service. It 
 would have been sufficient to lay them neatly on 
 your bed ; besides, you left your prayer-book on the 
 edge of the stone vase in the garden, and if a shower 
 had fallen it would have been spoiled." 
 
 Poor Mildred looked considerably crestfallen. 
 
 " Not much danger of a shower," said Alfred, 
 rather hastily; "and if rain had come, some one or 
 other would have brought it in ! " 
 
" EN AVANT ! " 55 
 
 " You always encourage Mildred in her heedless- 
 ness," remarked Bertha, stiffly. 
 
 " I do not, Bertha ; but I do not want her to he 
 discouraged when she is really making an effort to 
 break through habits that seem to have been born 
 with her habits that are as natural to her as yours 
 are to you. She is careless and slovenly and even 
 rough ; but she is conscientious and unselfish and 
 brave! You are propriety and precision itself: 
 I never saw you do anything that was not done in 
 the best way possible; but you are given to find 
 fault, to domineer, and to lose your temper." 
 
 "I am extremely obliged to you," returned 
 Bertha, in a tone of great irritation. "When I 
 require a character, I shall know where I must not 
 apply for one 1" 
 
 "Bertha, dear! don't be angry," interposed 
 Kate. " Whatever poverty and change of position 
 may effect, let it never cause us to be harsh with 
 one another ; let us, despite our many faults, have 
 unity and love among ourselves." 
 
 "I am sure I do not wish to quarrel with any 
 one," was Bertha's cold rejoinder. 
 
 "I am sure you do not. We have trials enough 
 from without ; we need not make them among our- 
 selves. Your neat orderly habits, and your genius 
 for managing will be invaluable, now that we can 
 keep only one regular servant. Helen will read to 
 mamma, while I am busy teaching Milly and the 
 
56 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 children, and while you are looking after the house- 
 keeping, and Milly must study hard and try to , 
 make herself generally useful. Alfred will have 
 enough on his hands by this time to-morrow ; so 
 you see, we have each and all our proper province 
 and our daily work and duty, and I am sure we 
 need not clash ! " 
 
 The idea of being general manager quite soothed 
 Bertha's ruffled temper, and she entered into con- 
 versation with spirit and urbanity. "Yes," she 
 said, " you are right, Katty ! we must each keep to 
 one post and do our best ; and I hope and believe," 
 with a little air of superiority, l ' that dear Milly 
 will become quite a different woman from what we 
 were afraid she would one day prove ! As to Alfred, 
 I envy him : the excitement of examinations and 
 prizes will be delightful ; but I do not quite like 
 the idea of his being associated with the boys of the 
 town, though of course his acquaintance with them 
 will be limited to the indispensable intercourse of 
 the school-room ! " 
 
 " Nonsense, Bertha ! " returned Alfred ; "I dare 
 say there are lads there quite as much of gentlemen 
 as any Lillingstone ever was or ever will be. Of 
 course I shall not cultivate intimacies with really 
 inferior persons ; but, Bertha, don't let the world 
 say we are poor and proud! There is nothing so 
 contemptible as exclusiveness. "We may keep our 
 own position, which you know is no longer that 
 
" EN AYANT I " . 57 
 
 of the Lillingstones of Lillingstone, and yet we 
 need not be frigid and haughty, and afraid of the 
 advances of our neighbours. Depend upon it, when 
 people are exclusive, there is something in their 
 origin which they wish to conceal. We can do 
 without any fictitious assumptions of rank and 
 breeding we are sure of our own standing so do 
 not be alarmed if you find me enjoying to the full 
 the society of congenial class-mates!" 
 
 Bertha looked doubtful; but before she could 
 reply, Mildred began again about the mottoes, and 
 begged Bertha to choose one for herself, remarking 
 that it would be so pleasant to talk them over in 
 years to come, and see how they had each acted in 
 the spirit of them. 
 
 " Here is mine, then," said Bertha, promptly, 
 "and, like Katty's, it is a text of Scripture, and 
 therefore to be respected ' She looketh well to the 
 ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of 
 idleness.' " 
 
 " Most characteristic, my fair sister," exclaimed 
 Alfred. 
 
 "I take that speech as a compliment," returned 
 Bertha. Alfred made no answer ; indeed, there was 
 no time, for the children came in from church, eager 
 to tell about the christenings they had seen. Kate, 
 Mildred, and Alfred attended the evening service, 
 and strangely enough, to Milly's extreme delight, 
 Mr. Herbert took for his text the very words of 
 
58 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 Katty's motto. This sermon was like nothing they 
 had ever heard before, and they walked home 
 affirming that Oldminster did certainly present some 
 advantages which were not to be found at dear old 
 Lillingstone ! And so passed the first Sunday in 
 their new home, 
 
THE FIRST LAUKELS. 59 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE PIKST LAURELS. 
 
 " OH ! if Alfred would but come home ! " ciied Mil- 
 dred, one dark afternoon in December, just fourteen 
 months after the conversation recorded in the last 
 chapter. "I saw Fawcett and Egerton go by ten 
 minutes ago, and there are the Goldings. How 
 pleased Philip seems ! I dare say he has won the 
 divinity prize he wanted. Oh dear ! Alfred must 
 be staying the very last ! " 
 
 They were all sitting in the dining-room Milly 
 straining her eyes down the foggy street in the 
 direction of ]N"elsthorpe Lane, which was Alfred's 
 usual way home from school ; Helen pretending to 
 net, with the knottiest and most disobliging purse- 
 silk that was ever manufactured ; Kate trying to 
 read, but really sharing Milly 's watch at the win- 
 dow ; and Bertha sewing with her ordinary calmness 
 and painstaking air. 
 
 Mrs. Lillingstone sat in her own rocking-chair by 
 the fire, declaring that it was too dark to go on 
 
60 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 with, her crochet; but ever and anon poring over 
 an old, ill-printed Iliad, which she had been reading 
 with great interest for a week past. "Walter lay 
 on the hearth-rug, keeping up a curious chatter of 
 mingled soliloquy and recitation. He was conning 
 his Latin grammar, and making parenthetical re- 
 marks: " Mamma!" he exclaimed, " Mamma dear! 
 how can you see that pale, small type? you'll go 
 blind for certain ! ' Ilia feminina sunt, in do et 
 go quse desinunt!' I know Alfred's safe for the 
 General Work and the Composition. You should 
 have heard him spouting his verses this morning ! 
 I could tell how fine they were, though I couldn't 
 understand them ' Sed masculina manent cardo, 
 Ligo, ordo, atque margo ! ' How stupid of him not 
 to come home ! Katty, won't you make me a fishing 
 apron like Philip Golding's next summer? l Sunt 
 in io feminina' I shall never know this lesson. 
 I wish one could know Latin without learning this 
 vile grammar. Mamma, I can tell you who will 
 have the mathematical prize in the Sixth Form ; 
 but Alfred will have 'TheBlount,' you'll see. Louis 
 Golding thinks Albert 's going to have it l caro 
 (carnis) mavult se, feminina addere ' prefers in- 
 deed ! the idea of a substantive having a preference ; 
 but if Albert makes as many false quantities as 
 Louis, he'll never have the shadow of a shade of a 
 chance. Katty, won't you hear me my lesson?" 
 "No, Walter! I am sure you do not know it. 
 
THE FIRST LAURELS. 61 
 
 I think you had better put it away till after tea : 
 your head is too full of Alfred to retain Latin rules." 
 
 " So it is ! " cried the child, springing to his feet ; 
 " I could not think why all the words went slipping 
 by me. "When I wanted them again, they were 
 gone clean away. Hilly ! I'll come and watch with 
 you. Oh ! I wish it wasn't so dark ! " Bertha made 
 some profound remark upon the desirability of occupy- 
 ing one's self instead of encouraging the excitement 
 of suspense ; but no one heeded her, save Milly, 
 who felt that she ought to be practising. Mean- 
 while the short winter day closed in coldly and 
 murkily, the lamps gleamed red through the fog, 
 the rain began to descend slowly and thickly, and 
 scarcely a foot-fall resounded on the pavement of 
 the wet, deserted street. Sarah came in with the 
 tea, and the curtains were drawn and the candles 
 lighted ; but still no Alfred ! And now Mrs. Lil- 
 lingstone began to be nervous. She knew he was 
 disappointed, and could not bear to come home with 
 his bad news ; but Kate and Mildred vehemently 
 repudiated the idea, and Walter cried out, ' c Not 
 he ! he would come straight away if they'd marked 
 him lowest on the form. I know though : he can't 
 get away, because the masters are complimenting 
 him, and he doesn't know how to lug all his prizes 
 home they're too many for one load!" 
 
 A much better supposition than their mother's, 
 all the sisters thought ; but Bertha gently observed 
 
62 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 that such, brilliant success was scarcely to be ex- 
 pected. Having tea was out of the question : he 
 must come in five minutes ! But five, ten, twenty 
 minutes, half an hour, went by, and still no tidings 
 from the school-house. Even Bertha felt a little 
 anxious, and stole once or twice to peep behind the 
 blind. Helen's new novel was impatiently tossed 
 aside. What were the sorrows of Lady Lucinda 
 compared with the anxieties of Helen Lillingstone ? 
 Seven o'clock struck: the old clock on the stairs 
 rang out its seven strokes in its ordinary, monotonous, 
 care-for-nothing fashion ; the time-piece pealed forth 
 its mellow, silvery chimes, and the minster clock 
 at the bottom of the town sounded sadly and wearily 
 on the heavy air! Where could the truant be? 
 All the anxious party in the dining-room asked 
 themselves and each other that one question, with 
 little intermission. Mildred wanted to go and look 
 for him ; but that could not be allowed : it was now 
 quite dark, and a fine soaking rain was falling steadily. 
 It was all they could do, though, to keep Walter 
 from darting away in search of the missing one. 
 
 At length Kate said, despairingly, "We must 
 have tea, I suppose ! Mamma dear ! you are looking 
 so pale ; I will pour you out a cup at once." All 
 gathered round the table ; Bertha was buttering 
 bread for her mother, and Kate was busy with the 
 sugar-basin, when the door abruptly opened, and 
 Sarah's head and a huge cap frill were projected into 
 
THE FIRST LAURELS. 63 
 
 the room. "He's come!" she said, almost in a 
 whisper; "he's come in by the back-door, and he 
 be taking off his collossians " (Sarah's rendering of 
 goloshes). And then the head was withdrawn, and 
 the door closed with a bang, and Kate drew a long 
 breath, dropped the sugar-tongs, and pushed her 
 chair back from the table. Mildred immediately 
 upset the cream-jug. 
 
 Again the door was opened, and this time Alfred 
 himself appeared, his cheeks red with running, and 
 his hair and coat wet with rain. Otherwise, it 
 seemed quite an ordinary coming home ; he was 
 very quiet, and no one would have guessed that the 
 Oldminster Grammar School Examinations were just 
 concluded, and Alfred in the Sixth Eorm! Mrs. 
 Lillingstone rose and threw her arms round her 
 tall son, kissing his damp, warm brow, and his 
 ruddy cheeks, as if to assure him that it was all 
 one to her, whether he came home with laurels, or 
 shorn of his pristine glories. He kissed her very 
 tenderly and gravely ; and Bertha at once decided 
 that he had been unsuccessful. Helen and her 
 mother felt painfully doubtful ; but Kate, Mildred, 
 and Walter were sure that the Champion of Old- 
 minster School stood before them. 
 
 "Is it very late, Katty?" he asked, as he untied 
 his neckcloth, and drew near the table. 
 
 "Oh, Alfred, why don't you tell us at once? 
 Have you got a prize ?" cried Mildred, in an agony. 
 
64 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 "A prize!" put in Walter, scornfully; "who 
 doubts it ? The thing is, has he got lots ? " 
 
 "I think I have done pretty well," said Alfred, 
 coolly, a smile breaking over his grave countenance 
 in spite of himself. " I think you'll be satisfied, 
 mamma and sisters, and you too, Mr. Walter ! " 
 
 "Walter cut a caper, and Mildred made what Alice 
 called " great shining eyes." 
 
 "Well, I have 'The Blount,' and the Composition 
 prize." 
 
 "I knew it," shouted Walter exultingly. 
 
 "And the Divinity!" 
 
 " /said you would take that," interposed Hatty, 
 almost beginning to cry. 
 
 "And what else?" cried Bertha, eagerly; for, to 
 her infinite credit, she had for once forgotten all 
 about repose of manner and control of feelings, &c. &c. 
 
 " You unconscionable girl ! " returned her brother; 
 " are not these prizes sufficient for any one ?" 
 
 "Eor any one except Alfred Lillingstone," was 
 Milly's ecstatic rejoinder. She was performing some- 
 thing like an Indian war-dance by this time. 
 
 ' ' Well, then ; there is the class prize for General 
 Work -will that content you?" 
 
 Walter and Mildred shrieked in concert. 
 
 " And the German prize who has that ?" asked 
 Helen, not daring to suppose that also could be her 
 brother's. 
 
 ' l One Alfred Lillingstone, a greedy fellow, lays 
 
THE FIRST LAURELS. 65 
 
 claim to it, I am told ! " lie answered gaily. " And 
 now, don't expect any more, for there really is 
 nothing else." 
 
 " I should think not," said "Walter ; "but, Alfred, 
 where are the spoils ? * The Blount ' will be three 
 great big volumes ; Mr. Herbert told me so." 
 
 "In the hall," replied Alfred: "I would not 
 bring them in, because I wanted to have the pleasure 
 of telling you by degrees. There were far too many 
 for me to carry safely, so I got Jefferson to come 
 with me. It would have been too bad to let one 
 fall on the wet, muddy pavement." 
 
 " Didn't I say there were too many for one load ?" 
 exclaimed Walter, quite as much alive as his seniors 
 to the luxury of triumphantly declaring; " I TOLD 
 YOU so ! " 
 
 "You have sagacity beyond your years, and pre- 
 science that is truly alarming, "Walter!" returned 
 Alfred. "But now come and help me bear in the 
 trophies!" 
 
 And a goodly pile they made. Three handsomely 
 bound and splendidly illustrated volumes of Sacred 
 Geography for " The Elount ;" two goodly tomes for 
 the Divinity prize, and for the others, single volumes 
 of large size and unexceptionable binding. 
 
 And then his mother kissed him again, and confessed 
 that she should have been disappointed had he brought 
 home no prize at all. And now that he came laden 
 with spoils, now that he had quite surpassed her 
 
66 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 most sanguine expectations, she was delighted heyond 
 measure, and it almost reconciled her to Oldminster, 
 and made her think of old Lillingstone with less 
 regret. 
 
 Mildred hurst out "Oh! if poor papa were 
 hut " hut she was admonished to rule her heed- 
 less tongue by a private pinch from Bertha's snowy 
 little fingers ; and when she saw the tears swimming 
 in her mother's eyes, called there hy her thoughtless 
 speech, she looked so deplorahly heart- stricken and 
 penitent that even her self- constituted Mentoria 
 could not help trying to comfort her ; and Alfred dis- 
 played the costly engravings in his "Elount" prize, 
 and created a diversion in favour of the delinquent. 
 
 When tea was removed, the hooks were again 
 hrought under discussion; they were duly passed 
 from hand to hand, and submitted to Sarah's ready 
 admiration when she came in for the kettle; and 
 just as Alfred was preparing to carry them away, 
 Alice came home from an afternoon's visit to the 
 Bectory, and they were displayed once more for her 
 little ladyship's inspection and satisfaction. 
 
 At last they were borne off by the proud and happy 
 owner, who, as he left the room, humbly petitioned 
 for roasted potatoes for supper* So Kate went to 
 the kitchen to give her orders, and found Sarah 
 thoroughly indignant because a regular hot supper 
 was not to be served up in honour of the occasion. 
 She would willingly have trudged in rain and mud 
 
THE FIRST LAURELS. 67 
 
 through the town to procure the viands which she 
 thought suitable for a hero's repast, and these were a 
 roast goose and a handsome plum pudding. Katty 
 reminded her that it was already late, and that 
 neither goose nor pudding could possibly be achieved 
 in time for that day's eating ; so she was fain to con- 
 tent herself with adding apples to potatoes, and 
 exerting all her skill to roast them to perfection. 
 That night a happy party was gathered round the 
 large dining-room table to discuss the simple fare so 
 carefully served by the important domestic, who fully 
 identified herself with Master Alfred's triumph ; and 
 multitudinous and varied were the questions as to 
 the nature of the different examinations, the manner 
 of the examiners, and the difficulties and fears and 
 hopes of the victorious combatant himself. 
 
 But when eleven o'clock struck, Bertha seized 
 "Walter, and hurried him off to the upper regions. 
 Alice, long since fast asleep on the sofa, was quite 
 ready to be carried to bed, and Mildred could not 
 deny that she ought to be tucked up and dreaming. 
 Mrs. Lillingstone and Helen, though unwilling to 
 bid good-night, were dismally tired, so Bertha's 
 movement broke up the party, and by a quarter past 
 eleven, Katty and Alfred were sitting together by 
 the expiring fire, glad to be quiet, and yet indisposed 
 to go to bed. They were silent for a while, and then 
 Katty said "Well! this important day is over at 
 last." 
 
 p 2 
 
68 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 " Yes !" returned Alfred, with a yawn and a sigh 
 of relief that showed how great had been the tension. 
 " Yes ! I would not have many such days for all the 
 laurels in Christendom. But you cannot think how 
 kind all the masters were. Dr. Armstrong kept me 
 for ten minutes, while he said civil things to me ; 
 and as for Mr. Millar and old Dennison, I believe 
 they would have been altogether disgusted if ' The 
 Blount ' had gone elsewhere. It was all very well 
 when it was over ; and it was very pleasant to hear 
 the doctor talk about the first laurels ; but I wouldn't 
 have such another day to-morrow for any money." 
 
 ' ' You feel pretty confident about the Scholarship, 
 I suppose? " 
 
 " Why, yes ! I see no reasonable ground of anxiety. 
 I could have taken it to-day, I believe ; so, of course, 
 there will be no difficulty in securing it this day 
 six months. Ah ! those will be laurels to bring 
 home; for they say it will be no boy's play! I 
 heard Dr. Armstrong tell one of the Oxford exami- 
 ners that there had never been so much talent in 
 the school since he became head master, and that 
 was more than fifteen years ago; though for my 
 part, I must say, I cannot see where this superlative 
 talent lies." 
 
 There was something in Alfred's tone and smile 
 that made Hatty rather uneasy. She could not 
 define the vague feeling of disquiet that stole over 
 her while she listened to his joyous voice, and 
 
THE FIRST LAURELS. 69 
 
 watched his bright young face ; and she chid herself 
 for her ridiculous misgivings. Misgivings of what ? 
 Of Alfred, of his success, or of his ultimate pros- 
 perity when school and college days should be over ? 
 She could not tell : she only wished he would not 
 seem quite so confident, and she could almost have 
 wished that he were less elated ; but she would not 
 say so. 
 
 Alfred, however, was watching her, and he dis- 
 cerned at once the shadow that rested on his sister's 
 expressive countenance. " Well, old Katty," he 
 said presently, finding that she did not intend to 
 communicate her thoughts; " what are you pon- 
 dering so gravely ?" 
 
 "I was thinking of laurel wreaths," she said, 
 with a smile that only deepened the gravity of her 
 thoughtful eyes; "and I was thinking, too, how 
 they fade and are forgotten." 
 
 " * Sic transit gloria mundi,' eh! old Kittums! is 
 that it?" 
 
 " Tor all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of 
 man as the flower of grass,' " she returned, quietly. 
 "But, Alfred dear, I do not want to damp your 
 pleasure to-night; I was only thinking I could 
 not help it how everything comes and goes, and 
 fades away, even from the memory, as years roll 
 on ; just as in travelling we approach different 
 points of the landscape, admire them, pass them, 
 and then watch them gradually receding ; and after- 
 
70 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 wards remember them but dimly, or not at all. 
 And when we are safely at home, the whole journey 
 seems so unsubstantial and unreal ! " 
 
 " And you would say, that when we reach the end 
 of the journey of life, all incidents by the way, even 
 the most important, will seem only trivialities?" 
 
 "I meant something of the kind. The text 
 that Alice said to me this morning was 'The 
 fashion of this world passeth away,' and somehow it 
 has been running in my head all day ; even when 
 we were all waiting so impatiently for your coming 
 home I did not forget it." 
 
 "But, Katty, though everything earthly will 
 appear trivial, when, as Mr. Herbert says, we see 
 the turnings and windings of our path here below, 
 in the clear, piercing light of Eternity, yet it does 
 not do to count some things trivialities/ I mean 
 such things as success in life, and others, which 
 it is lawful and even laudable to attend to." 
 
 " No ! I suppose not : I know it does not all I 
 meant is, that we must not set too high a value on 
 those things which from their very nature engross 
 so much of our time and our endeavours. "We must 
 keep the one thing first ! " 
 
 "I see what you mean, Katty dear ! and I assure 
 you I feel the danger, as well as the duty, of enter- 
 ing upon such conflicts as that which has terminated 
 so happily to-day. I am glad you spoke about it, 
 for I must own I have been forgetting everything 
 
THE FIRST LAURELS. 71 
 
 but the Examination; and now that it is over, I 
 feel as if I could find no pleasure in anything but 
 the prospect of next midsummer's competition. I 
 have tested success or rather success has tested me, 
 and I am afraid I am like the tiger cubs when 
 they first lap blood insatiate for more. And I 
 am ashamed to say, I have been so engrossed with 
 my own hopes and fears and labours, that for several 
 weeks I have not cared to have a chat with you, or 
 to interest myself about the others. Do you think 
 Helen is better?" 
 
 "Yes! I believe she is tolerably well again: it 
 was severe influenza, and Helen is the one among 
 us least able to cope with any kind of indisposition. 
 Her spirits are so unequal one day wildly elate, 
 and the next sunk to the lowest ebb. If we could 
 only persuade her to read something besides novels 
 and poetry ! " 
 
 "It is just like living on strawberry cream and 
 champagne ! "When will people learn to treat their 
 minds as well as their bodies? "What would 
 become of any one who subsisted entirely on made 
 dishes and stimulants ?" 
 
 " What, indeed ? And then Bertha runs into the 
 other extreme, and looks upon the purest and most 
 beautiful fiction as a rigid teetotaller looks upon 
 matutinal brandy and water. She feeds her mind 
 with nothing but the most approved solids !" 
 
 " I do not think Bertha's mental aliment can be 
 
72 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 strictly called solid, though, it is neither light nor 
 piquant. I think she may be classed as an intel- 
 lectual vegetarian. You know she objects to Miss 
 Strickland's ' Queens' because they are written in 
 a story-telling style ; she accuses Macaulay of fri- 
 volity ; and she repudiates all poets but Young and 
 "Wordsworth. The latter, indeed, she classes with 
 Cowper, and the two combined form her occasional 
 light reading. So unnatural in a girl of her age ! " 
 And Alfred groaned, and ended with "If she 
 were but sixty, instead of under seventeen ! I am 
 sure that in some occult way which we cannot 
 understand she is full twenty years older than 
 
 mamma 
 
 " 
 
 Katty laughed. " A curious assertion that ! " she 
 replied; "but I am just thinking it is scarcely 
 right of us to sit here passing judgment on our 
 absent sisters, as if we were veritable Mentors, and 
 they rash, impulsive Telemachuses." 
 
 " As if Bertha were ever impulsive ! If she has 
 any impulses, which I doubt, she keeps them in 
 wonderful subjection. IsTo ! she reasons down every 
 spark of enthusiasm, till it dies of sheer want of 
 nourishment." 
 
 " You would not say so if you had seen her when 
 we were waiting for you to-night. And you must 
 remember how eagerly she asked you about the 
 prizes? She was as earnest as any of us." 
 
 " Ah ! well, Katty, you are an excellent advocate : 
 
THE FIRST LAURELS. 73 
 
 you defend everybody but yourself, and a very good 
 case you generally make out. There is no need to 
 tell you to learn the thirteenth chapter of First 
 Corinthians. Come, I think we had better go to 
 bed, as the old saw says bed will never come to 
 us ; and it has been to-morrow morning this long 
 time." 
 
74 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 CHAPTER YL 
 
 "THE CAMPBELLS ABE COMING." 
 
 THE next morning the household of the Lillingstones 
 was in anything but an industrious mood, though 
 Bertha rose valiantly when Sarah tapped at her 
 door and announced that it was seven o'clock. It 
 was a hitter morning ; during the night the baro- 
 meter had fallen rapidly, and the misty rain of the 
 preceding evening had changed into a miserable 
 driving sleet. Bertha stood shivering in her dressing- 
 gown over her refractory lucifers, that refused to 
 strike upon any terms. She looked out: all was 
 dark and cheerless ; the earliest beams of dawn had 
 scarcely broken the leaden gloom of the heavy 
 clouds, and the blast came sweeping eerily up the 
 long, wet, lonely street. Bertha glanced back wist- 
 fully to her forsaken bed that was warm and 
 snug she knew ; then she listened to Helen's gentle 
 breathing, and for a moment envied her sound, 
 undisturbed repose, and wished she too were once 
 more ensconced beneath the friendly blankets. And 
 
"THE CAMPBELLS ARE COMING." 75 
 
 then came visions of her morning toilet ; anticipa- 
 tions of the delightful temperature of the cold bath, 
 in which she took stern enjoyment, believing that 
 the shock braced her nerves, and strengthened her 
 powers of resolution and her habits of self-discipline. 
 She listened! the whole house was silent, 
 wrapped, no doubt, in balmy slumbers ; slumbers, 
 too, that would endure till the morning was well 
 advanced. If she resisted the temptation to go 
 back and have another doze, what would be gained 
 thereby ? If she forthwith performed those terrible 
 ablutions, and dressed as speedily as her precise habits 
 would allow, what then? She would go down to 
 a half- warmed room, where her patience would be 
 sorely tried in waiting for some one else to come 
 down to breakfast. She took up the match-box 
 again, and struck another lucifer ; but, like its 
 brethren, it missed fire, and it was altogether too 
 dark to think of dressing with any comfort. So, 
 contrary to her usual custom, Bertha yielded to the 
 tempting luxury of " a little more sleep and a little 
 more slumber," and the next minute saw her snugly 
 tucked in once more, while a delicious sense of 
 dreaminess immediately stole over her senses. Now 
 Bertha intended as you and I have often done, 
 dear reader to have a comfortable half hour's nap, 
 no more! She was so habitually an early riser, that 
 she hardly knew the seductive and deceitful nature 
 of that delicious little snooze that extends from the 
 
76 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 time of being called to tlie unceremonious announce- 
 ment that breakfast is waiting, or half over, or 
 finished, as the temper or habit of the family may 
 be. She had a charming little dream of going back 
 in grand state to Lillingstone ; of some pageant in 
 which she herself figured prominently, and in which 
 Alfred appeared as Lord High Chancellor ; and just 
 as the Queen, and the Prince Consort, and a crowd 
 of illustrious retainers were coming up to honour her 
 with their special notice, she discovered that Milly 
 stood by her side, with a torn, muddied frock, and 
 fearfully splashed stockings, such as she sometimes 
 came in with, from a long country walk in damp 
 weather. In her anger and confusion she pushed 
 Hilly away, who fell awkwardly against one of the 
 pillars of the grand portico at Lillingstone; and 
 behold ! there was a cracking and a rumbling, and 
 the whole building seemed falling into ruins, and 
 Bertha awoke in great horror, and sat upright in 
 bed! 
 
 There was no need of lucifer matches now; for 
 the broad daylight shone without let or hindrance 
 into the room, and immediately she remembered 
 that when she had returned to bed the blind was 
 down, whereas now it was drawn up as high as it 
 would go ! She looked across to Helen's bed, and 
 lo, it was empty ! She glanced at the place where 
 her sister's morning dress generally hung, and that 
 too was not to be seen. Bertha sprang up in great 
 
"THE CAMPBELLS ARE COMING." 77 
 
 dismay. Was it possible that Helen, the loiterer, 
 the confirmed late riser, had indeed gotten the start 
 of her ? Hastily she consulted her watch ; but it 
 had stopped, and she remembered at once that she 
 had forgotten to wind it up the night before, and 
 nothing humiliated Bertha more than the conscious- 
 ness of an act of forgetfulness. Then she recalled 
 her dreams, and from their length and variety she 
 concluded that she had slept a long time. Never 
 had she made a morning toilet in such decided 
 hurry; but in spite of all her rapidity she was 
 rather long in dressing. Her fingers were numbed ; 
 Helen had taken her comb in mistake for her own ; 
 and, somehow, those luxuriant braids of hair, usually 
 so tractable and so easily disposed of, were not to be 
 coaxed or pulled into anything respectable. Bertha 
 went downstairs out of temper with herself, and 
 therefore at issue with all the world. New morti- 
 fications awaited her when she reached the dining- 
 room : the time-piece indicated the hour of eleven ! 
 and at one end of the long table there was a strip of 
 table-cloth and preparations for the morning meal 
 of one person. Kate was in another room, busy 
 with the children's lessons; Mildred was working 
 away at her German, and Alfred was lounging 
 about, too wearied and out of sorts to set himself 
 to any kind of employment. Helen was with 
 her mother, who always breakfasted in her own 
 chamber. 
 
78 THE LILLIKGSTONES. 
 
 "Hallo, Bertha!" cried Alfred, when she made 
 her appearance, "better late than never. Milly, 
 allow me to introduce the late Miss Bertha Lil- 
 lingstone !" 
 
 " I beg you will not be ridiculous," returned 
 Bertha; "I overslept myself, and there is an end 
 of it. I am not in the habit of rising at this hour." 
 And she rang the bell somewhat sharply. 
 
 Sarah soon appeared with the coffee and a plate of 
 carefully preserved toast, which Bertha ordered her 
 to take away ; and it was a question which looked 
 the gloomier the young lady or the domestic. 
 Bertha sat down to her coffee in most unamiable 
 mood, wondering that no one had taken the trouble 
 to awake her, supposing they had all been later 
 than they cared to own, and upbraiding Mildred 
 for stooping so awkwardly over her exercise book. 
 Milly drew herself up, and smiled cheerfully, but 
 only to call down further reproaches her collar was 
 all awry, her curls in disorder, and her right-hand 
 fingers steeped in ink. 
 
 "I always do ink myself," returned Mildred, 
 plaintively. "I had not written three lines before 
 my forefinger was soaked. How is it, Bertha ? I 
 have seen you write whole sheets without a spot." 
 
 "The matter is very simple," replied Bertha, 
 with a superior air ; "it does not require any great 
 amount of sagacity to perceive that you hold your 
 pen too near the nib ; added to which, you plunge 
 
"THE CAMPBELLS ARE COMING." 79 
 
 it continually to the very bottom of the ink-stand. 
 But you will never alter these things ; I am sure 
 you would not be quite happy if your hands and 
 dress, and your property generally, were in anything 
 like order ! Your untidiness grows upon you." 
 
 "Oh, Bertha!" cried Mildred, really distressed ; 
 11 you do not know how I have striven with my bad 
 habits. All this year I have been keeping watch 
 over myself, and I thought, I did think, I was a 
 little better. Mamma said so, and so did Katty." 
 
 "And you are better, Milly," interposed Alfred. 
 " Don't be discouraged ; I wish Bertha had taken as 
 much pains to correct her faults as you have, but I 
 really think she is crosser and more disagreeable 
 than ever. Now, don't fly into a passion, Bertha, 
 you know I speak truly ; you criticise the doings of 
 those around you till you become a real nuisance in 
 the house, while your own actions, often of very 
 doubtful complexion, remain unquestioned ! If you 
 would only reform yourself, and leave us, including 
 that everlasting culprit, Milly, to reform ourselves, 
 I think there might be a chance of an amicable 
 arrangement ! " 
 
 " If people cannot bear to be told of their faults " 
 began Bertha ; but Alfred stopped her. 
 
 " Bertha, for mercy's sake do not talk such auda- 
 cious humbug ! Is there any if in the business ? is 
 there anything you dislike more than being blamed, 
 or feeling yourself open to censure ? " 
 
80 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 "I do dislike it," returned Bertha, candidly; 
 11 and I will tell you the reason. You always blame 
 me with so much asperity ; you seem so glad when 
 you can find an opportunity for dilating on my bad 
 qualities. You are glad to see me tripping, if not 
 falling." 
 
 " Bertha, people who persist in walking on stilts 
 must always expect an outcry and little charity when 
 they chance to come to the ground." 
 
 " I do not understand you," she said, coldly. " I 
 am not conscious of wishing to exalt myself above 
 others. Of course I am imperfect ; I do wrong 
 occasionally, like my fellow-creatures ! " 
 
 " Yes ; once a week you call yourself a miserable 
 sinner ! And I dare say you are ready at this very 
 moment to confess yourself a sinner in the aggre- 
 gate ; but lay any one sin to your charge, and you 
 indignantly rebut the accusation !" 
 
 Bertha had finished her breakfast, so she rose up 
 to go away, not sorry to escape the lecture which 
 her own propensity for lecturing had brought 
 upon her. But Mildred also sprang up, and 
 said 
 
 "Now, Bertha dear! don't go away and you 
 shall not be teased any more. I am sorry I was 
 vexed ; but indeed, I have tried very hard to be 
 neat and orderly ; nice and clever, like you, I can 
 never be, but I may get to be tolerably tidy in 
 time!" 
 
"THE CAMPBELLS ARE COMING." 81 
 
 " Yes, I hope so," returned Bertha, coldly; "I 
 am not angry with you, Milly ; indeed, I am not 
 angry with any one ; I am only hurt ! Let me go, 
 please." 
 
 But Milly held her faster, and being much the 
 taller and the stronger of the two, she managed to 
 retain her capture. 
 
 "Indeed, you mustn't go, Bertha, there is no fire 
 anywhere else but in mamma's room, and in the 
 kitchen, and in the little study where the children 
 are doing their lessons ; besides, I have some news 
 for you guess now what it is ? " 
 
 "How can I ? Some stupid piece of Oldminster 
 gossip ! Is Miss Golding going to be married ; or 
 has Mrs. Armstrong given her new cook warning ; or 
 has Mrs. Miller her twelfth baby born ? " 
 
 - No ; none of these things ! It is a piece of 
 news, not gossip ; and it concerns no one in Oldmin- 
 ster but ourselves." 
 
 "Well! what is it? I have no time to stay 
 guessing any longer ! " 
 
 "Aunt Campbell is coming!" Bertha's face 
 lighted up. " And that is not all : Eric and Janet 
 are coming with her ; and she has asked permission 
 of mamma to take back with her the two of us who 
 can be best spared ? " 
 
 " I am very glad ! " replied Bertha, earnestly but 
 quietly. " I was quite afraid we were to lose sight 
 of our relations altogether ; and I must say I have 
 
82 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 blamed aunt and uncle Campbell decidedly for not 
 paying us more attention, and mamma Lady Camp- 
 bell's own sister ! " 
 
 " I think we are scarcely justified in blaming 
 them," interposed Alfred, with more moderation 
 than he had yet shown towards Bertha ; " you girls, 
 perhaps, do not know that Uncle Campbell suffered 
 severely by poor papa's losses, and yet to him we 
 almost owe our present position. If it had not been 
 for his name and influence, and for the sacrifices he 
 so generously made, the moderate income we enjoy 
 would never have been secured to us. You, Bertha, 
 and the rest of you, would either be toiling now as 
 governesses, or enduring all the untold miseries of 
 dependency on relations, and I must have tried my 
 luck in any situation that was likely to afford me a 
 living! So, pray, don't say a word against Uncle 
 Campbell." 
 
 "How good and kind of him!" cried Mildred. 
 " I wish he were coming too ; but I wonder what 
 Aunt Campbell is like. I have never seen her since 
 I was a little girl; and I wonder how old Janet 
 is ? Eric must be quite grown up older than you, 
 Alfred!" 
 
 " Janet, I should say, is about your own age; 
 Eric must be past twenty- one oh ! more, he was 
 born before mamma was married; Aunt Campbell 
 is the elder sister." 
 
 " And when do they come, and how did you hear 
 
"THE CAMPBELLS ARE COMING/' 83 
 
 about it? " asked Bertha, her coldness thawing, and 
 her ill-temper diminishing every minute. 
 
 " In answer to your first question, they come in 
 about a fortnight ; they stay several weeks, and then 
 aunt and Eric go on to London to visit the old Lady 
 Campbell ; and Janet, I believe, is to stay with us, 
 because she is too young to go into society; and 
 aunt means to be very gay, for she intends visiting 
 all her old friends, and she would not like to leave 
 Janet without a companion." 
 
 " How very pleasant ! It will be something like 
 old times to prepare for visitors again. And it will 
 be delightful to associate once more with young 
 people of our own rank in life. But you have not 
 told me yet how you came by the news." 
 
 ' ' It came simply enough, by post ! Mamma had 
 a letter from aunt this morning, containing all, and 
 more than all, the intelligence I have given you ; 
 and when she had read it herself, she considerately 
 sent it down for our perusal. And if you had not 
 been fast asleep, you would have heard the gabble 
 we made over it, and the innumerable questions we 
 asked Katty and Helen, who, being the most ancient 
 among us, remember aunt and Eric the best. As 
 to our cousin Janet, no one seems to know anything 
 about her; but Kate says, she remembers a lady 
 who was going to be Miss Campbell's governess 
 stopping one night at Lillingstone on her journey 
 into Scotland ; and in some way or other, we have 
 G 2 
 
84 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 received the impression that Janet is wonderfully 
 clever, angelically good, and resplendently beau- 
 tifnl ! " 
 
 " That remains to be seen," replied the matter-of- 
 fact Bertha. She did not care about her cousin 
 Janet's pre- supposed goodness, and she had no par- 
 ticular objection to talent ; but she was by no means 
 pleased at the idea of a rival beauty, for Bertha was 
 thoroughly conscious of her own charms, and she 
 duly appreciated every perfection, from her rippling 
 golden hair to her tiny foot, that a Frenchwoman 
 might have envied. 
 
 "I wonder if they are very Scotch!" said Hil- 
 drcd, while Bertha was still debating within herself 
 the likelihood of her cousin's claims to beauty being 
 superior to her own. 
 
 "I should think they are as Scotch as they can 
 be," replied Alfred. "Lady Campbell is English 
 by birth, as you know; but she has lived up in 
 those savage Highlands ever since she was married, 
 and our cousins have been little in England ; indeed, 
 I believe Janet has never been south of the Tweed 
 in her life!" 
 
 " Whatever her looks may be," thought Bertha, 
 " she will have no manner, no style. I need not 
 fear to compete with her. I wonder what Eric will 
 think of me?" Then aloud, "Well! since we are 
 to have visitors, I hope we shall go out a little 
 more; the Armstrongs are always asking us, and 
 
"THE CAMPBELLS ABE COMING." 85 
 
 I should not mind accepting Mrs. Golding's invita- 
 tion to dinner. She is very well connected, I know ; 
 Mrs. Golding's first cousin married a daughter 
 of " 
 
 " Now don't, Bertha ! Who cares whether Mrs. 
 Golding's relations are patricians or plebeians?" 
 
 "/care! There is no worse mistake than to 
 cultivate people whose antecedents are inferior, or 
 whose connections are vulgar !" 
 
 " To worse mistake ? Oh, my dear Bertha ! " 
 
 " Well, I do not -wish to dispute about it; it is 
 enough for me to know that Mrs. Golding is really 
 visitable. What I am anxious for is that mamma 
 should respond a little to the advances of our 
 friends; and there are some ' county families J too, 
 that I have reason to know would be glad of our 
 acquaintance." 
 
 " There are the Harrops, I know ; they left their 
 cards; but as we have no carriage, returning the 
 call was impossible. I suppose you would not like 
 walking ten or twelve miles in order to reciprocate 
 the civilities of county families ?" 
 
 " I suppose there are carriages to be hired in 
 Oldminster!" 
 
 "Undoubtedly; but they cost money a com- 
 modity with which, unluckily, we are but scantily 
 supplied. We must relinquish the county families 
 at present!" 
 
 "Yery well!" returned Bertha; but she made a 
 
86 THE LILL1NGSTONES. 
 
 secret reservation, to the effect that ere she was 
 another year older she would try if tact and address 
 would not supply the lack of money, "for the 
 sake of the others," she said to herself, compla- 
 cently. "Not only in justice to myself, but on 
 account of Katty and Helen and really Helen is a 
 graceful creature! I am determined to make an 
 effort to recover our proper position in society. As 
 for waiting till we go hack to Lillingstone, as Alfred 
 promises, that's simply absurd ! If we wait here 
 apathetically till that time comes we shall be too 
 old to reap much benefit from the restoration. 
 Katty and Helen ought to be introduced at once! 
 It's very disagreeable ; but I suppose it would be 
 bad taste and bad policy to have three Miss Lilling- 
 stones out at once ! It is of no consequence about 
 Milly ; she is sure never to marry ; she gets plainer 
 every day!" 
 
 Such were Bertha's cogitations while Mildred and 
 Alfred further discussed the expected visit. She 
 was roused by the entrance of Katharine, who had 
 completed her morning's duties with "Walter and 
 Alice ; and to her she immediately appealed. 
 
 "Katty dear! surely we shall have a party or 
 two, and see a little more society while our aunt 
 and cousins are with us ! Now that we have laid 
 aside our deep mourning, there can be no objection 
 to our going out." 
 
 " Except the means," returned Kate. " "Visiting 
 
"THE CAMPBELLS ARE COMING." 87 
 
 is very expensive work, dear Bertha. "We should 
 have to spend three times as much on dress as we 
 do now, if we went to parties, and gave them 
 which would be a matter of course in return." 
 
 " We could contrive" said Bertha, earnestly; "at 
 least / could. Only let us begin to go out as befits 
 our age and station, and I will answer for the 
 rest!" 
 
 "But you are too young, Bertha!" interposed 
 Mildred. " Mamma has always said she had no 
 notion of girls coming out till they were eighteen, 
 and you are not quite seventeen, you know." 
 
 "Ah well! that objection will melt away every 
 day. One soon gets over excess of youth ; besides, 
 I am thinking more of the future than of the 
 present. But I want to see Aunt Campbell's letter; 
 where is it?" 
 
 " Mamma has it. Helen took it back to her after 
 breakfast." 
 
 " Then I will go and ask for it at once." And 
 away went Bertha upstairs. 
 
 " I do believe she is a born schemer and match- 
 maker!" said Alfred, laughing. 
 
 "Hush!" cried both his sisters, and Mildred 
 added, "You are not quite just to Bertha, Alfred; 
 you make the worst of her, and you provoke her 
 very much ! " 
 
88 
 
 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 CHAPTER YII. 
 
 SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHEKS. 
 
 BEETHA was doomed that day to endure mortifica- 
 tions. Everything went wrong, and the late rising, 
 by throwing duties behindhand, involved irritations 
 and discomfiture till the evening. But during the 
 afternoon, her self-appreciation received a blow 
 which came neither from tardiness nor neglect. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Herbert called, and it so happened 
 that Katty alone was in the drawing-room when 
 they came. After some general conversation, Mr. 
 Herbert remarked that he had come that afternoon 
 on a special errand ; and his wife smiled, and bade 
 Katty guess what her pastor's special business 
 could possibly be. 
 
 "Is it the flannel subscription?" asked Katty; 
 trying to recollect how much money she had in her 
 own little purse. 
 
 " No, Miss Lillingstone ; I am come to beg, cer- 
 tainly, but it is not for money. I want help in 
 the Sunday-school ; I am losing some of my best 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS. 89 
 
 teachers, and I am here this afternoon hoping to 
 recruit my forces ! " 
 
 " I do not know," began Kate rather nervously, 
 " but I am afraid mamma would not like me to be 
 away from the children on Sunday." 
 
 " That probability occurred to us as we talked it 
 over," replied Mrs. Herbert, " and we decided, that 
 valuable as your services would be, we had no right 
 to ask them, since your first duty is unquestionably 
 with your own family. We would not, on any ac- 
 count, take you from Walter and Alice, who I know 
 depend upon you for instruction on the Sabbath- 
 day ; but we thought one of your sisters might 
 probably be induced to give her time and her 
 energies to this high and holy work." 
 
 " And I thought of Mildred," said Mr. Herbert; 
 "she is young, certainly; not more than fifteen, I 
 believe ; but from all that I have seen of her, I 
 cannot doubt that she has made the great decision, 
 and given herself to Christ ; and if such be the case, 
 she will be glad to avail herself of the opportunity ; 
 she will heartily respond to the call, and work 
 humbly and trustfully in her Master's vineyard." 
 
 Katty's eyes brightened : appreciation of Milly 
 was very sweet and precious to her sisterly heart, 
 and she hastened to say, * ' Yes, dear Milly has for 
 some months past been striving diligently, and in 
 dependence upon the only source of strength, to walk 
 in the way to heaven. I think, if mamma does not 
 
90 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 object, she will be very glad to respond to your kind 
 invitation but here she comes ! " 
 
 Mildred at that moment entered the room, accom- 
 panied by Bertha ; the former shyly, and rather 
 awkwardly, and the latter gracefully, accosted the 
 pastor and his wife. Mr. Herbert immediately 
 reverted to the subject, by observing that he was 
 in some perplexity about the arrangements of his 
 Sunday-school ; that several of his best teachers were 
 leaving Oldminster, and that it behoved him to beat 
 up for recruits in the service. 
 
 Milly' s heart throbbed almost painfully ; Sunday- 
 school teaching was the acme of her desires ; but in 
 her humility and perfect lowliness of heart, she 
 never imagined that she would be permitted, much 
 less asked, to engage in so blessed a work. Most 
 genuine, therefore, was her surprise, when Mr. 
 Herbert said, "Your sister leads me to hope, Miss 
 Milly, that you will kindly help us in this way ; and 
 as I trust you have already given your own heart 
 to the Lord Jesus Christ, I think you will feel it a 
 joy and a privilege to try to lead the little children 
 into the pleasant pastures of the Good Shepherd !" 
 
 Milly was silent from pure embarrassment, but 
 her eyes were bright, and the colour rose to her pale 
 cheeks, and at length she faltered out " If mamma 
 will let me if you think I am fit if Katty thinks 
 I know enough." 
 
 Mr. Herbert was deeply touched by the young 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS. 91 
 
 girl's unaffected humility. In her dewy, downcast 
 eyes, and in her faltering speech, he read the tokens 
 of her distrust of her own worthiness ; he knew 
 that with one hand she was ready to grasp the 
 privilege with joy and thankfulness, while with the 
 other she would put from her an honour which she 
 felt was far beyond her deserts. 
 
 After a while she resumed " Eut, Mr. Herbert, 
 I am not sure that I ought to be a Sunday-school 
 teacher ; I have learnt so little myself, I am so care- 
 less, and so indolent ; had I not better leave it till 
 I have in some measure conquered my faults ?" 
 
 "I think," he answered, "the very act of en- 
 gaging in Sunday work will help you. The respon- 
 sibilities you will inevitably assume must lead you 
 to think more seriously of the conflict to which, as 
 God's child, you are pledged. Your anxiety for 
 your charge will make you more jealous of yourself, 
 and you will be lead to combat faults which hitherto 
 you have only partially recognised. I do not think 
 it possible to be truly in earnest about the souls of 
 others, without deeper and closer self-examination, 
 and renewed efforts to walk in the paths of holiness. 
 But, of course, I am speaking now of Christian 
 teachers only. I firmly believe that Sunday-school 
 teaching is calculated to harden the heart of the 
 unconverted teacher. There is but one position 
 more awful, and, humanly speaking, more hopeless, 
 that of an unconverted minister of God's Word ! 
 
92 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 But you, my child " and lie spoke with great 
 kindness and tenderness "you, I have reason to 
 hope, have chosen the hetter part ; you are wishing 
 and longing to how to the glory of God, and of His 
 Son Jesus Christ. Is it not so ? " 
 
 " I love the Lord Jesus : I wish to serve him : I 
 want to ohey His commands ! " returned Milly, in 
 a low, clear voice; "hut often, so very often, I 
 forget whose I am, and who I profess to serve, and 
 my life is not that of a true Christian. And yet 
 I am sure of one thing I would give anything to 
 he ahle to he really consistent ! " 
 
 " St. Paul said, < I find, then, a law, that when I 
 would do good, evil is present with me ; for I delight 
 in the law of God, after the inward man; hut I 
 see another law in my memhers, waning against 
 the law of my mind, and hringing me into captivity 
 to the law of sin, which is in my members. 
 wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me 
 from the body of this death ? ' So you see your 
 complaint is one that Christians of old were fain to 
 make ; and from their experience you should learn, 
 while at the same time you are deeply humbled for 
 sin, and earnestly desirous to be a new creature in 
 Christ Jesus, not to be weary in well-doing, and 
 not to slacken in any work of usefulness to which 
 it has pleased God to call you." 
 
 All this time Bertha sat silently listening to the 
 words of her pastor. She was not pleased : she 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS. 93 
 
 thought it was a piece of Kate's unjust partiality to 
 bring Mildred forward to the exclusion of herself. 
 "What could a girl of fifteen know about the duties 
 of a Sunday-school teacher ? And how could Milly, 
 with her carelessness, her roughness, and her occa- 
 sional fits of indolence, be fitted for an office that 
 required, as a matter of course, the utmost steadi- 
 ness, prudence, and persevering industry ? 
 
 So when there was a pause, Bertha said gently 
 and modestly, " And I, also, should be most happy 
 to take a share in so good and delightful a work. 
 If you see fit to give me a class, I will do my utmost 
 for the improvement and well-being of the children 
 committed to my "charge." 
 
 Bertha doubted not that Mr. Herbert would im- 
 mediately, and with grateful thanks, accept her 
 offer; for it seemed to her that her undeviating 
 propriety of demeanour, her gravity, and her general 
 habits of decision and self-control, exactly fitted her 
 for the post she desired to occupy. To her amaze- 
 ment, Mr. Herbert did not seem at all delighted, 
 neither did he express the gratification which she 
 had supposed her voluntary proposal would call 
 forth. He was silent for nearly a minute : then he 
 said, " My dear Miss Bertha, have you counted the 
 cost ? Do you know what you wish to undertake ? " 
 
 "I hope so, I think so! " she replied, in a tone 
 that betrayed through all its quiet gentleness some 
 slight emotion of displeasure ; and in her heart she 
 
94 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 wondered what lie meant ; for the bare sacrifice of 
 her leisure, and the victimising of her dress, was 
 all that flashed across her mind when he spoke of 
 the "cost!" 
 
 "And you recognise the great end of Sunday- 
 school instruction?" 
 
 "Certainly I do !" and seeing that he waited to 
 hear more, she continued "It is not only to 
 make children acquainted with the history of the 
 Bible, and to teach them hymns and catechisms, 
 but it is to exhort them to lead a religious life, and 
 to show them their duty, both as regards this world 
 and the next." 
 
 Mr. Herbert was puzzled. Bertha had given an 
 excellent exposition of the question he propounded ; 
 but he felt convinced in his own mind that her 
 ideas of Christianity were far from those he would 
 have wished to be certified were hers in very truth 
 and deed ; and how far she was fitted to be a 
 teacher he could not determine. 
 
 "My dear child!" he said, affectionately taking 
 her hand, ' 1 1 would condense what you have said 
 into one sentence the great end of Sunday-school 
 teaching is to make good soldiers for the Lord Jesus 
 Christ ! Have you enlisted under the banners of 
 the King of kings ? Do you with your lips, and in 
 your heart, call Him Lord and Master? Are you 
 willing to give up the world, and to yield yourself 
 body and soul as a faithful servant unto your life's 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS. 95 
 
 end ? If this be tlie case, come then, and work in 
 the Lord's vineyard; nurse the children for Him, 
 and He will give you your wages. But if not if 
 the love of Christ is not the supreme emotion of 
 your heart, then stand still, and make for yourself 
 the momentous decision; seek your own salvation 
 rather than preach to others the Gospel which you 
 have not yet received V 
 
 Bertha was silent, partly from embarrassment, 
 partly from annoyance ; she felt that some answer 
 was expected ; but never in her life had she found 
 it so difficult to speak. That she tvas a Christian 
 she had no manner of doubt. Had she not always 
 attended strictly to religious duties ? Did she ever 
 pass a day without her regular Bible reading ? Did 
 she not reverently participate in all the ordinances 
 of the Church to which she belonged ? 
 
 Still, there was something which she could not 
 and did not seek to understand. She could not help 
 feeling that Mr. Herbert's and her own estimate of 
 Christianity were widely different. She could not 
 help seeing that her sisters Katharine and Mildred 
 were actuated by some secret principle of which she 
 was entirely ignorant ; and she was almost convinced 
 in her inmost heart that the standard of Christianity 
 proposed by her pastor, and followed by many very 
 excellent people, was not that towards which she 
 herself was pressing. At length she said in a cold, 
 respectful tone, "I believe I have made the decision 
 
06 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 to which you refer ; I have long since seen the error 
 and the wickedness of a life without religion. It 
 is my wish to make the profession, and to lead the 
 life, of a Christian ! " 
 
 "I am glad to hear you say so!" replied Mr. 
 Herbert gently ; "and may the God and Father of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ grant you His Holy Spirit, 
 to guide you into all truth ; and may you be kept 
 firm in the faith, humble and meek, and pure from 
 the evil that is in the world ! It is no light matter 
 to call one's self by the holy name of Christian ! " 
 
 Bertha wondered whether he would have asked 
 for Mildred the graces of humility and meekness : 
 she had a lurking suspicion, that notwithstanding 
 her decided avowal, he yet stood in doubt of her, 
 and while her fair face wore its ordinary calm 
 gravity, her bosom glowed with irrepressible resent- 
 ment. 
 
 Presently Mr. and Mrs. Herbert rose to go ; and 
 just as they were taking leave, Mrs. Lillingstone 
 made her appearance. To her, at once, the question 
 was referred, whether her two daughters, Bertha 
 and Mildred, might be allowed to assist Mrs. Herbert 
 in the Sunday-school as regular teachers. There 
 was cordial and immediate permission, even a regret 
 that their services had not been earlier called for ; 
 and so it was settled that on the next Sunday 
 morning the sisters should commence their labours. 
 
 AVhen they were once more alone Bertha began 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS. 97 
 
 to talk largely of plans, and systems, and model- 
 classes, while Mildred sat quietly in the flickering 
 firelight, her eyes fixed intently on the glowing 
 embers, but her thoughts far away. And when 
 there was a pause at last, and Katty laid her hand 
 on her bowed head, and asked her what she was 
 thinking of, she started and smiled, but did not 
 attempt to answer her sister's question. But when 
 she was alone upstairs with Kate a little while 
 afterwards, she said earnestly, " Oh ! I hope I 
 have not been doing wrong ! I hope I shall not do 
 the dear children any harm by my careless, naughty 
 ways ! Katty, you must always make me prepare 
 their lessons in good time beforehand ; and you will 
 help me, will you not? It seems so strange, and 
 and so out of place for me to be teaching any 
 one ! " 
 
 " If you need my help, Milly dear, most certainly 
 you shall have it," replied Katharine; "but as you 
 are only called upon to teach your scholars the very 
 plainest and simplest truths, I think you will need 
 no aid of mine ! And yet, simple and easy as the 
 lessons you have to give may be, you will need the 
 best help ; for it is a momentous thing to talk to 
 the poorest and most ignorant child about the salva- 
 tion of its immortal soul ! " 
 
 "It is a very solemn thing!" returned Mildred 
 with deep earnestness ; "so solemn that I am almost 
 afraid to think what I have undertaken; but the 
 
 H 
 
98 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 work was brought to me, I did not seek it out for 
 myself, and therefore I dared not refuse. Besides, 
 I have so often wished I could he of some use in 
 the world!" 
 
 " And you have the best help ! " 
 
 " Yes ; and so, if I do not trust at all to myself, 
 I may hope to do something. I can always pray 
 for my children when I pray for myself. And oh, 
 Katty dear, do help me to watch against my faults ! 
 I am afraid Bertha is right ; after all, I have really 
 made very little progress. And now that I am 
 going to be a Sunday-school teacher, I must strive 
 harder than ever, or else how can I preach to others 
 about duties when I neglect my own ? How can I 
 tell the children of the evil I see in their conduct, 
 when I know there is so much, rampant and un- 
 checked, in my own character ? It would be down- 
 right hypocrisy, you know. I couldn't do it, you 
 know. I couldn't say a word!" 
 
 "I think, dear Milly, you have made great pro- 
 gress since we came to Oldminster. There is much 
 to be done,, and you have hard work yet to do; 
 but the war is not over in a day or a year. You 
 we must all, be thankful for the past, and go 
 on to watch and pray that we do not fall into 
 temptation." 
 
 "And another thing I am so stupid when I 
 really know things ; and I have no method. When 
 I have tried in vain to arrange matters for I don't 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS. .99 
 
 know how long, Bertha comes in, and with a look 
 and a touch or two sets all right at once. I am 
 afraid, even in the lowest sense, I shall make a bad 
 teacher!" 
 
 "I think that need not distress yon, for there 
 will probably be rules for teachers as well as children, 
 and you know Mrs. Herbert so well that you will 
 never feel shy with her, and you can always refer to 
 her when you are in any uncertainty." 
 
 " And I am sure you may come to me whenever 
 you like," said Bertha, who had entered the room 
 just in time to hear Mildred deploring her lack of 
 method and her want of tact. " I shall always be 
 ready to help you, dear Milly, whenever the slightest 
 difficulty occurs." 
 
 " Thank you!" replied Milly, sincerely grateful 
 for Bertha's promised patronage. 
 
 H 2 
 
100 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 SCOTCH COUSINS. 
 
 "!T snows harder than ever!" cried Alice, one 
 afternoon, just before Christmas, as she sat in the 
 deep window-seat with her doll, watching the 
 falling of the flaky shower. ""Walter! do you 
 think they will come ?" 
 
 "Come? To be sure they will. When people 
 are going two hundred and eighty miles to spend 
 Christmas with their relations, they don't mind a 
 sprinkle of snow!" 
 
 "A sprinkle, indeed! "Why, Walter, the Trenton 
 Hills have been white all over for three days, and this 
 morning they looked like the great Twelfth-cake in 
 Jones's window!" 
 
 " They'll come, you'll see ! They are used to 
 snow! "Why, you silly child, if they kept in for 
 snow they wouldn't go out ten times in the 
 year!" 
 
 " Does it snow in Scotland all the year round ? " 
 asked Alice, with wondering eyes. 
 
SCOTCH COUSINS. 101 
 
 ""Why, no ; not exactly," replied "Walter, feeling 
 that he had made a very broad statement. ' ' But, 
 you see, Alice, it is far up in the north where they 
 live, and more snow falls in those latitudes. I dare 
 say now it begins to snow about the middle of Sep- 
 tember, and keeps on and off till May, or there- 
 abouts ! " 
 
 " How beautiful ! " cried Alice. " The snow melts 
 here so fast ; just as I think it is getting deep 
 enough to be lost in, there comes a thaw, and, next 
 time I look, there is nothing but mud and water and 
 patches of dirty snow !" 
 
 "Where are they all?" asked Walter, after a 
 short silence. " I have not seen any one but Katty 
 since dinner." 
 
 " Helen is reading in the drawing-room," returned 
 Alice, " and Katty is busy ; Hilly is helping Sarah 
 with the tea-cakes, and Bertha is dressing." 
 
 " What was Bertha so savage about this morn- 
 ing?" 
 
 "Which time do you mean? She was savage 
 more than once." 
 
 " Oh ! just before dinner. I heard the knives and 
 forks rattling, and Helen was clearing the table. 
 Mamma said, ' I had rather be consistent, my dear ;' 
 and then Bertha came out and nearly ran over me, 
 and her face and her neck were red, like they always 
 are when she is in a passion and doesn't want to 
 show it!" 
 
102 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 " Oh ! I know ! it was about Aunt Campbell. 
 Bertha said you and I, and perhaps Milly, had 
 better dine then ; but the regular dinner had better 
 be put off till aunt and Eric and Janet came ; and 
 mamma said, tea was much nicer when people came 
 off a long cold journey, and there would be eggs 
 and ham, and cold meat and fowl, for the travellers. 
 But Bertha thought it was not right to dine in the 
 middle of the day, and she was sure Lady Campbell 
 was not accustomed to anything of the kind, and 
 
 she would be surprised to find oh ! I forget the 
 
 words, but she meant that Aunt Campbell would 
 think we were grown vulgar, and lived like common 
 people." 
 
 " Bertha is a snob!" exclaimed Walter. "As 
 if the Lillingstones of Lillingstone could be changed 
 from what they always were ! If we were to dine 
 at eleven in the morning, and eat onion-porridge for 
 supper at four o'clock in the afternoon, it could 
 make no difference to us ! Remember that, Alice ; 
 and never forget that you were born a lady and a 
 Lillingstone! It's horrid disagreeable to be poor; 
 but poverty can never make us vulgar. I cannot 
 think where Bertha got such common ideas from ! " 
 
 " Oh ! she will do her hair so beautifully ! " said 
 Alice, with a gesture of admiration ; " she's going 
 to do it a new way all plaits down in the neck, 
 and black velvet ends sticking to it ! And she 
 has worked herself a new collar, and she is going to 
 
SCOTCH COUSINS. 103 
 
 wear the cameos that her godmother, Miss Har- 
 rington, left her ! " 
 
 " She's doing it extensive, then ! I thought she 
 would," said Walter, who, Lillingstone as he was, 
 did not disdain a little slang when it came in his 
 way. "I say, Alice, don't you wish Eric would 
 fall in love with her ? " 
 
 < No ! I don't know. "Why ? " 
 
 < Why, you little silly ? Why, if he fell in love 
 with her, he'd want to many her, and then she 
 would go away and live at Strathallan, and we 
 should be so quiet and jolly ! " 
 
 Alice stood considering. The idea of one of her 
 sisters being married had never entered her young 
 imagination. Indeed, she had not a very clear notion 
 of the actual meaning of marriage ; only, she had 
 some idea that Confirmation was the first step to- 
 wards the holy estate of matrimony. After a while 
 she said, "Girls are never married, are they, 
 Walter?" 
 
 " Aren't they ? You'll alter your tone some day, 
 Miss Alice ! And if Bertha is only seventeen now, 
 she will grow older every day. They will be en- 
 gaged first, like Flora Golding, you know ; and after 
 a time they will be married; and and I really 
 believe, we should never quarrel when Bertha was 
 gone!" 
 
 That was more than Alice could agree to ; she 
 thought Walter could be very cross sometimes ; but 
 
104 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 then lie was kind and full of fun generally, and she 
 fervently hoped he would not be married just yet, 
 and leave her without a playfellow. She was 
 rather a singular child, making from time to time 
 precocious attempts at conversation ; but, generally 
 speaking, thoughtless, and full of merriment, and 
 very apt to make unfortunate disclosures, by catching 
 from one person information never intended for her 
 little ears, and then imparting it at the first oppor- 
 tunity to the individual concerned. 
 
 On the present occasion she was very eager to tell 
 Bertha what Walter had said about her, and as 
 he soon afterwards ran out into the garden to see 
 whether there was any chance of snowballs, she was 
 left at perfect liberty to indulge her inclination. 
 She ran up stairs to the room where Bertha was 
 still occupied before the glass, and, without further 
 parley, exclaimed, ' l Bertha ! should you like to be 
 married?" 
 
 Bertha felt for a moment so transfixed with aston- 
 ishment, that she was very near speaking the simple 
 truth, and an involuntary " yes " was almost on her 
 lips. But she checked herself in time. ""What 
 do you mean, child? " she said, sternly. " Who has 
 been teaching you to be impertinent? " 
 
 Alice turned crimson, and felt at once that she had 
 spoken unadvisedly. But there was no help for it 
 now ; and she forthwith gave up her authority, and 
 told how Walter had said he wished she could be 
 
SCOTCH COUSINS. 105 
 
 engaged like Flora Golding, and married to their 
 cousin Eric ! To her extreme surprise Bertha was 
 not angry ; she laughed and blushed, and rearranged 
 her beautiful braids of hair ; and finally, she put on 
 a grave face and told Alice she would not scold her 
 that time ; but little girls ought never to talk about 
 their sisters being married it was very naughty, 
 and would make mamma extremely angry. " ISTow, 
 promise me, Allie," she said, in conclusion, " pro- 
 mise me never to say anything of the kind again !" 
 
 Alice, too happy to escape the consequences of 
 her rash confidence, was glad enough to promise ; 
 but reassured by Bertha's serene smile, she ventured 
 to ask 
 
 " Is it wicked to be married, Bertha?" 
 
 "By no means!" replied her sister; "it is quite 
 right to marry as soon as you are properly grown 
 up, and when the proper person asks you. But it 
 is not a subject for little girls ; they cannot un- 
 derstand it, and therefore they should never talk 
 about it!" 
 
 "But should you like to be married?" asked 
 Alice again, with childish pertinacity. She was 
 thinking how dreadful it would be to be married 
 and taken away to the perpetual snows of far-off 
 Strathallan. 
 
 "Little girls must not ask such questions!" re- 
 plied Bertha, fiercely. "Now, run away, and play 
 with your new doll. Stay one moment, Alice ! I 
 
106 THE LILL1NGSTONES. 
 
 will brush, your hair again. Why do you go flying 
 about, shaking your curls into such disorder?" 
 
 While Alice was undergoing a thorough process 
 of straightening, there were sounds of arrival down- 
 stairs. The carriage rolled softly over the thick 
 carpet of snow, and the bell had actually been rung 
 before any one knew that the long-watched-for 
 guests were really come at last. Mildred, who was 
 in the front of the house, shrieked the welcome 
 news to Helen and Kate in the drawing-room; 
 and Mrs. Lillingstone, hearing the disturbance, ran 
 down stairs, just in time to meet her sister on the 
 threshold. 
 
 "Oh, Kelly!" "Oh, Kitty!" was all that the 
 bystanders heard, while the long-parted sisters were 
 locked in a long and fervent embrace. So occupied 
 with Lady Campbell was the whole group, that for 
 the moment they forgot their cousins Eric and Janet, 
 till Katty was roused by a manly voice and a 
 hearty shake of the hand from the tall gentleman 
 who stood a little behind Lady Campbell. And 
 then Helen seized upon Janet, and led her away to 
 the cheerful blaze in the drawing-room, and the 
 rest followed, and for a few minutes there was a 
 perfect Babel of voices, that rose and rose till it 
 penetrated the upper regions of the house, and 
 notified to Bertha and Alice the arrival of the 
 expected guests. 
 
 Bertha hurried over the remainder of Alice's 
 
SCOTCH COUSINS. 107 
 
 ruffled ringlets, put a few finishing touches to her 
 own toilet, and hastened down stairs. Too late ! 
 she found only Alfred and "Walter, and the former 
 had just escorted Eric to his room, while Mrs. Lil- 
 lingstone and her two eldest daughters were with 
 Lady Campbell and Janet. 
 
 " Well!" said Eertha, with rather less than her 
 wonted composure, "you have seen them, Alfred?" 
 
 "To be sure I have! I have just been intro- 
 ducing Master Eric to his own quarters; and if 
 you want to know what he is like, I really cannot 
 tell you, only he is ridiculously tall ; but he's the 
 pleasantest fellow I've seen this long time ! I felt 
 right glad to think we call each other cousin. He 
 and I will be sure to get on, whether you girls pull 
 together or not ! " 
 
 " And Janet ? is she pretty ? " 
 
 " That's more than I know ! I only caught sight 
 of a pair of black, laughing eyes under a sort of 
 hood. She's tall too ! What a little thing you are, 
 Bertha ! " 
 
 Bertha drew herself up, and answered with seem- 
 ing lightness, " All the better! I prefer cultivating 
 quality to quantity! When there is too much of 
 a woman she is always awkward, to say the least 
 of it." 
 
 "A comfortable doctrine for little bodies like 
 you. But oh, Bertha! Aunt Campbell is so like 
 mamma ; only mamma, though she is four years 
 
108 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 younger, looks older and more worn. Poor mamma ! 
 it's the care and sorrow she has had!" 
 
 They were interrupted by the opening of the 
 door, and Mrs. Lillingstone and her sister came in. 
 
 "This must be Bertha!" said Lady Campbell, 
 as soon as she met the gaze of her young niece; 
 " she is exactly like the description you gave me in 
 the last letter. And, Kitty dear ! she is very much 
 like her father ! " 
 
 "We used to call her l papa's own girl' in the 
 old times ! " said Mrs. Lillingstone, sadly. "Alice ! 
 Where is the little truant ? Alice, too, is a thorough 
 Lillingstone in looks; and so is Walter. Katty, 
 you see, is like both parents ; and Helen and 
 Alfred and Milly are good copies of what you and 
 I and Lina were thirty years ago ! " 
 
 "Your Katty has a sweet face!" said Lady 
 Campbell, enthusiastically. " I have not seen so 
 fair and bonnie a maiden since I saw you on your 
 wedding morning, Kitty ! " 
 
 "Ah!" returned Mrs. Lillingstone, " Katty is 
 far bonnier than her mother ever was ; and what 
 is more to the purpose, far better! My Katty is 
 beyond all praise ! " 
 
 "And the best sister who ever lived!" cried 
 Alfred, just as Eric entered. 
 
 "Stop!" exclaimed Eric, "I cannot allow such 
 broad assertions ! Why, you have not an idea what 
 an excellent sister I have in Janet ! " 
 
SCOTCH COUSINS. 109 
 
 "Ah, well!" returned Alfred, laughing, " it 
 not do to quarrel with you just yet, so we will 
 agree to settle the matter like the comparative 
 charms of Mary Stuart and old Queen Bess were 
 settled hy that long-headed ambassador : my sister 
 is the best in England, and yours is the best in 
 Scotland when she is there ! Here she comes ! " 
 
 Bertha looked anxiously towards the door, and 
 saw a girl of fifteen or sixteen advancing quietly 
 towards the group around the sofa. She had dark 
 hair and eyes, and a very white skin, clear and 
 healthy-looking, but perfectly colourless. 
 
 " Janet, my dear! this is your cousin Bertha!" 
 said Lady Campbell ; and Bertha came gracefully 
 forward, kissed her Scotch cousin, French fashion, 
 on both cheeks, and led her to the ottoman where 
 she had been sitting herself. Eric watched her as 
 she rose to welcome his sister ; there was something 
 in her greeting that struck him as being cold and 
 artificial, contrasted with the hearty English salutes, 
 the warm pressure, and the demonstrative expres- 
 sions of the rest of the family ; but at the same time 
 he was fairly dazzled by her beauty. 
 
 The result of Bertha's prolonged labours at the 
 toilette was perfectly successful ; for the first time 
 the sisters had entirely cast aside their mourning, 
 and she had chosen Hue as the colour that best 
 suited the almost transparent delicacy of her com- 
 plexion. Unluckily, she and Mildred were dressed 
 
110 THE LILLLNGSTONES. 
 
 alike, according to a custom more honoured in the 
 breach than in the observance ; and the soft bright 
 blue, that set off to the best advantage Bertha's ex- 
 quisite lilies and roses, and shining wreaths of hair, 
 was by no means becoming to Milly's dark skin 
 and heavy curls. Katty had perceived the error 
 too late to rectify it; but she privately resolved 
 that, for the future, Mildred should wear what 
 best became her, and not what Bertha happened 
 to choose on her own account. So Eric was struck 
 with the two blue dresses, and at the same time 
 with the loveliness of the one and the plainness of 
 the other sister. Katty and Helen, he thought, were 
 sweet, nice-looking girls Helen might even be 
 called handsome; but by the side of Bertha, their 
 pretensions to beauty faded quite out of sight ! 
 
 Meanwhile Sarah came in with the urn ; and the 
 travellers were glad to draw up to the large well- 
 lighted table, which was laden with all the requi- 
 sites for that most satisfactory and comfortable of 
 all repasts to tired, starved folk " a dinner-tea ! " 
 It so happened that Eric sat between Bertha and 
 Mildred, and he soon found out that Bertha was as 
 conversible as she was pretty, and Milly as silent 
 and bashful as she was plain.. Naturally enough, 
 they began soon to talk about Scotland, and Eric 
 waxed enthusiastic as he described to his cousins 
 the beauties of the lochs, the glories of the Tros- 
 sachs, and the unrivalled sDlendour of " Edina, 
 
SCOTCH COUSINS. Ill 
 
 Scotia's darling queen!" and very soon he had 
 started in the full spirit of his well-beloved bard, 
 and was exclaiming 
 
 " Caledonia, stern and wild, 
 Meet nurse for a poetic child ! 
 Land of brown heath and shaggy wood, 
 Land of the mountain and the flood, 
 Land of my sires ! what mortal hand 
 Can e'er untie the filial band 
 That knits me to thy rugged strand !" 
 
 And Bertha listened with calm interest, and re- 
 marked that Edinburgh was universally considered 
 to be the fairest city in Great Britain. A minute 
 afterwards she was expatiating on the cheapness of 
 drapery goods in Glasgow, and Eric felt as if he had 
 fallen from fairy-land into a coal-mine. 
 
 " I cannot expect you to love those lines as well 
 as I do," he said presently, when his cousin had 
 concluded her observations on Paisley manufactures, 
 " but you must appreciate them ! " 
 
 "Oh yes!" returned Bertha, tiying to look 
 animated, " they are extremely pretty !" 
 
 How the adjective jarred on Eric's sensitive ears 
 and patriotic emotions! He would have dropped 
 the conversation altogether had he not accidentally 
 turned towards Mildred, and seen her face lighted 
 up with something more than mere forced conven- 
 tional interest. 
 
 "You know the lines?" he said, addressing her 
 almost for the first time. 
 
112 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 "Oh. yes!" she replied hastily, "I know every 
 word of ' The Lay of the Last Minstrel.' " Bertha 
 had just decided that the quotation was one of 
 Burns' s enthusiastic stanzas. "And, " continued 
 Mildred, " I think the former part of the canto 
 is finer still; for a reason, perhaps, that you will 
 scarcely appreciate. Only a Caledonian can apos- 
 trophise ' Caledonia, stern and wild ! ' but any one 
 can claim as the emotion of his own heart 
 
 'Breathes there a man with soul so dead, 
 Who never to himself hath said, 
 This is my own, my native land ! ' " 
 
 "True! you discriminate justly. But what a 
 memory you must have ! Scotchman and poet- 
 stricken as I am, I never accomplished anything 
 so marvellous as a whole poem. I cannot repeat 
 a single canto without mistakes. I only know the 
 crack pieces !. I can whisper ' a mingled sentiment, 
 'twixt resignation and content.' I can tell how, 
 'by lone St. Mary's silent lake,' 
 
 t Your horse's hoof -tread sounds too rude, 
 So stilly is the solitude.' 
 
 I can echo poor Constance de Beverley's dying de- 
 nunciations, word for word. I can say ' Young 
 Lochinvar' with, any school-boy north or south of 
 the Tweed ; and of course I never forget 
 
 ' Oh, woman ! in our hours of ease, 
 Uncertain, coy, and hard to please!' 
 
 Ah! you see how shallow I am! But tell me 
 
SCOTCH COUSINS. 113 
 
 honestly now ; was ' The Lay ' a school-room task, 
 or a labour of love ? " 
 
 "Partly both," returned Mildred, feeling sud- 
 denly at ease with her poetic cousin. " Bart of the 
 second canto was given me for a punishment lesson, 
 and I liked it so well, that I learned the whole 
 poem ; and I never forget poetry, or indeed any- 
 thing I learn by heart, though I forget little 
 common things worse than any one." 
 
 "Ah!" said Eric, shaking his head, "the go- 
 verness who gave you that task was incompetent ; 
 she was not a clever nay more, not a sensible 
 woman." 
 
 1 ' You think she ought to have known that she 
 was ministering to my gratification rather than 
 inflicting a penance ? "Well ! I told her, when she 
 marked off the stanzas, that I had rather learn 
 poetry than play or take a walk, and I offered to 
 learn a portion of ' Murray's Grammar ' the small 
 print too. Eut she did not like my interference, so 
 she doubled the quantity of poetry already given; 
 and very glad I was that she did, for the ' Murray ' 
 was horrible ; it was the notes on the rules, and 
 they would have been a punishment indeed ! " 
 
 Eric was infinitely amused; and, turning again 
 to Eertha, he inquired whether she used also to 
 have poetical impositions ? Her answer was inter- 
 rupted by Mildred, who abruptly informed him 
 that she had been the black-sheep of the school- 
 I 
 
114 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 room, while Bertha had very seldom fallen under 
 the displeasure of her governesses. 
 
 " You were never punished for want of honesty, 
 I am sure," he replied, warmly. " Ah! some day 
 or other, when we are better acquainted, I will in- 
 dulge you with some tales of my school and college 
 life. They will not be exactly to my credit though." 
 
 The conversation was broken by Helen carrying 
 off Mildred to help her with a large portfolio of 
 sketches ; and Bertha came to the decision that she 
 liked Eric, but that she feared he was rather too 
 frivolous, and given to talking for effect. He, on 
 his part, thought her the loveliest girl he had ever 
 seen ; but he did wish she had not applied to his 
 favourite lines that tame, hacknied expression 
 "pretty!" 
 
 " But one can't have everything," he said to 
 himself, as he watched her an hour later at the 
 pianoforte ; ' ' and really her profile is perfect ! and 
 though I don't care about that style of music, I 
 must admire her execution; and her touch, is re- 
 markably brilliant ! " 
 
TACTICS. 115 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 TACTICS. 
 
 " AND mamma really means to invite some people 
 after all ? " said Bertha, when she and Helen went 
 upstairs to dress for dinner the next day. 
 
 "Yes," replied Helen, languidly, seating herself 
 on the bed ; " will it not be a terrible bore ? " 
 
 " That is your view of it," returned Eertha. " Eor 
 my part, I think it will be as delightful as it is right 
 and desirable." 
 
 " Yes, I dare say it will be all very pleasant 
 when we are really in the midst of it ; but it will 
 give no end of trouble. I wish for society as much 
 as any one ; but to my mind, the idea of giving 
 parties, with one servant and a charwoman to help, 
 is simply ridiculous." 
 
 " Ko doubt it is; but we are not going to be 
 reduced to such straits. Mamma settled this mom- 
 ing, that while Aunt Campbell is with us, we must 
 have another regular servant; and for the party 
 itself, we must engage Jones's mar, who is generally 
 hired out for waiting at this time of the year." 
 i 2 
 
116 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 " How quickly you plan every thing ! But, Bertha, 
 it is very humiliating to have to hire make-believe 
 servants. I almost think I had rather go on living 
 in retirement. So long as there are no witnesses to 
 our privations, they are not so unendurable ; and 
 really there is nothing which rich people ridicule so 
 much as pretension, and striving to keep up appear- 
 ances, in persons who are reduced as we are." 
 
 "But they must not see that there is any striving 
 about it ! We must not, of course, attempt to 
 imitate the barbaric splendours of the Goldings, nor 
 the heavy, lavish state of the Armstrongs. Our 
 entertainments must be so conducted as to call forth 
 no comparisons with those of our guests. Taste, 
 and the usages of a lifetime, must not only supply 
 the place, but triumph over the apparent advantages 
 of those, who having amassed wealth try to copy 
 the style and manners of the higher classes. "What 
 is an effort to them, used to be our daily life. Even 
 now, their strained etiquette is only a meretricious 
 copy of our regular habits. Oh ! if mamma would 
 only give me l carte llanche? what would I not do?" 
 
 " I wish she would," replied Helen, becoming 
 infected with Bertha's animation; "I really think, 
 Bertha, you are the cleverest amongst us : Katty has 
 no ambition; I see how things might be managed, 
 but then I have no strength. The mere planning of 
 anything extraordinary, exhausts my spirits and my 
 energies : execution is altogether beyond me. Then 
 
TACTICS. 117 
 
 Milly is clever enough ; but it is in a way that will 
 never tell, either for her own advantage, or for ours. 
 Clearly it is you, Bertha, who must be the leading 
 spirit of your family. As far as I am concerned, I 
 put myself in your hands." 
 
 " You really will ? " asked Bertha eagerly, turn- 
 ing round from the toilet-table. " You will help 
 me, you will be my ally ? " 
 
 "No! I do not promise so much as that: to be 
 any one's ally is to render one's self responsible for 
 action, and also to co-operate generally ; but I am 
 quite willing that you should plan for me, and all 
 the aid that it is in my power to give, you shall 
 certainly receive." 
 
 "I understand. Helen, if I give you any idea 
 of my schemes for the restoration of our family 
 fortunes, may I rely upon your fidelity ? Remember 
 they are not to be imparted to any one ; for I must 
 set about my work cautiously and by degrees. If 
 mamma and Hatty suspect what I have taken in 
 hand, they will immediately put a veto on the 
 whole course of procedure." 
 
 "I promise never to betray your confidence," 
 replied Helen earnestly. She was fond of secrets, 
 and the idea of a harmless conspiracy pleased her 
 exceedingly. "You may trust me," she continued, 
 "I am too much interested in your success to en- 
 danger the cause by carelessness or want of reserve. 
 Tell me all freely." 
 
118 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 " Very well ! I will trust you. If you know and 
 approve my schemes, you may be able to further 
 them without much trouble to yourself. To begin 
 at the beginning. We really are poor, wretchedly 
 poor ; not only poor as contrasted with our former 
 and rightful position, but poor in comparison with 
 the persons with whom we must at present associate ; 
 and I do not see, as matters stand, how or when we 
 shall get richer." 
 
 "]S"or I either," interposed Helen mournfully. 
 
 " Consequently matters must be altered. It was 
 all very well during the months of our mourning to 
 maintain the strictest retirement, and I have found 
 the benefit of the prolonged seclusion ; for I have 
 discovered exactly what our position really is, what 
 it is held to be by our neighbours, and what it may 
 or may not be in time to come, according to the 
 course which henceforth we adopt." 
 
 "I do believe Alfred will be the possessor of 
 Lillingstone again, do not you ? " asked Helen. 
 
 " I cannot say. I am quite willing to believe it. 
 But at present it seems to me a very Utopian scheme, 
 to say the least of it. And supposing he really does 
 succeed, it will not be yet awhile. If he continues 
 steadfast to his purpose, and if fortune favour him, 
 he may be master of Lillingstone once more, in 
 twenty years to come, by which time, Helen, we 
 shall be a nice family of old maids ; and as Alfred 
 will probably marry when he recovers his inherit- 
 
TACTICS. 119 
 
 ance, we shall not occupy a very enviable situation. 
 I don't know how you may feel, but the idea of 
 being a maiden-aunt is excessively disgusting." 
 
 " It is the horror of horrors," said Helen, shutting 
 her eyes as if unable to contemplate so terrible a fate. 
 
 "I quite agree with you; and now comes the 
 gist of mj plans we must all marry early and well! 
 Not, of course, at present ; that is, / am not thinking 
 of marriage for myself; but it is quite time that 
 Katty was married, and you engaged ; and in order 
 to form proper connections, and to gather round us 
 an eligible circle of acquaintances, it is essential 
 that we should immediately go into society." 
 
 "I am afraid," sighed Helen, "that we have 
 small chance of forming an advantageous circle while 
 we remain in Oldminster. There is Mrs. Armstrong, 
 who is somewhat of our own standing ; and there are 
 the Harrops, if we had anything like a carriage." 
 
 "' Anything like a carriage !' My dear Helen, 
 let me tell you that an inferior equipage is decidedly 
 worse than none ! Every one knows that we have 
 been accustomed to carriages and horses ; and they 
 doubtless exaggerate our faded splendours ; but if 
 they saw us rumbling about the country in a trap 
 like Mr. Clark's, or in a second-hand phaeton like 
 Mrs. Millar's, we should immediately sink in the 
 estimation of the whole population of Oldminster. 
 They would compare our * turn out ' with their 
 own ; and they would argue that persons who were 
 
120 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 contented with so shabby an affair could never have 
 been really accustomed to a thoroughly appointed 
 establishment." 
 
 " But does it matter so very much what the 
 townspeople think ? "- asked Helen. 
 
 "It does matter; because you see, unfortunately 
 circumstanced as we are, they are the very persons 
 upon whom we must commence operations. Our 
 party next week will be composed of the Armstrongs, 
 the Herberts, the Millars, and the Goldings ! " 
 
 " Will not the clerical element be too strong? " 
 
 " Not in the present case. In an ordinary way 
 it would ; but the clergy, you know, are always 
 admissible. Their office invests them with a rank 
 to which they may or may not be entitled by birth 
 and breeding; and in receiving our clerical guests 
 there is no danger of notoriously lowering our 
 standard; indeed, I mean to beat up for two or 
 three curates ; but mind, Helen, you do not fancy one 
 of them for a poor curate, without patronage and 
 without expectations, is the worst speculation in the 
 world." 
 
 "Bertha," interrupted Helen suddenly, "I wish 
 you would not call marriage ' a speculation? I think 
 it is wrong ; and I am sure it is degrading to woman- 
 hood to view it in that light ! " 
 
 Bertha saw her mistake. She had forgotten for 
 the moment the dreamy poetic tendencies of Helen's 
 nature. She did not remember that she had been 
 
TACTICS. 121 
 
 feeding her imagination with love-stories ever since 
 she had been out of the school-room ; and she did 
 not know that underneath the pensiveness and the 
 romance of her sister's character, there existed a 
 principle of right, with great feminine delicacy, and 
 a strong, almost passionate, admiration for that 
 which was pure and true and self-sacrificing. If 
 Helen could not make sacrifices herself, she could 
 fully appreciate them in others ; and while she felt 
 conscious of her own supineness, and knew that she 
 had never in any one instance practised the heroism 
 of renunciation, she flattered herself that when the 
 time came for action, or for suffering, she would 
 find herself as self-renouncing and as devoted as the 
 high and imaginary ideal she had cherished in her 
 heart of hearts from the days of childhood. It was 
 the opportunity, not the will or the power, which 
 was wanting to make her a veritable heroine. 
 
 So Bertha hastened to correct the error. "My 
 dear Helen," she said, apologetically, "you mistake 
 me. Par be it from me to advocate a marriage of 
 mere expediency : of course, the affections are the 
 first thing to be considered; but I think you will 
 agree with me, if I say that what is commonly 
 called a love-match, need not be made up of love 
 alone. You may love your husband just as strongly 
 and deeply if he can afford to give you all the 
 appliances of rank and fashion. Do you remember 
 Lucy Trevelyan? " 
 
122 THE L1LL1NGSTONES. 
 
 "Not much. She was married eloped, I think, 
 when I was a child. You cannot remember her at 
 all, I should think." 
 
 "No, I have not any distinct recollection of her, 
 but Aunt Campbell was Celling mamma about her 
 last night. Some friend of hers called on Lucy 
 I forget her married name and, oh! she gave 
 such a description of her menage ! Six children in 
 check pinafores, with dirty faces ; two that could 
 not walk; a sickly baby that cried eternally, one 
 poor drudge of a servant, and such a house ! Aunt's, 
 friend said that there did not seem to be anything, 
 from the attic to the kitchen, that was not broken 
 or defaced ; Lucy herself worn and faded and un- 
 tidy, and, worst of all, lamenting her imprudent 
 marriage, and telling the saddest tales of an unkind 
 and selfish husband." 
 
 "The more shame for her!" replied Helen in- 
 dignantly. " There can be no excuse for a woman's 
 discussing her husband's faults with any one ; and it 
 does not follow that every one who marries for love 
 should share the fate of this poor unhappy Lucy." 
 
 " Certainly not. Hers is an extreme case, I 
 confess. I believe she set both parents at defiance, 
 and, disregarding the entreaties of the kindest of 
 mothers, and the commands of the most indulgent 
 of fathers, rushed blindly and wilfully to her own 
 ruin. She deserved the misery which has been her 
 portion." 
 
TACTICS. 123 
 
 " Poor girl ! " said Helen compassionately. " The 
 after feeling of disobedience must be wretched. 
 Even if she had been prosperous there must have 
 been bitter compunction." 
 
 Bertha did not see it, but she did not say so ; she 
 was anxious not to shock Helen's romance, and she 
 proceeded cautiously. "Well, dear, I think we 
 need not discuss that point any more. I merely 
 intended to remark that it would be better, for 
 some of us at least, to be advantageously settled. 
 If you, for instance, married as a Miss Lillingstone 
 of Lillingstone ought to marry, think of what 
 service you could be to your family. You would 
 restore us to our old position ; at least, under your 
 roof and your chaperonage, we should enjoy 'oppor- 
 tunities for which we now seek in vain. Mamma 
 would be so thankful to have one daughter alas, 
 there are five Miss Lillingstones ! comfortably pro- 
 vided for; and there is no saying how much you 
 might be able to help Alfred, and forward his views 
 as regards Lillingstone. You must perceive the 
 justice of what I say ; romantic and high-flown as 
 you are by nature and by indulgence,, you must own 
 that I am speaking common sense." 
 
 "Yes, but I misunderstood you, I suppose. I 
 thought you were talking like a horrid worldly old 
 woman ; and indeed, Bertha, you do seem ages older 
 than mamma." 
 
 ft Thank you for the compliment; I should feel 
 
124 THE LILLDTGSTONES. 
 
 alarmed did not a look in the glass reassure me. 
 But to proceed, we may as well finish the subject 
 while we are about it ; you know that Aunt 
 Campbell wished two of us to return with her in 
 the spring?" 
 
 " Yes; and I must own I should like to be one 
 of the two. I wonder how it will be settled : if it 
 go by right of primogeniture it will be Katty and 
 myself ; but then, how is Katty to be spared ? And 
 you, too, would be very much missed. I think it 
 ought to be Milly and I ; we are the least important 
 personages in the house, you know." 
 
 " I suppose it will be as mamma and aunt decide, 
 and I suspect aunt will be very much influenced by 
 the wishes of Janet and Eric." 
 
 "Yery likely; Eric seems to be consulted on 
 every occasion, and he in his turn consults Janet." 
 
 "By the way, Helen, what do you think of our 
 cousin Eric?" 
 
 " Think of him ? Why, I hardly know. I take 
 a long time to form an opinion. He is good-looking, 
 certainly ; I dare say he may be called handsome : 
 and it must be a delightful thing to be heir to such 
 a grand old castle as Strathallan. He seems clever 
 and kind, and very much attached to his sister." 
 
 Bertha was satisfied : she had been rather afraid 
 that Helen might be stricken by her stalwart High- 
 land cousin, for she had fully resolved to captivate 
 him herself not, as she assured herself, that she 
 
TACTICS. 125 
 
 intended vegetating in that old dungeon of a castle 
 in Inverness-shire. If she were ever Lady Campbell 
 she would have a house in town, and take her 
 proper place in London society. For Bertha had a 
 shrewd suspicion that Eric Campbell had come to 
 England with some idea of choosing a wife. What 
 her own tactics were to be, at present she could not 
 tell. She was only sure of one thing, she must 
 make herself agreeable, if not necessary to Janet, 
 and she must conciliate her aunt's good opinion. 
 
 Presently Helen asked, in her turn, "And what 
 do you think of Janet ?" 
 
 " She is such a mere child," replied Bertha, 
 "that it is hardly fair to think anything decisive 
 about her. She is pretty certainly, but I do not 
 think she is clever : she seems passionately fond of 
 Eric, and I should say he might, if he cared to do 
 it, mould her to almost anything he pleased. She 
 will never make a brilliant woman. I dare say 
 she will many some good, quiet, Scottish laird, or 
 some excellent young minister, and reign at the 
 castle or the manse, as the case may be, universally 
 respected and beloved." 
 
 "Do you know," interposed Helen, "I differ 
 from you : I think she is clever ! She is so quiet 
 now ; for we are all strangers to her, and besides she 
 is very young, not fifteen till next March. But did 
 you not notice how her face lighted up last night 
 when Eric and Katty were talking about the different 
 
126 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 schools of painting, and the great masters? and 
 though she only spoke once or twice, and that when 
 pointedly addressed, she said something each time 
 that was quite to the purpose. I know I thought I 
 could not have answered with so much propriety and 
 discrimination, though I am four years older. I 
 think she has read a great deal." 
 
 "Who was that author they were discussing so 
 eagerly when I came into the room, just before bed- 
 time?" 
 
 "It was Buskin. Eric seems enthusiastic about 
 the l Stones of Venice,' especially the t Sea Stories.' 
 He actually recited a long piece from his favourite 
 volume : it was about Venice, and the canals, and 
 the salt lagoon, and the island of Murano; it was 
 exquisite equal to any poetry and he thought so 
 too, and so did Janet ; for her eyes were shining, and 
 there was a beautiful colour in her cheeks all the 
 while he spoke. The description struck me so much 
 that I mean to try if I cannot paint it from imagi- 
 nation." 
 
 " Is there a Buskin in the house ?" 
 
 "Yes; Alfred brought the * Stones of Venice' 
 from Dr. Armstrong's only two days ago ; it is in 
 his study." 
 
 " I will fetch it ; you shall show me the passage." 
 !N"o sooner said than done ; in two minutes the place 
 was found, and the precise lines pointed out. Bertha 
 read : 
 
TACTICS. 127 
 
 " The salt breeze, the white moaning sea-birds, 
 the masses of black weed, separating and disappear- 
 ing gradually in knots of heaving shoal, under the 
 advance of the steady tide all proclaim it to be 
 indeed the ocean, on whose bosom the great city rests 
 so calmly. Not such blue, soft, lake-like ocean as 
 bathes the Neapolitan promontories, or sleeps beneath 
 the marble rocks of Genoa ; but a sea, with the bleak 
 power of our own northern waves, yet subdued into 
 a strange, spacious rest, arid changed from its angry 
 pallor into a field of burnished gold, as the sun 
 declined behind the belfry tower of the lonely island- 
 church, fitly named l St. George of the Seaweed.' As 
 the boat drew nearer the city, the coast which the 
 traveller had just left, sank behind him into one long, 
 low, sad- coloured line, tufted irregularly with brush- 
 wood and willows. But, at what seemed its northern 
 extremity, the hills of Arqua rose in a dark cluster 
 of purple pyramids, balanced on the bright mirage of 
 the lagoon : two or three smooth surges of inferior 
 hill extended themselves about their roots; and 
 beyond these, beginning with the craggy peaks above 
 Yicenza, the chain of the Alps girded the whole 
 horizon to the north a wall of jagged blue, here 
 and there showing through its clefts a wilderness of 
 misty precipices, fading far back into the recesses of 
 Cadore, and itself rising and breaking away east- 
 ward, where the sun struck upon its snow, into 
 mighty fragments of peaked light, standing up 
 
128 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 behind the barred clouds of evening, one after 
 another countless the crown of the Adrian Sea, 
 until the eye turned back from pursuing them, to 
 rest upon the nearer burning of the Campaniles of 
 Murano, and on the great city, where it magnified 
 itself along the waves, as the quick, silent pacing 
 of the Gondola drew nearer and nearer." 
 
 Bertha was suddenly interrupted by the loud 
 clanging of the dinner bell, and Helen, as usual, was 
 not half ready ; but for once she made good haste, 
 and Bertha helped her with her quick fingers and 
 her ready taste. As they went down Bertha said 
 "I am going to put 'Ruskin' back again; do not 
 say anything about our having had it to-day I " 
 
ON THE MOOB8. 129 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 ON THE MOORS. 
 
 MKS. LILLINGSTONE and her daughters were sitting 
 together in the dining-room several days after the 
 conversation just narrated. Eric was gone with 
 Alfred to see if a large pool three miles off was ready 
 for skating, and Lady Campbell and Janet were 
 writing letters in their own room. 
 
 " Do you not think, mamma," said Katty, looking 
 up from her work, "that we had better settle now 
 about this party? we may not have such another 
 opportunity for holding a domestic parliament." 
 Bertha was busy at her desk, and she went on writing 
 as sedately as if the party were by no means a con- 
 cern of hers. Mrs. Lillingstone replied " Yes, my 
 dear, if it is to be at all, it must be soon, and the 
 present seems a good time for arranging matters. I 
 leave it entirely to you, my dear Katty; consult 
 with your sisters, and form your plans. I only 
 stipulate for a limited number of guests. liemeinber, 
 we are nine ourselves, and our dining-table is not 
 elastic ! " 
 
130 TEE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 "Seven, dear mamma!" interrupted Bertha, in 
 her sweetest, softest tones, without, however, sus- 
 pending her occupation. There was a general chorus 
 of dissent ; and Hilly said, roguishly, " Now, really, 
 Bertha, you have made a mistake for once; your 
 talent for figures has deserted you : are there not 
 three Campbells, and, including mamma, six Lil- 
 lingstones?" 
 
 " Two Campbells and five Lillingstones, it seems to 
 me r " returned Bertha, placidly. "Milly and Janet 
 will be in the drawing-room, of course ; but they can 
 hardly dine with us ! I am sure Aunt Campbell will 
 not allow it." 
 
 Mildred looked rather disconcerted, and Katty and 
 Mrs. Lillingstone were evidently perplexed. Clearly, 
 according to the established rules of society, young 
 ladies of fifteen were not eligible to a place at the 
 dinner-table on state occasions ; but no one had 
 thought of it except Bertha. 
 
 "I am afraid Bertha is right, my dear Milly," 
 said Mrs. Lillingstone at length. We have lived so 
 long out of the world that I had quite forgotten 
 established usages ; and then Milly, you see, is tall 
 and womanly-looking, and one is apt to forget that 
 she is really a child. Of course, your aunt must 
 herself decide about Janet, and I think that it had 
 better be settled that if Janet appears, Mildred should 
 do the same." 
 
 " Oh, mamma, I do not care about it ! " said Milly, 
 
ON THE MOORS. 131 
 
 as her mother turned rather anxiously towards her. 
 " I am afraid I have got into the habit of thinking 
 myself really grown up, and it will be quite as well 
 that I should learn my proper position." 
 
 "Ah! my child, that you cannot have. Your 
 proper place is indeed in the school-room ; but a 
 school-room without a governess is almost ridiculous. 
 However, I will not repine ; we have been less un- 
 happy since we came to Oldminster than I imagined 
 possible. For myself, I care very little, but I do 
 grieve to see my girls shut out from the advantages 
 to which their birth and actual station entitle them. 
 I try not to be fretful, but there are times when I 
 look at my children, at my five daughters especially, 
 and wish I knew what would become of them in 
 future days!" 
 
 "My dear mamma," said Katty brightly, "what 
 should become of us ? Some of us, perhaps, will be 
 married ; and some of us myself among the number, 
 very likely will be staid but happy old maids; 
 that is, if it please God to spare our lives. Any 
 way, mamma, we shall be cared for; and that 
 which is best for us will happen to us : do not have 
 any anxieties!" 
 
 Mrs. Lillingstone kissed the fair brow that looked 
 so sweet and calm, and she said, "I believe, my 
 Katty, God will be good to you ; you are my dutiful 
 child, and He will bless you !" 
 
 At the mention of her mother's anxieties Bertha 
 
132 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 "had looked significantly at Helen, but when the 
 conversation seemed to take what she called "a 
 sentimental turn," she became uneasy, and desirous 
 of turning the general feeling into another current. 
 
 1 1 Had I not better make a list of those you wish 
 to invite ?" she asked of her mother, whose thoughts 
 were evidently far removed from the dinner-party. 
 
 " Yes ; as your pen is in your hand you can do it 
 at once, if you like. Put down Mr. and Mrs. 
 Herbert and the Armstrongs, to begin with; and 
 there are the Millars, of course ; and how many of 
 the Goldings, my dears?" 
 
 " Mr. and Mrs. Golding, to begin with, and 
 Flora. I do not see how we can ask Laura, too, 
 for we must have Mr. Granville Golding, and Alfred 
 will be vexed if Philip is not invited. And then, 
 mamma, Mora will expect Mr. Gaunt to be asked 
 no one thinks of inviting one without the other: 
 that will do for the Goldings. And I have been 
 thinking of Mr. Earnshaw and Mr. Leigh; and, 
 oh ! mamma, we must not forget the Han-ops !" 
 
 "My dear Bertha!" remarked Mrs. Lillingstone, 
 " it will never do to have so many people ! " 
 
 "So many, mamma? I thought you would not 
 think I had mentioned names enough." 
 
 "Why, my dear, you have enumerated eighteen 
 persons, without counting in Philip Golding; and 
 our own family, even if we exclude Janet an:l 
 Milly, will be seven more twenty-five in all !" 
 
ON THE MOORS. 133 
 
 "But there is room for thirty-five people in this 
 room, and with a little contrivance the table might 
 be made to accommodate as many as we wish. I 
 am sure Mrs. Armstrong's dining-room is smaller 
 than ours, and I know she frequently asks upwards 
 of thirty!" 
 
 "My dear, it is not only the room, but the 
 trouble and the expense ! Really, I know nothing 
 about cost, for even before we left Lillingstone we 
 had left off entertaining company for some time. 
 Your dear papa did not care about society, but he 
 always said when you girls grew up there must of 
 course be an alteration ; and in my earlier days I 
 had so efficient a housekeeper that I left everything 
 in her hands." 
 
 "But, mamma," pleaded Bertha, "I do really 
 think that to entertain twenty or five-and-twenty 
 people will cost very little more than receiving half 
 the number. At any rate, it will be one trouble, 
 instead of two or more ; and it is best to do the 
 thing handsomely, especially as it is our first 
 party." 
 
 " I am sure, my dear, I cannot tell what to say. 
 Katty, what is your opinion?" 
 
 " I think, mamma, we had better be content with 
 a small party : if we make any attempt at doing 
 things in the old style we shall certainly incon- 
 venience ourselves very much, annoy our aunt and 
 cousins, and expose ourselves to quizzical remarks 
 
134 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 from the townspeople. Even the Harrops, if we 
 conclude to invite them, and if they accept two 
 very important <ifs' by the way will pity us if 
 we make an effort beyond our strength." 
 
 Bertha looked quite distressed. "Oh! indeed, 
 mamma, the Harrops must be invited ; let us have 
 some one of our own condition!" 
 
 "Bertha, my child, you think too much of con- 
 dition and appearances! Beally, and in ourselves, 
 we are just the same as we were ten years ago ; for 
 station is never truly lost, except by misconduct; 
 but outwardly, and as far as regards meretricious 
 distinctions, there is a very great difference ; and 
 by seeking to hold the same external position as 
 heretofore we shall only injure ourselves and amuse 
 others. Let us be consistent. To my mind, there 
 is no better evidence of good breeding than perfect 
 consistency." * 
 
 "Very well, mamma," returned Bertha submis- 
 sively ; ^ but will you tell me whom I am to invite 
 in your name ? I am ready to make out the list, 
 if you will decide." 
 
 Helen was surprised for the moment to see Bertha 
 yield so readily ; but a moment's contemplation of 
 the lovely face bending over the writing-desk con- 
 vinced her that the question was by no means 
 settled. Bertha had found out that in the multitude 
 of words there is folly as well as sin, especially if 
 you are about to carry out your own determination 
 
ON THE MOORS. 135 
 
 against "the powers that be." So she laid her 
 paper before her, mended her pen she never used 
 anything but quills and waited meekly for the 
 names her mother chose to give. 
 
 And so the matter seemed ended ; but Bertha told 
 Helen that the list she herself bad projected would 
 be the one finally adopted. But the invitations 
 were not fated to be sent out so soon as proposed. 
 A little before dark Eric and Alfred returned with 
 the news that Hasleslack Pool would bear a railway 
 train ; and they were urgent with the ladies to 
 spend part of the next day on the ice. Janet and 
 Milly bounded at the idea, Katfy came into the 
 plan with perfect alacrity, Walter ran away to have 
 a private huzza in the cloisters, and Alice cried 
 because she was considered too young to join the 
 expedition. Bertha was at first inclined to take 
 neither part nor lot in the matter ; but when she saw 
 how everybody else, Helen excepted, was rejoicing 
 in the anticipation of the morrow's excursion, she 
 wavered a little . in her decision ; and when Eric 
 came and sat down by her, and said he would never 
 forgive her if she remained at home, she yielded 
 most amiably, and promised to be ready at noon 
 next day. 
 
 Then ensued a long discussion on skating and 
 "curling;" and Eric told wonderful tales of the 
 skill and prowess of his countrymen on their lochs 
 and mountain tarns ; and from describing the curl- 
 
136 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 ing matches of Inverness-shire and Argyllshire, he 
 fell to dilating on the glories of Caledonian sceneiy, 
 and being naturally eloquent and of a poetic tem- 
 perament as well as enthusiastic, he gave such 
 glowing and striking accounts of the heauties of his 
 own beloved Scotia, that the girls gathered round 
 him in irrepressible delight, and even Bertha felt 
 her pulses stirred, as he painted in vivid colours 
 the loveliness and grandeur that lies around Loch 
 Katrine. " And you know," he said in conclusion, 
 turning to Eertha, "Loch Katrine has charms that 
 all other lochs cannot boast. "Were its shores less 
 lovely and its waters less fair, its fame would be im- 
 mortal, since Scott himself has sketched its features 
 with his magic pen ! Eut do you prefer the ' Lady 
 of the Lake ' or the ' Lay of the Last Minstrel ? ' " 
 
 " Indeed, I cannot say," returned Eertha, wishing 
 her cousin would not talk about books she had 
 never cared to read ; "to tell the truth, I never 
 read novels! " 
 
 Eric was rather embarrassed. He did not like to 
 correct his fair cousin; but he thought it a great 
 pity to leave her under the delusion that Scott's 
 " Lady of the Lake " was a novel ! 
 
 Helen was less scrupulous. She looked up in 
 astonishment from her crochet, and exclaimed, 
 " Why, Eertha ! the < Lady of the Lake ' is a poem ! 
 I thought every educated creature in Christendom 
 had read it at least once ! " 
 
ON THE MOOR3. 137 
 
 Bertha could have bitten her lips with vexation, 
 and she could have beaten Helen for her stupid 
 speech. She wondered how it was that Helen, with 
 all her indolence, and even Mildred, whose English 
 was not always lucid, or capable of being construed, 
 should yet make a better figure than herself in 
 conversation. Eric evidently was struck by her 
 beauty, and he wished and tried to hold her in 
 conversation ; but in some way or other he always 
 found himself foiled, and brought to a stand-still by 
 some mal-apropos remark; and as a rule he gene- 
 rally turned to Milly or to Helen when he had 
 signally failed with Bertha. In the present instance 
 he asked Helen if she had seen any views of Loch 
 Katrine, and she replied that the only sketch she 
 had ever beheld was in Sir "Walter's pen and ink ; 
 while Mildred, lighting up at the recollection, burst 
 out with : 
 
 u And thus an airy point he won, 
 
 Where, gleaming with the setting sun, 
 
 One burnished sheet of living gold, 
 
 Loch Katrine lay beneath him roll'd, 
 
 In all her length, far winding lay, 
 
 With promontory, creek, and bay, 
 
 And islands that, empurpled bright, 
 
 Floated amid the lovelier light, 
 
 And mountains that like giants stand, 
 
 To sentinel enchanted land. 
 
 High on the south, huge Benevue 
 
 Down on the lake in masses threw 
 
 Craigs, knolls, and mounds, confusedly hurlYl, 
 
 The fragments of an earlier world ; 
 
138 THE LILLINGSTONES, 
 
 A wildering forest f eather'd o'er 
 His ruined sides and summit hoar ; 
 While on the north, through middle air, 
 Ben-aw heaved high his forehead bare ! " 
 
 " Given with all the spirit and appreciation of a 
 Scotchwoman ! " said Eric, when Mildred, rather 
 ashamed of her impulsive recitation, came to a 
 sudden close. 
 
 " The highest compliment Eric could pay you ! " 
 whispered Janet, who had drawn a stool for herself 
 into the middle of the circle composed of Helen, 
 Bertha, Mildred, and her brother ; and she continued, 
 half eagerly and half shyly, "You must see our 
 beautiful country, Mildred. Eric and I must take 
 you to all our haunts. Should you not like it ? " 
 
 "Should I net!" replied Mildred heartily ; "I 
 hope I shall some day. I thought poor old Lilling- 
 stonc the bonniest place in Great Britain ; but the 
 country here is finer, and your drawing of Strath- 
 allan Castle oh, Janet, can the reality be as grand? " 
 
 "Par grander ! " replied Janet ; " is it not, Eric ? 
 If you were to see our glens, you would go wild at 
 once, Milly ! " 
 
 " Then I had better stay at home," returned 
 Milly archly, " I am a giddy, careless thing now ; I 
 am afraid mamma and Katty would not countenance 
 any plan that might lead to an access of wildness." 
 
 Bertha listened with profound uneasiness. Janet 
 was evidently taking to Milly, and Eric seemed 
 
ON THE MOOES. 139 
 
 half inclined to transfer the allegiance which at 
 the outset of their acquaintance he had undoubtedly 
 paid to her grace and beauty. She could only con- 
 sole herself with the reflection that no one could 
 shine in every possible point of view ; and by re- 
 membering how great was her superiority in personal 
 attractions, accomplishments, womanly tact, and, 
 force of character. Her hour of triumph was yet 
 to come ! The advantages she wished to secure, 
 though of infinite importance to herself, would yet 
 be thrown away upon Milly, who had not an atom 
 of caution or of worldly wisdom in her whole com- 
 position. 
 
 The next morning rose clearer and colder than 
 ever. Eertha had to break the ice before she could 
 enjoy her matutinal bath ; and the demand for hot 
 water before breakfast excited Sarah's irascibility 
 to an alarming degree. It was arranged that a 
 substantial lunch should take the place of dinner, 
 and that tea should be awaiting the party on their 
 return; Alfred bargaining that there should be 
 something besides tea and toast and cakes on the 
 table when they came in, hungry as hawks and 
 cold as icicles! Sarah's soup, which formed the 
 entree at luncheon, was universally patronised, and 
 when the remnants of yesterday's noble surloin had 
 been consumed, and when Mrs. Lillingstone had 
 administered to everybody her sovereign panacea, a 
 glass of hot wine and water, the skating party pro- 
 
140 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 fessed themselves ready to set forth on their travels. 
 The walk there was most inspiriting. They crossed 
 the river, traversed the woods, where the dry frozen 
 snow came pattering down on their heads like pearly 
 feathers, and finally, about two o'clock, reached the 
 edge of the moor, in the midst of which lay Hasle- 
 slack Pool, or tarn. All around the moor, on that 
 side sloping down towards Oldminster, ran a bab- 
 bling brook, shallow enough in some places, but 
 here and there of sufficient depth to drown a man. 
 It came down from the hills, which rose up grandly 
 and abruptly from the moorlands of Hasleslack and 
 Burton ; and generally it dashed and leaped over its 
 miniature falls, and rushed along its stony bed, with 
 a noise that might be heard in the stillness of the 
 night even to Oldminster. But now a spell lay on 
 the restless waters, and an icy chain bound them on 
 their surging course ; only a black line, no wider 
 in places than a thread, ran tortuously down the 
 stream ; for the strength and impetus of the current 
 prevented the perfect and adamantine freezing of the 
 level river and the smoother . waters of the tarn. 
 This stream went by the name of " Keir," and it 
 was crossed by a plank-bridge, which had been 
 renewed more than once since the Lillingstones had 
 lived at Oldminster; for after violent rains, or a 
 sudden thaw, the waters came down from the 
 heights, and swelling the channel of the beck into 
 a mighty river, carried away all before them. 
 
ON THE MOORS. 141 
 
 All was still now, however ; only a faint gurgling 
 could be heard as the merry party crossed the bridge, 
 and looked down upon the snowy banks, the mar- 
 gins of ice, and the tiny streamlet of unfrozen water, 
 wearily forcing its way to the tributary below, 
 where it joined the great river of the dale. A 
 moment more, and they were on the wide, trackless 
 moorland. 
 
 Alfred and Mildred knew the vicinity better than 
 their companions, for they had been there several 
 times during the preceding summer, the others 
 only once; and, as Milly remarked, the wintry 
 aspect of the landscape so altered its character, that 
 she failed to recognise any familiar feature save the 
 hills, and they looked altogether changed, as they 
 rose up white and sparkling, peaks of dazzling 
 purity, into the clear, deep blue sky. Alfred and 
 Eric made straight for the tarn; but the distance 
 was greater than the gentlemen had believed, or 
 else the ladies found it no easy matter to keep the 
 wild path, which the feet of skaters and the drift- 
 ing snow had left them. It was almost three o'clock 
 when they reached Hasleslack Pool. But once 
 there, they forgot all fatigues. Eric did wonders, 
 exciting Walter's admiration and secret envy, and 
 making his fair cousins own that they had had no 
 adequate idea of the science of skating hitherto. 
 One by one the girls ventured on the ice, at first 
 keeping close to land, but gathering boldness as the 
 
142 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 time went on, till at length they slid almost as 
 fearlessly as Eric and Alfred skated ; and daring 
 each other to wonderful feats, and laughing and 
 glowing with the warmth of exercise, their joyous 
 voices rang far over the snowy heath, and woke the 
 echoes of the lonely hills. Last of all, Bertha 
 wished to learn to skate, and Eric persuaded Walter 
 to lend her his skates, and he buckled them on her 
 little feet, and he gave her his hand, and the two 
 flew gallantly from shore to shore, till Bertha, 
 breathless and warm, cried out that she could go no 
 farther. And then Katty said it was time to go 
 home. 
 
SPSCLETON BELLS. 143 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 SPECLETOK BELLS. 
 
 YES ! indeed it was time to go home, for the light 
 was rapidly fading, and through the still air came 
 the far-off sounds of the Oldminster bells, which 
 Alfred knew were not to be rung till late in the 
 afternoon. It was some time before the entire party 
 was collected, and Katty began to be anxious, for 
 she knew her mother would be alarmed if they did 
 not return soon after dark ; but just as they had left 
 the tarn, and taken the first steps homewards, there 
 was a simultaneous exclamation, and a halt from 
 every individual except Bertha. 
 
 And no wonder! for there, outstretched before 
 their wondering eyes, was a scene of almost celestial 
 beauty. The sun had sunk behind the horizon, and 
 the western hills were black and jagged against a 
 fiery, golden sky ; but the fells at whose base they 
 stood were an eastern range, and they caught on 
 their snowy summits the glow and the colouring of 
 the opposite heavens. Many fleecy clouds too had 
 
144 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 rolled up since noon, and now it was difficult to tell 
 which was fell and which, was cloud, for both were 
 blended in the brightness and glory of the sunset 
 hues. Here and there a white peak pierced the 
 roseate mist, the ravines were filled with golden 
 light, and strange and fantastic were the shapes 
 assumed by the tempest-scarred cliffs, as they loomed 
 up weirdly through the auriferous haze. It made 
 Milly think of "Wordsworth's vision in "The "Wan- 
 derer ; " and Janet thought with awe of the 
 mountain of Transfiguration. Both were silent; 
 and Eric longed to stand bare-headed and alone 
 before that glorious temple of "the everlasting 
 hills ; " those vast and stainless altars, sending up 
 evermore the incense of praise, and singing through 
 the winter snows and the summer sunshine " O 
 Lord, how manifold are Thy works, in wisdom hast 
 Thou made them all ! " 
 
 Long they lingered, till Katty, afraid of the chilly 
 air and the gathering twilight, urged them to 
 quicken their steps; and even as they turned 
 reluctantly towards the dreary moorland the glo- 
 rious vision faded : cold and white grew the golden 
 clouds, the roseate mist paled and died into leaden 
 grey, and the hills looked dark and awful amid the 
 deepening shadows. The aspect of the sky was 
 changed too, and was still changing from brilliancy 
 to dulness, and from dulness to sullen gloom. If 
 the young people did not wish to encounter a snow- 
 
fSPEOLETON BELLS. 145 
 
 storm, it was evident that there must be no further 
 delay. Eric and Katty waited for Hilly, who was 
 with difficulty roused to a sense of the necessity of 
 going home immediately. Alfred and Janet were 
 already far over the heath, and Walter ran and 
 leaped without the incubus of a companion. Ere 
 they reached Keir the snow was falling, at first in 
 large flakes, few and far between, but soon heavily 
 and unceasingly. They were glad to be out of the 
 lanes, where the path was uncertain, and safe in 
 the high-road, where there were neither hollows nor 
 pitfalls for unwary feet. They made the best of 
 their way, however, bravely pushing on through the 
 thick falling flakes, and laughing at the general 
 powdering of each other's cloaks and coats. They 
 had almost entered the town, and already tne lamps 
 on the bridge gleamed dimly through the storm, 
 when Walter ran back from Alfred and Janet, who 
 were rushing on through the blinding snow, and 
 cried out, ""Why, Katty! where is Bertha?" 
 
 " Is she not in front? " asked Katty, stopping in 
 her dismay ; " I thought Bertha and Janet went on 
 together ! " 
 
 * ' No, they thought she was with you ; but Katty, 
 Eric, where is she ? " 
 
 Where indeed? They looked back along the 
 white deserted road, but they could not see farther 
 than a few yards. The night had closed in heavy 
 and dark, and but for the snow on the ground, 
 
 L 
 
146 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 which, shed a faint glimmer, it would have been 
 difficult to keep the footpath. 
 
 " I dare say she went on first before any of us," 
 said Walter at length; "I remember now she did 
 not stop with the rest of us to look at the fells ; I 
 saw her a little way on, just as Eric began to talk 
 about Schehallion." 
 
 Katty eagerly seized the hope; and Eric replied, 
 "I hope so, Walter. But let us make haste home ; 
 we must see the ladies under shelter as quickly as 
 possible ; and then, if Bertha but no I it is absurd 
 to think of such a thing ! but if she really is not at 
 home, Alfred and I must go back to the heath." 
 
 So they quickened their pace almost to a run, and 
 reached home just as the party in advance had made 
 good their entrance. Mrs. Lillingstone and Lady 
 Campbell poured forth their relief and their wel- 
 comes, and there was an instant and imperative 
 injunction to go upstairs immediately, and change 
 all that was damp without a moment's delay. But 
 Kate and Mildred did not stir ; they looked in vain 
 for Bertha, and they listened eagerly for some word 
 which might testify to her prior return. At length 
 Katty asked quite hoarsely, " Where is Bertha? " 
 
 "My child! what do you mean?" cried Mrs. 
 Lillingstone, rising from her rocking-chair by the 
 fire. " Is she not with you ? Did she not go with 
 you to Hasleslack Tarn ? " 
 
 "Yes, she went with us," replied Eric; and he 
 
SPECLETON BELLS, 147 
 
 explained how lie and Katty had imagined her to be 
 with the first detachment, and how they, Alfred 
 and Janet, had supposed she was coming on with 
 the others, till Walter made the discovery that she 
 was not with either party. 
 
 One faint hope remained : might she not, being 
 wet, and perhaps dirty, have come in by the back 
 entrance, and gone straight to her own room? 
 Mildred flew to look, and to question Sarah; but 
 Bertha's room was dark and untenanted, and Sarah 
 declared the key of the back-gate lay on the 
 kitchen dresser, and no one but the milkman had 
 rung the bell since three o'clock. The utmost 
 consternation prevailed. Mrs. Lillingstone paced 
 the room in uncontrollable agony, and would fain 
 have gone forth with her son and nephew to seek 
 her lost child. 
 
 As soon as it was ascertained that Bertha was not 
 in the house, Alfred and Eric prepared to go back 
 to the scene of their afternoon's enjoyment. They 
 took with them long and stout walking-sticks and 
 lanterns; and when they came to the bottom of 
 the street, they met young Brunskill, the clerk's 
 son, issuing from the cloisters, and he, hearing what 
 their expedition was, volunteered his services, as he 
 knew the moors far better than Alfred. And so the 
 three young men crossed the bridge in the wild, 
 dark night, for the wind had risen, and every now 
 and then they were almost blinded by the thick, 
 
148 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 driving snow that drifted onwards, increasing theii 
 alarm and their anxieties for the missing Bertha a 
 hundred-fold. 
 
 It is now time to return to Bertha Lillingstone, 
 and relate her adventures on Hasleslack Moor. As I 
 said, she did not linger with the rest to admire the 
 glory that the sunset cast on the hills ; she was 
 tired, and rather inclined to be cross, because she 
 had torn the skirt of her blue merino dress. She 
 gave one glance, and saw all that the others were so 
 rapt in beholding ; and then, wondering at Katty's 
 imprudence in loitering in the keen icy air, after 
 the exercise they had undergone, concluded to walk 
 quietly on in advance of the party. She proceeded 
 a little way, and then, without perceiving her error, 
 diverged from the main track by which they had 
 crossed the moor to the tarn, and as the universal 
 whiteness obliterated all landmarks, she walked a 
 long way before she even suspected that she had 
 strayed from the one path which led directly to the 
 bridge over Keir. 
 
 When the idea first presented itself, she paused to 
 reconnoitre, and she was immediately reassured by 
 the sound of the merry voices, seemingly close at 
 hand. She could not see any one, it is true, but the 
 inequalities of the ground were great, and Bertha 
 had, unfortunately, made her way into a part of the 
 moor where the hollows were deeper and the hillocks 
 higher than elsewhere. Very tranquilly, however, 
 
SPECLETON BELLS. 149 
 
 she pursued her way, at the same time censuring 
 Kate severely for not hurrying on from the moment 
 they left the ice, especially as she soon hegan to 
 discern the tokens of the approaching storm. 
 
 By-and-by she stopped again in serious per- 
 plexity. She came to a point where there were 
 evidently two paths : one, the main one, by which 
 she had come so far, turning up abruptly towards 
 the hills, quite away from the direction in which 
 the bridge of Keir lay; the other, which seemed 
 scarcely worthy of the name of a path, wandering 
 away into the wildest part of the moor, where it 
 joined a morass called Specleton Bog. Bertha was 
 convinced that she had left the track which they had 
 all traversed together, and she anxiously listened 
 again for the cheering voices. Once she thought 
 she heard them, but now they sounded remote, and 
 far in advance of the spot where she stood. She 
 ran hastily up the nearest eminence, and looked 
 anxiously round, as far as she could see, and that 
 was not very far, for the darkness was rapidly 
 deepening, and a few wandering flakes were already 
 floating in the thick, raw air. Her alarm was 
 extreme, for now she could not disguise from 
 herself the startling truth : she was alone at night- 
 fall on Hasleslack Moor, of the paths of which she 
 was entirely ignorant ! Erom the only track which 
 might have led her in safety to the bridge, she had 
 wandered she knew not how far, and the snow, 
 
150 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 wh.ich. was already falling around her, would soon 
 add to her difficulties, and certainly to her dangers. 
 Added to all these sources of uneasiness, she was 
 becoming miserably cold; her feet and her hands 
 were nearly benumbed, and her whole body ached 
 as the keen wind came sweeping down from the 
 hills over the unsheltered moorland. 
 
 Straining her eyes through the darkness, she strove 
 to retrace her steps to the tarn, in the faint hope 
 that she might be able to regain the regular bridle- 
 path which led to the bridge. She thought if she 
 could only stand by the rushes, where she had stood 
 while Eric had fastened her skates oh ! how long 
 ago it seemed ! she could tell which direction she 
 must keep, even if all trace of the path were covered 
 by the now thickly falling snow. 
 
 But alas ! the gathering gloom and the blinding 
 flakes made her progress necessarily slow and uncer- 
 tain. Every few yards she halted, to assure herself 
 that she was not wandering still farther into the 
 intricacies of the moor, and every time she surveyed 
 her position she felt more bewildered, and more 
 hopeless of regaining the tarn side. 
 
 For nearly an hour she plodded on over the 
 sunken snow, which now began to drift; for sud- 
 denly the wind grew wilder, and a mighty voice 
 shook the black pines that skirted the base of the 
 hills ; but the tall reeds that she looked for so 
 anxiously did not appear ! Again she had mistaken 
 
SPECLETON BELLS. 151 
 
 her path, for long ere this she ought to have 
 reached the desired spot. N'ever had she imagined 
 anything like the cruel, stinging cold. Her hands 
 became powerless ; when she tried to wrap her 
 shawl more tightly round her, the stiffened fingers 
 refused to obey her will ; and her feet, she felt, 
 would carry her but a little while longer. Her 
 weariness, too, was extreme, and she was well-nigh 
 sinking with exhaustion. She began to be drowsy, 
 and at the same time she was conscious of feeling 
 the cold less acutely; and well she knew what those 
 terrible symptoms betokened ! If only she yielded 
 for one minute, if she gave her trembling, half- 
 palsied limbs one moment's rest on the cold ground, 
 that seemed to woo her sinking frame to repose, she 
 knew full well that soon would come sleep, the 
 sleep that knows no waking in this world ! So she 
 struggled on, blindly and aimlessly, caring only to 
 keep herself in motion, and resisting with all the 
 energy that remained, the torpor that was so rapidly 
 stealing over her senses. Once she had nearly suc- 
 cumbed: she paused, tottering, by a little hollow 
 that seemed rather sheltered from the blast, and the 
 temptation to rest there awhile was nearly irre- 
 sistible, while the pleadings of reason were waxing 
 fainter anl fainter every moment. Suddenly a 
 loud peal of bells rang out from some church near at 
 hand. They were not the familiar Oldminster bells, 
 and Bertha knew they must be the Specleton bells, 
 
152 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 because Specleton was the only village within many 
 miles that boasted of a complete octave. Then she 
 must have wandered very far away ; she must have 
 reached the verge of the dangerous Specleton Bog, 
 where there was treacherous ground, and several 
 very deep pits ; and there seemed little hope of her 
 being found by those whom she knew would seek 
 her at the risk of their own lives. 
 
 The sound of the bells roused her failing senses, 
 and she burst into tears. The snow had ceased to 
 fall, the stars were shining, and the wind only 
 raged at intervals. Around her stretched the white, 
 trackless waste, and far away lay the shadow of 
 the silent hills. Merrily rang the peal, as its 
 sonorous music now swelled and now died on the 
 uncertain breeze ; but it seemed to Bertha the 
 saddest dirge she had ever heard, for every bell 
 seemed ringing out her own death-knell. 
 
 Yes! it was useless to struggle any more! She 
 was going to die, going into the presence of God 
 Himself! She gazed up to the burning stars in 
 irrepressible agony ; they looked so calm and beau- 
 tiful, while she trembled beneath their rays, 
 knowing that very soon that shining host would 
 look down on eyes that death had closed for ever ! 
 
 Whither was she going ? The wearied and suf- 
 fering limbs would be at rest ; the aching, bewildered 
 head would lie quietly on its snowy pillow, but 
 the soul, that was gifted with immortality! 
 
SPECLETON BELLS. 153 
 
 whither, oh whither was that wending its lonely 
 way? In that hour of mortal agony the veil of 
 false self-appreciation was torn away, and Bertha 
 knew herself for a poor, helpless, contemptible crea- 
 ture, filled only with self and pride and worldliness ! 
 Strangely, startlingly clear were the records of 
 faithful memory : she looked back on the seventeen 
 years that had been crowded with mercies, and 
 brightened with God's choicest blessings ; every step 
 of the way she beheld once more, and she saw 
 herself, in the pride and foolishness of her heart, 
 turning away from every loving invitation, from 
 every tender warning, walking in her own ways ; 
 refusing the gracious call of the Holy One, and 
 scorning the pleasant paths of humility and peace ! 
 
 "What now to her was the loss of her ancestral 
 home? What would all the riches and rank and 
 advantages of the world avail, now that her fear 
 came as desolation, and her destruction as a whirl- 
 wind ? Distress and anguish were come upon her, 
 and she would have given years of temporal 
 grandeur for one sure hope of the joy that they 
 feel and know who, through Christ, have passed 
 from death unto life eternal ! She thought of her 
 home her home, that in her wicked, foolish vanity 
 she had despised her home, that she might never- 
 see any more ! She thought of her mother of her 
 sisters and brothers her cousins, to whom she 
 would never say farewell ! Instinctively she knew 
 
154 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 who of that loved and absent circle were children of 
 the Kingdom. Of all of them, only Katty and 
 Milly had taken sure hold of the glorious hope of 
 the Gospel ; and perhaps Janet yes ! a few words 
 that had escaped the lips of her young cousin that 
 very morning, though strange and meaningless then, 
 spoke volumes now Janet had certainly found the 
 pearl of great price ; and she was willing to yield all 
 else, so that that inestimable treasure might be hers 
 for evermore ! 
 
 Poor Bertha ! the struggle was over now ! She 
 had striven bravely but in vain, and at last she 
 sank down helpless as an infant on the white, cold 
 bed that was waiting to receive her. She tried to 
 pray, but real prayer was strange and difficult ; be- 
 sides, a soft dreaminess was stealing over her senses, 
 and the words that her stiffening lips tried to frame 
 died away in incoherent wanderings. She did say 
 once, "0 my God, save me! send me deliverance!" 
 And then she seemed to be wandering in the old 
 garden at Lillingstone, and she was a child once 
 more ; and she heard the voices of her sisters at play ; 
 and she saw the baby of old time, that went very 
 early to its heavenly home ; and her mother, grave, 
 yet happy ; and her father pacing the green alleys, 
 , and wearing all the vigour and beauty of his best 
 days ! And then came a moment of consciousness, 
 and she knew the freezing snow, and the desolate 
 moor, and the mournful bells, that were chanting her 
 
SPECLETOtf BELLS. 155 
 
 requiem ! And then there was a blank : the icy 
 arms held her more closely ; the vigorous life that a 
 few hours before had throbbed and glowed strong 
 and warm in her veins, was chilled and stagnant ; 
 there was but a step between her and the eternal 
 world ! 
 
 Meanwhile the young men had sought, and sought 
 in vain; and had no further aid arrived, Bertha 
 must have perished where she lay, on Hasleslack 
 Moor. Eut the news of her loss had spread over 
 the town, and many men, both young and old, had 
 sallied out to join in the search. The last of these 
 kind volunteers was Granville Golding, the eldest 
 son of the banker ; and he was last only because the 
 terrible tidings did not reach his family till long 
 after the rest of Oldminster was afoot, and on the 
 way to the heath. It was Milly who brought him 
 the news, for she remembered that he possessed a 
 dog of the celebrated St. Bernard species, who was 
 said to have the scent and sagacity of a bloodhound 
 in tracking man or beast. She brought with her 
 Bertha's morning-dress, and she begged Granville to 
 show it to the dog, and let him go with her to 
 Hasleslack Moor. 
 
 The young man called his dog instantly, and the 
 creature seemed fully to understand what was 
 required of him ; and then Milly, who would not 
 listen to reason, Mr. Granville Golding, and the dog, 
 set forth on their anxious enterprise. 
 
156 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 Kear the tarn they found the baffled seekers ; and 
 the sight of the dog was indeed welcome to those 
 who had wandered till they had feared themselves 
 to fall into fatal danger, and who had shouted till 
 their voices were hroken and hoarse. Even Milly's 
 appearance on the moor did not greatly surprise 
 either Alfred or Eric, so intense was the excitement, 
 and so thrilling the fears by which they were pos- 
 sessed. A little longer, and aid would be too late ! 
 
 Another half-hour ; and then was heard the loud, 
 importunate barking of the dog. " She is found ! " 
 cried both Alfred and Eric at once ; but Hilly could 
 not speak, had they found the living Bertha, or 
 only the soulless clay ? Presently they brought her 
 in their arms to the spot where Mildred stood, and 
 hastily rubbing her chest and temples with brandy, 
 and trying to pour a little into her mouth, they 
 wrapped her in the plaids that were brought in 
 profusion, and carried her with all speed over the 
 moor, across the bridge of Keir, and down the lanes 
 to the high-road, where Mr. Golding's close carriage 
 was waiting. 
 
 And all the way to Oldminster Milly chafed the 
 cold hands, and rubbed the unheaving chest, and 
 tried to administer cordials ; but when they reached 
 home, it seemed a dead, and not a living maiden, 
 they bore to the presence of her anguished mother. 
 
FKOM DEATH UNTO LIFE ! 157 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 DEATH UNTO LIFE! 
 
 BERTHA did not die, but for many days she seemed 
 hovering on the brink of the grave. Yery tenderly 
 was she nursed by the pale, watching mother, and 
 the gentle sisterhood, who never wearied of their 
 vigils or relaxed in their anxious care. And Janet 
 and Lady Campbell also shared the fatigues of the 
 sick-room, and Flora Golding came to offer her 
 services, and the whole town of Oldminster vied 
 with each other in their inquiries and solicitude for 
 Miss Bertha Lillingstone. And Bertha herself lay 
 silent and motionless on her bed, seeming to heed 
 nothing that passed around her, and taking nourish- 
 ment as it were mechanically, and yet with excessive 
 difficulty. Whether she slept, or whether she was 
 overcome by stupor it was not easy to decide ; but 
 hour after hour glided by in that hushed and 
 darkened room, and no word or sigh escaped her 
 pallid lips, and no shadow of pain or of pleasure, no 
 trace of any kind of emotion passed over the still 
 
1 58 TEE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 lovely features, that wore so death-like an aspect of 
 repose. 
 
 Tears were rained from loving eyes ; fondest 
 words were breathed from trembling lips ; and 
 prayers were offered by her quiet couch ; and she 
 knew not who were gathered around her. The day 
 faded into darkness ; the long night wore away its 
 heavy, weary hours of dread and watch, and morning 
 came again and chased away the shadows of the 
 gloomy winter dawn ; but all was one long blank 
 one trance-like rest to the unconscious girl. 
 
 But one day there were blessed signs of amend- 
 ment ; there were moans expressive of weariness and 
 pain, and there was motion, and more perceptible 
 pulsation. The bonds that had wrapped her spirit 
 from the hour when she had sunk down, as she 
 feared and believed, to die on Hasleslack Moor, were 
 loosened at last, and deep in the night she fully 
 awoke to comprehension of the present, and remem- 
 brance of the past. Dreamily she listened to the 
 striking of the clock down- stairs, as it told the hour 
 of two ; and she thought of the last sounds that had 
 fallen on her ear the weary, clanging Specleton 
 bells! She tried to turn, but she found herself 
 nearly helpless, and the effort exhausted her little 
 strength and sent a painful thrill through her 
 nerves ; but her mind remained clear, and gradually 
 she was able to recall every scene and every emotion 
 of that terrible night on the moors. Presently the 
 
FROM DEATH UNTO LIFE! 159 
 
 curtain was drawn back, and she felt rather than 
 saw the earnest gaze that was bent upon her. Then 
 a gentle familiar voice said, ' l Bertha ! ' ' and she 
 whispered faintly but distinctly, "Yes, Katty!" 
 and like the music sounding from afar, she heard 
 Katty' s murmured words of praise and thanksgiving. 
 She took the medicine, and then the food her sister 
 offered ; and after a little restlessness, that was a 
 positive relief to behold, after the long death-like 
 stupor that had oppressed their spirits so long, she 
 fell into a gentle natural sleep, and the morning 
 found her, weak indeed, but in full possession of all 
 her faculties. 
 
 From that time her recovery was progressive, 
 though tedious ; and in a few days she was able to 
 leave her bed, and sit or lie on a sofa by the fire. 
 And what were her thoughts duiing this period of 
 seclusion? Did she commune with her own heart 
 through the long quiet days and in the lonely 
 watches of the night? Even so. Bertha Lilling- 
 stone could not forget that she had stood on the very 
 verge of the eternal world ! She had tasted some- 
 what of the bitterness of death ; she had felt some- 
 what of its mortal sting ! She had been for a brief 
 while face to face with the King of Terrors, and 
 the despair, the blank darkness, and the unspeak- 
 able agony of that hour was still as vivid as ever, 
 and she knew that still she was unreconciled to her 
 God, and still unprepared for the Master's call should 
 
1 60 THE .LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 it reach her in her peaceful and love-encircled 
 home ! 
 
 One afternoon she was lying as usual on the sofa, 
 trying to interest herself in one of the many books 
 which were heaped on her table. But in vain she 
 scanned the pages before her; like Hamlet, she 
 seemed to read " words, words, words," with only 
 a fleeting and indistinct perception of the sense. 
 And this was Bertha* the practical, unromantic, 
 self-disciplined Bertha Lillingstone ! Had the shock 
 of her terrible adventure unsettled the powers of 
 memory, and weakened the force of reason? Had 
 illness obscured her mental vision, or weakness 
 paralysed and bewildered her brain ? . No ! In spite 
 of suffering and debility her faculties were clear, and 
 her reasoning powers as strong as ever ! She could 
 not read, she could not talk, she could not endure 
 herself, because her heart was heavy and her spirit 
 was disquieted within her! She could not put 
 away from her the thoughts that harassed and 
 terrified her ; and she would not if she could for, 
 let us give Bertha her due, she was free from the 
 weakness of refusing to encounter a difficulty because 
 it was painful and distressing to contemplate. She 
 knew now what she had never suspected before, that 
 her long-cherished sense of superiority had been but 
 a long- cherished delusion. She felt that so far she 
 had lived unworthily nay, contemptibly ! Bertha 
 had had an idea that she had been worldly in her 
 
FROM DEATH UNTO LIFE ! 161 
 
 aims, especially in those views which she had 
 confided to Helen a little time hefore ; hut then she 
 had reasoned herself into complacence again hy the 
 reflection that it is every one's duty to make the hest 
 of this world, provided it can he done without in 
 juring one's prospects of the world to come. An 
 indubitable truth ! only the latter clause is pregnant 
 with anxiety, and it takes no ordinary mind to 
 decide whether the "{f" shall be satisfactorily 
 determined or otherwise. Is it not better to take 
 for ore's motto " Seek ye first the kingdom of God 
 and His righteousness, and all these things shall be 
 added unto you." 
 
 Bertha owned to herself now that she had been 
 seeking the joy and the glory of this life to the utter 
 exclusion of the bliss of eternity. But it never 
 occurred to her that her habits of order and neatness, 
 her precision, her managing tactics, even in ordinary 
 household matters, were as purely worldly in them- 
 selves as her ambitious schemes for restoration to 
 the position and grandeur which it had pleased God 
 to take away from herself and her family. She did 
 not and could not see that even the humblest and 
 most trivial duties may evidence, in what appears to 
 be their most painstaking, self-denying, and con- 
 scientious discharge, a spirit of unmingled worldli- 
 ness; even as when touched with the golden 
 tincture "For Thy sake" they wear a glory and 
 a beauty that is lacking in the most magnificent 
 M 
 
162 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 actions, prompted and performed by mere earthly 
 incentive, and for earthly praise. 
 
 Still Bertha, as she communed with herself, con- 
 fessed her sin and her folly ; and she asked, too, to 
 be forgiven for the error and worldliness of her 
 ways. But no sense of pardon, no sweet answer of 
 peace came to cheer her drooping, sorrowful soul. 
 God was still to her a God afar off. The Saviour 
 was for her the Saviour of sinners, but not her 
 Bedeemer, and her beloved Lord. She knew His 
 power and His love. His infinite compassion touched, 
 but it did not subdue her heart ; and like the sinful 
 prophet of ancient Israel, she was fain to say "I 
 shall see Him, but not now ; I shall behold Him, 
 but not nigh !" She had lain long engrossed with 
 these weary and bitter thoughts, altogether unmind- 
 ful of the presence of her aunt, who sat silently 
 sewing and musing on the opposite side of the 
 hearth. But presently Lady Campbell, who hrd 
 watched her tenderly and anxiously, spoke 
 
 " Bertha, love, your brow looks very weary ; you 
 have been meditating deeply since your dinner; I 
 am afraid you have not had happy thoughts." 
 
 "]N"o, no!" sighed Bertha, emphatically. 
 
 * ' Will you tell me your thoughts, dearest ? It is 
 good sometimes to talk over one's troubles and per- 
 plexities. What has been lying on your heart so 
 heavily for the last hour ? " 
 
 Had Bertha spoken the words that were striving 
 
FROM DEATH UNTO LIFE! 163 
 
 for utterance, she would have cried as the Reformer 
 once cried in his cloister at Erfurt "My sins! my 
 sins ! " But pride was strong at her heart, and she 
 could not humble herself to confess the whole 
 agonising truth ! Besides she had always acted and 
 spoken in her aunt's presence as a professor of 
 religion, and if now she disclosed the burden of her 
 soul, would not Lady Campbell believe her to be a 
 hypocrite ? So she answered, half hesitatingly, for 
 she felt that she was not sincere " I was thinking, 
 aunt, of that night on the Moor ; of the moment 
 when I lost the last glimmering of hope ; when I 
 thought I had seen you all for the last time !" and 
 she shuddered visibly as she spoke. 
 
 "But, my dear, when the last glimpse of earthly 
 hope died away, I trust there was still the hope that 
 even death cannot crush? Ah! that hope is the 
 hope that maketh not ashamed : it is not quenched 
 in the cold waters of Jordan, for it rises above the 
 damps of the dark valley, and it lights up the 
 gloomy billows, and, like the star of morning, shines 
 on in its own pure lustre till it is lost in the splen- 
 dour of the glorious sun the Sun of Righteousness, 
 my Bertha, in whom the Christian's hope, in life 
 and in death, in joy and in sorrow, always concen- 
 trates." 
 
 Bertha made no reply ; for despair, and not hope, 
 
 . had been her portion when she caught that brief 
 
 but terrible glimpse of the swellings of Jordan, 
 
164 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 There had been no light on the waves, no kindly 
 voice to soothe her mortal fears ; no fair and distant 
 vision of the land where the saints are gathered 
 round their Master's feet. No ! all had been dark- 
 ness, and dreariness, and dread. 
 
 Lady Campbell looked anxiously at her niece; 
 she had feared from the first that Bertha's goodness 
 was unsubstantial; she had been almost sure that 
 her hope was founded on the sand, that would shift, 
 and sink, and make shipwreck of her peace whenever 
 the trial of her faith should come. In a word, 
 Bertha was not a new creature in Christ Jesus ; she 
 was not resting on His word, or rejoicing in his love. 
 She had never learned to say 
 
 " Jesus ! Thy blood and righteousness 
 My beauty are, my glorious dress. 
 Midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed, 
 With joy shall I lift up my head ! " 
 
 " My dear Bertha," said Lady Campbell,- at length 
 perceiving her niece's reserve, " there were many 
 paths on that wild Hasleslack Moor ; some led into 
 the morass, some into pitfalls, some into the rocky 
 precipitous passes of the hills, some were mere sheep 
 tracks delusions that ended in nothing ; but there 
 was only one which led to the Bridge of Keir, over 
 which lay your safety and your home. And so 
 there are paths innumerable in the wilderness of 
 life ; paths that allure and deceive ; paths that lead 
 to death and to misery ; but there is but the one path 
 
FROM DEATH UNTO LIFE! 165 
 
 that leads the sinner safely and surely home. There 
 is a labyrinth of tracks, but only one way to the 
 city of the Great King ! " 
 
 "How shall we know the way?" asked Bertha, 
 earnestly. The power and fervour of her aunt's 
 words were melting some of the icy outworks of 
 long-cherished pride and self-esteem. 
 
 "Dear child," returned Lady Campbell, "that 
 question was asked in old time of our Blessed Lord 
 Himself. Hear His gracious answer in His own 
 words. I am the "Way, the Truth, and the Life ! 
 no man cometh unto the Father but by Me ! ' ' 
 
 " Aunt," said Bertha, abruptly, " did you always 
 feel as you do now? Have you been a Christian 
 long?" 
 
 " For some years, my dear Bertha, I trust I have 
 been walking in the King's highway; and I need 
 not say that once my feelings were altogether 
 opposed to those which are now my chief joy and 
 my truest comfort. It grieves me to say that all 
 my youth and the sunny years of my early married 
 life were spent in worldly cares and pleasures. I 
 did not love God. How could I, since the carnal 
 mind is enmity against God ? I did .not receive or 
 hold my purest blessings my husband, my children, 
 my happy home, or my unbroken health from His 
 hand. I was like a ship on a dangerous sea without 
 either captain, chart, or compass ; what wonder tKat 
 
166 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 when I came among the breakers there was a fearful 
 wreck ! " 
 
 "How was it, aunt?" asked Bertha with deep 
 interest. 
 
 "My dear," returned Lady Campbell, in a tremu- 
 lous voice that told of many past tears and many 
 an hour of sadness, "I had other children besides 
 Eric and Janet. My dear sister, your mother, has 
 one sweet babe in glory; I have four. Yes, four 
 little ones, who came between Eric and Janet, filled 
 my arms successively. They passed through their 
 earliest infancy they learned to lisp their father 7 s 
 name and mine they lived to be most lovely 
 and most engaging and then then the Good 
 Shepherd, who carries the lambs in His arms, 
 gathered my darlings into His own blessed fold! 
 And, Bertha, I was wild in my agony; I was not 
 like the pious German mother, of whom the poet 
 
 says 
 
 ' He died but that fond mother 
 
 Her sorrow did restrain ; 
 She knew he was with Jesus, 
 And she asked him not again.' 
 
 My grief was bitter and fierce, for it was im- 
 chastened ; and when the last of my babes was laid 
 in the dust, and Eric alone remained, I lay down, as 
 I trusted awfully and blindly trusted to die ! I 
 was world-weary ; my children were not ; and, like 
 llachel, I refused to be comforted. Mine was the 
 
FROM DEATH UNTO LIFE! 167 
 
 sorrow of this world that worketh death. But God 
 was merciful. He did not grant my wicked prayer, 
 but He gave me another baby my dearest Janet 
 whom He leaves me still. I had just recovered 
 after her birth, when there came a poor preacher to 
 our glens, and according to the custom of my 
 husband's house, as he was a holy man, he was 
 received at the castle. God sent him with a message 
 to many a heart in the wild vales, and among the 
 hills of Strathallan ; but he might have said to me 
 alone ' I have a message from God unto thee ! ' I 
 had told him my tale of bereavement, and I showed 
 him the graves of my transplanted flowerets, and he 
 said to me 'Lady of Strathallan, your precious 
 babes are with our dear Lord Jesus Christ ; they arc 
 singing before the throne the new song that none but 
 the redeemed may learn. They cannot come to you. 
 Will you go to them ? ' The good man saw, Bertha, 
 that I was not meet for the inheritance of the saints, 
 and his soul yearned for the salvation of mine. God 
 blessed his words ; they laid hold of my heart. 
 I saw my own sin, and misery, and desolation, and, 
 led by the Blessed Spirit, I went to the foot of the 
 cross, and there I laid my burden of sin, and shame, 
 and grief. And as I knelt there, I saw by faith the 
 face of Him who loved me, and gave Himself for 
 me. I knew His smile ; I heard His voice ; and in 
 that hour my heart went out to Him, and I clave to* 
 Him ; and He, the holy and the loving Jesus, took 
 
168 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 me to Himself and dried my tears, and chased away 
 my dread, and since then 
 
 * The opening Heavens around me shine, 
 
 With beams of sacred bliss, 
 While Jesus shows His love is mine, 
 And tells me I am His ! ' " 
 
 "And Janet?" asked Bertha; " she feels as you 
 do?" 
 
 "Yes; God has twice given me my daughter 
 Janet. Once he laid her in my aching arms, a frail 
 helpless little baby, to gladden my heart ; and again 
 he gave her to me as a sister in Christ. Blessed be 
 His name, Janet and her mother are one in Him!" 
 
 "And Eric?" further pursued Bertha. There 
 was a fascination in her aunt's words that she could 
 not resist, and she craved to hear good news of 
 Eric also. 
 
 "Thank God!" replied Lady Campbell, with a 
 grave joy that was beautiful to behold, "my son 
 Eric my only son on earth marches under the 
 banners of our Heavenly King. So you see, my love ; 
 some of my children are in heaven, and some still 
 here with me ; but they are all one in their blessed 
 Saviour, and one day the broken circle will be made 
 perfect again. Through the grace and mercy of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ parents and children have alike 
 passed from death unto life---life eternal and full of 
 glory." 
 
 "From death unto life!" Such had been the 
 
FROM DEATH UNTO LIFE ! 169 
 
 transition through which Bertha's mortal frame had 
 lately passed ; but her soul was still in bonds and 
 darkness of death, and involuntarily she echoed the 
 words " from death unto life ! " 
 
 Her aunt replied solemnly, " Dear Bertha, ponder 
 those words in your heart, and ask God to teach you 
 their momentous import. Are you willing to lie 
 still dead in trespasses and in sins? or will you 
 seek Him in whom alone we have * Eternal Life ? ' 
 Remember, dear, no half measures will avail ; the 
 change must be from one extreme to the other 
 ' from death unto life ! ' " 
 
170 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 HARROP COURT. 
 
 MRS. LILLINGSTONE'S dinner-party was given at last; 
 but it was a very different affair from that which 
 was originally planned. It took place on the eve of 
 the departure of Lady Campbell and her son for 
 town; and the only guests were the Herberts, 
 Dr. and Mrs. Armstrong, and Mr. Granville Golding 
 and his sister Flora. There was no beating up for 
 curates, no question of the Harrops ; and Bertha 
 herself only appeared in the drawing-room, while 
 Milly and Janet took their places at the dinner-table 
 as a matter of course. 
 
 Bertha was very nearly as well as usual ; indeed 
 she had been to church twice ; but her medical 
 attendant strictly prohibited, for some time at least, 
 anything that was likely to cause excitement ; and, 
 therefore, her mother and her aunt judged it best 
 that she should dine early, and meet her friends 
 only when they returned from the dining-room, 
 and Bertha acquiesced with the sweetest grace 
 imaginable. 
 
HARROP COURT. 171 
 
 "Was she really altered? That was a question 
 that puzzled more heads than one. Certainly, she 
 seemed more thoughtful and less demure ; she hegan 
 to read poetry, and there was a pensive shadow on 
 her face that added to her heauty the only charm 
 which it had lacked. She disclosed to Helen, who 
 was her constant companion, no more schemes of 
 aggrandisement; neither did she scold and lecture 
 Milly at all ; and she never seemed to forget that it 
 was her awkward, careless sister, who had heen the 
 first and only person to think of Granville Golding's 
 dog, which had been, humanly speaking, the sole 
 agent in her discovery. 
 
 Still it could not he determined whether the 
 outward and visible change was the sign of a hidden 
 and spiritual work. Only God, and Eertha herself, 
 knew how far the change had gone ! Her conver- 
 sation with Lady Campbell had deeply impressed 
 her, and she had resolved that when she once more 
 returned to active pursuits she would lead a new 
 life, rule her temper which she was now privately 
 convinced was all but intolerable and, above all 
 things, pay more secret and serious attention to the 
 religious duties, in the outward and decorous dis- 
 charge of which she had, however, never been 
 deficient. 
 
 Her schemes of ambition were the hardest to 
 relinquish; and as time passed on, and her health 
 became confirmed, she began to think whether it 
 
172 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 was really necessary that they should be given up 
 at all ; and, finally, she came to a compromise, and 
 resolved to pursue them in moderation and with 
 caution. While she lay quietly on her sofa, it was 
 comparatively easy to refrain from schemes and 
 castle-buildings ; but when she began to mingle once 
 more with household concerns, and to hear daily 
 and hourly news of the outer world, the temptation 
 to cogitate and to lay plans was irresistible. 
 
 Besides, she found herself brought prominently 
 forward, and that without an effort of her own ; 
 involuntarily she had "become a heroine ; and one 
 day, she unfortunately chanced to hear that she was 
 called "the beauty of Oldminster." "!NTo very 
 great distinction, though ! " as Alfred remarked 
 with unwonted causticity, and, as Eertha thought, 
 with unhrotheiiy ill-nature. 
 
 The Herberts, the Armstrongs, and the Millars 
 sent every day to ask after her health ; the Goldings 
 came morning, noon, and night to make inquiries. 
 To crown all, Sir John and Lady Harrop paid a visit 
 on her account ; and finding her tolerably conva- 
 lescent, persuaded Mrs. Lillingstone to let them take 
 back Katharine and Helen for the rest of the week. 
 
 "A decided point gained!" said Eertha to her- 
 self, when Helen came to lament the untoward state 
 of her wardrobe "and gained, too, without any 
 kind of diplomacy. I begin to think my adventure 
 on Hasleslack Moor will prove the source of many 
 
HARROP COURT. 173 
 
 advantages; and really, the principle of non-inter- 
 vention seems to succeed wonderfully. A friendly 
 visit of several days is exactly what I wished ; but 
 I never could see how to compass it. How I 
 should like to go with Katty and Helen to Harrop 
 Court ! " 
 
 And then Bertha seriously inclined to the con- 
 sideration of poor Helen's troubles. It was quite 
 true that she had only one dress fit to wear, and 
 that her only bonnet looked decidedly shabby by 
 the side of Katty's, who took good* care of her 
 things ; and what was worse than all, Bertha 
 thought, there was a miserable deficiency of all 
 those minor appliances which are deemed essential 
 to the toilet of a real gentlwoman. 
 
 And no wonder! Helen never mended gloves, 
 except on compulsion ; and never would acknowledge 
 the truth of the invaluable axiom that tells us how 
 " a stitch in time saves nine." She liked to dress 
 handsomely, but she had no idea of economising 
 her finery. Lady Campbell had brought all her 
 nieces expensive Paisley shawls; Bertha's had ne- 
 cessarily been worn but once or twice ; Katty, and 
 even Milly, had been very choice of theirs ; for the 
 weather, all through January, had been such as to 
 call for i ' dreadnoughts " and waterproof cloaks; 
 but Helen's had been worn whenever she left the 
 house ; and, on the preceding Sunday evening, had 
 been, as well as her bonnet, very much wet, in con- 
 
174 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 sequence of a heavy rain, which Katty had foreseen, 
 and provided for accordingly. 
 
 "When Bertha, at Helen's piteous request, began 
 to turn over her sister's drawers, her old tendency 
 to lecturing returned with unlooked-for violence, 
 and she gave herself no little credit for repressing 
 it. She could not quite restrain her remarks ; and, 
 indeed, there was sufficient to call forth the strongest 
 censures from a more lenient and less precise person 
 than Bertha. The beautiful shawl had been put 
 away damp and ill-folded ; the bonnet hastily dried 
 by the fire, and consigned, topsy-turvey, to its usual 
 receptacle ; the best lace collars and sleeves had all 
 been worn once or twice, so that all, more or less, 
 were soiled ; ribbons were creased and unfresh ; 
 stockings were unmended, or in the wash ; pocket- 
 handkerchiefs were missing ; walking-boots wanting 
 mending, and house-slippers down at the heel ! 
 
 Bertha began in her usual methodical style. 
 "When she wished to make preparations of her own, 
 she went over every garment and adjunct of her 
 under and outer clothing, and laid it, after due 
 examination, on her bed, in perfect readiness. She 
 pursued now the same plan, while Helen stood piti- 
 fully by, rubbing up her watch-chain, and lamenting 
 the want of means which precluded her keeping her 
 own maid, as well as from renovating her store as 
 often as was requisite. "And there are such pretty 
 tilings at Mercer's," she said at last, almost tear- 
 
HARROP COURT. 175 
 
 fully; "such a lovely terry velvet bonnet, and a 
 tiny muff, that would just suit my flounced silk ! " 
 
 "It is of no use hankering after the things in 
 Mercer's shop ! " replied Bertha, with something of 
 her natural ascerbity : "the question is, can you go 
 to Harrop Court, or must you stay at home because 
 you have not decent clothes to wear ? " 
 
 The tears actually stood in Helen's beautiful 
 brown eyes. Never! no, never, had she read of a 
 heroine who was compelled to refuse a delightful 
 invitation because she had not wherewithal to make 
 a ] espeetable appearance. 
 
 Eut Bertha true to her resolutions, and feeling 
 moreover inwardly delighted at the prospect of one 
 rf ttl intimacy with the Harrop Court people resolved 
 that she would be kind and generous, and that 
 Helen should go, and cut a figure besides. And 
 then there was the dear delight of contriving and 
 managing, and that Eertha loved above all things : 
 so it behoved her to be amiable, lest Helen, when 
 other obstacles were overcome, should have to 
 remain at home on account of her red eyes. 
 
 "Come, Helen," she said pleasantly, "it's no use 
 beginning to cry ! Of course, you must go ; we 
 must arrange things immediately. In the first 
 place, what time is there for preparation?" 
 
 "About three hours. Lady Harrop is gone to 
 Eolton; the carriage will be here again at four 
 o'clock." 
 
176 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 "And it lias just struck one! Courage, Helen! 
 we will distinguish ourselves. Did you ever hear of 
 the cook who improvised five courses out of a cold 
 shoulder of mutton ? " 
 
 " No," returned Helen, her smiles coming again, 
 as the prospect of her visit rose more brightly before 
 her; "but you cannot contrive five dresses out of 
 one ! " 
 
 "Not exactly ; you do not require five dresses for 
 three days. Nevertheless, we will emulate the skill 
 of the culinary Monsieur. How much money hm e 
 you?" 
 
 Helen counted her little stock ; it was seventeen 
 shillings. "Ah, put that up again," said Bertha, 
 "you will want that; you cannot go to Harrop 
 Court without money: let me see; where is your 
 bonnet?" 
 
 Helen displayed it. Eertha called it "ruined;" 
 and its Sunday-night's wetting, and its carelessly 
 hurried drying, had indeed gone far to render it 
 un wearable. Eertha hesitated ; it was a great effort, 
 but she was determined to cultivate unselfishness ; so 
 she said, " If I were to lend you my bonnet, would 
 you be careful of it ? It ib as fresh as the clay it 
 came home, and I should not like to have it spoilt." 
 
 "Oh, I will not spoil it!" cried Helen, charmed 
 and astonished at Eertha' s generosity. " I will tell 
 Katty to take care of it for me." 
 
 That seemed to Eertha the most satisfactory 
 
HARROP COURT. 177 
 
 assurance that could be given, and she continued, 
 " But my blue flowers and strings will not suit you 
 at all. Look, your roses are pretty well, and I will 
 quill up a little fresh blond for you. I know 
 mamina has plenty." 
 
 " But the strings ! " said Helen, ruefully; " all 
 the colour and substance is literally washed out of 
 them." 
 
 " You must have fresh ones ; I will go and speak 
 to mamma presently. Now let us go on to the 
 other things. Your shawl must be damped and ironed ; 
 it is a bad thing to do, but there is no alternative ; 
 in the meantime shake it out well. Now for your 
 dresses ; you must have something for mornings. 
 Lady Harrop will not expect you to be very stylish ; 
 but you cannot come down to breakfast in a flounced 
 silk." 
 
 " Of course not," said Helen resignedly. 
 
 1 1 Well ; here is your merino. Really, Helen : do 
 you never have these things brushed? And what 
 is this grease? Pick that spoiled velvet off the 
 sleeve this minute ; then take the lace on your old 
 lavender de-laine it will trim this up grandly. We 
 must iron the skirt as well as brush it; and my 
 scouring-drops will take out these stains and grease- 
 spots. If you ever cooked, I should think you 
 did the frying and basting in this unfortunate 
 merino!" 
 
 Then came gloves, collars, ribbons, &c. ; and 
 
178 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 Bertha's patience and ingenuity were both taxed t<^ 
 the utmost. "New gloves, slippers, and bonnet-strings 
 had to be purchased forthwith. The boot was sent 
 to the shoemaker, with directions for a speedy and 
 invisible repair ; Milly arid Janet lent each a collar ; 
 Bertha further contributed lace sleeves; and Mrs. 
 Lillingstone produced some beautiful ribbons that 
 remained of her Lillingstone propeities. Bertha 
 was everywhere ; poking the fire that the irons 
 might heat quickly she would have ironed herself 
 had not everybody exclaimed against her imprudence, 
 and assured her that she would be laid up again 
 in consequence helping Katty, that she might go 
 out and do Helen's shopping; quilling blond, making 
 up stylish bows and rosettes, and putting a ^stitch 
 here, and a stitch there, as occasion required. 
 
 Finally, everything was ready; and Helen, having 
 packed the few articles she wished to take with her, 
 began triumphantly to dress. 
 
 At four o'clock, punctually, Lady Harrop returned; 
 and with unspeakable satisfaction Bertha saw Sir 
 John handing her sisters into the carriage. Yes ! 
 one of her wishes had been most unexpectedly 
 fulfilled. It had been her most secret and most 
 cherished scheme to visit at Harrop Court, for she 
 knew that there the best society might always be 
 found ; and Bertha was not like a child who throws 
 a stone into the stream and then stands astonished 
 at the rippling circles that succeed. She knew that 
 
HARROP COURT. 179 
 
 cause precedes effect, and having cast in her pebble 
 of a plan, she waited patiently for the inevitable 
 troubling of the water. 
 
 Katty and Helen were really gone to Harrop 
 Court ; their sojourn there must in reason produce 
 some consequences; and then, as one consequence 
 produces another, there was no saying what might 
 be the consummation of a visit of such importance : 
 if only she had been going herself ! But then, there 
 was no doubt that she too would be Lady Harrop' s 
 guest ere long, and "trust me," she said, com- 
 placently, as she stood at the dining-room window, 
 watching the carriage to the end of the High Street 
 " trust me for making the best of such an intimacy. 
 It shall not be my own fault if we are not on terms 
 of the utmost friendliness. At Harrop Court we 
 cannot fail to meet persons of our own rank ; and, 
 reduced and impoverished as we are, we must ever be 
 the Lillingstones of Lillingstone ! " 
 
 And then Bertha began to think that her cogita- 
 tions were once more assuming a complexion that, 
 to make the best of it, were purely mundane ; and 
 she felt uncomfortable, and stood for a long time 
 trying to reason herself back into complacency. She 
 remembered how she had controlled her temper, how 
 she had worked for Helen, and above all, how she 
 had sacrificed her own property to the exigencies of 
 her careless sister, who seemed to spoil good clothing, 
 as by magic fatality ; and while she half regretted 
 v 2 
 
180 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 the generous impulse which, had led her to trust one 
 who did not know how to be trustworthy where 
 frocks and bonnets, &c., were concerned she con- 
 gratulated herself on her own advance in generosity 
 and self- denial ! So the sisterly kindness was 
 weighed against the worldly scheming, and on the 
 whole Bertha came to the satisfactory conclusion 
 that her conduct was not only creditable, but highly 
 praiseworthy, and accordingly she bestowed on her- 
 self all the plaudits which she was convinced she 
 deserved. 
 
 Her solitude was invaded by her aunt, who had 
 been pleased to note the energy and good- will with 
 which Bertha assisted Helen; and Eric too, who 
 had been quite alive to the emergencies of the 
 morning, and had witnessed besides some of Bertha's 
 clever contrivances for the benefit of her sister, 
 was charmed at the ready kindness, and unselfish 
 energy of his beautiful cousin, and he was ready 
 to blame himself for having formed an unjust esti- 
 mate of her character, which seemed to him at that 
 moment all that was lovely and lovable in woman- 
 hood. 
 
 Lady Campbell came now to beg Bertha to lie 
 down; for though feeling quite convalescent, she 
 was not very strong, and the care of her had become 
 a family habit. It was getting dusk, and Bertha 
 immediately complied, while her aunt drew up her 
 chair to the fire, and after some trivial observations, 
 
HARROT* COURT. 181 
 
 asked her if she too would like to pay a visit in a 
 little time. 
 
 " It would depend upon the persons or place to be 
 visited, Aunt Campbell !" replied Bertha prudently; 
 she was thinking all the while of Harrop Court, and 
 hoping that ere the spring had brightened into 
 summer, she would be fully acquainted with its 
 inhabitants. 
 
 Lady Campbell smiled at her niece's guarded 
 reply ; but she felt rather annoyed at the revelation 
 of tact and caution in one so young. She made no 
 remark, however ; but answered that she had been 
 talking that morning with Mrs. Lillingstone about 
 her London journey and her subsequent icturn to 
 Scotland, and that they had arranged for Bertha 
 and Mildred to accompany her and their cousins 
 to Strathallan, on a visit of some months' duration. 
 
 Surely Bertha's star was in the ascendant ; she 
 would be ready for Strathallan in the middle of 
 April, and, in the interim, there would be abundant 
 time to cultivate personally the Harrop Court in- 
 terests. Of course her aunt's proposition delighted 
 her extremely, and she thanked her so affectionately, 
 and with so much earnestness and grace, that Lady 
 Campbell, like her son, was deluded into the belief 
 that she had uncharitably misapprehended some points 
 in her niece's character. Milly was enchanted. To 
 go to Scotland ; to see the mountains of which the 
 hills round Oldminster were faint foreshadowings ; to 
 
182 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 behold the Trossachs and the Pass of Glencoe with 
 her own bodily eyes ; to sail on Loch Katrine ; to live 
 in the Highlands, and in a castle too ; and to gaze, 
 day after day, on the grandeur of the ocean as it 
 reveals itself on that wild, northern shore ! could 
 there be a more glorious concatenation of agreeables ? 
 And yet, in perfect sincerity, Milly urged Helen's 
 superior claim, till Janet assured her that if she 
 succeeded in effecting an exchange, she should take 
 it as a positive unkindness to herself; and so the 
 arrangement was concluded, and the day after the 
 dinner-party Lady Campbell and Eric departed for 
 London, leaving Janet to share the studies and occu- 
 pations of her cousins at Oidminster. 
 
 Helen and Kate returned from Harrop Court late 
 on the Saturday evening. They had enjoyed them- 
 selves extremely ; Helen especially was enthusiastic 
 about the comforts and delights of Lady Harrop's 
 establishment, and she informed Bertha, to her great 
 satisfaction, that there had been other guests, and 
 * that she thought some of them would certainly visit 
 Oldminstor, and improve the acquaintance so happily 
 begun. Katty testified to Lady Harrop' s great kind- 
 ness and worth, and, what was quite as appreciable, 
 to the safe return of Bertha's bonnet. But, alas ! 
 it was the one bitter drop in the pleasant cup the 
 lace sleeves were torn, and. Bertha's choicest pocket- 
 handkerchief, which she had also lent her sister, 
 w^as missing ! All day on Sunday she mourned her 
 
HARROP COURT. 183 
 
 loss ; but Monday was a busy day, for Tuesday was 
 the day of the party ; and on Wednesday morning 
 Lady Campbell and Eric bade Oldminster farewell 
 for a season. Bertha resolved to cultivate Janet in 
 their absence. 
 
184 THE LILLlNGSTONEa 
 
 CHAPTER XIY. 
 
 THE CTJHATE. 
 
 ** The summer is coming, on soft winds borne ; 
 Ye may press the grape, ye may bind the corn*. 
 For me, I depart to a brighter shore, 
 Ye are marked by care, ye are mine no more : 
 I go where the loved who have left you dwell, 
 Where the flowers are not death's. Fare ye well farewell ! * 
 
 So read Helen Lillingstone to her mother and Katty 
 one sweet May afternoon, while the children were 
 playing in the garden, and the birds were singing in 
 the blossom-laden boughs, and the scent of the lilac 
 and the hawthorn came with every balmy breeze 
 through the open windows of the drawing-room. 
 Helen's first visit to Harrop Court had been but the 
 prelude to others; twice, since she went thither, 
 arrayed in Bertha's bonnet and Bertha's lace, had 
 she been domesticated in the circle of Sir John and 
 Lady Harrop, and on the latter occasion she had 
 remained their guest for nearly five weeks. 
 
 She had returned from this visit only on the pre- 
 ceding day, and both Katty and her mother fancied 
 
THE CURATE. 185 
 
 that she was graver, more thoughtful, and even . 
 sadder, than they had ever seen her hefore. She 
 gave no detailed account of the proceedings at 
 Harrop Court ; she had little to say respecting the 
 guests, though they had been numerous and distin- 
 guished ; and she did not even descant in poetical 
 phrases on the romantic beauties of the park, and 
 of the country round about Harrop, as she had done 
 on her return from her two former visits. 
 
 " She is evidently out of spirits," said Mrs. 
 Lillingstone. " Poor girl, she feels the change 
 from the luxuries and pleasures of Harrop Court 
 to her dull, humble home. It makes her regret 
 more keenly the circumstances that have deprived 
 her of her rightful privileges and position. At 
 her age reverses are so hard to bear, and contrasts 
 are so painful ! And then Bertha and Milly being 
 away makes the house so much duller, and I dare 
 say the children tease her ; Alice was tormenting 
 her for a music lesson all this morning ! " 
 
 Katty saw plainly enough that Helen was moody, 
 if not miserable, and she waited in some suspense to 
 hear the denouement which would be sure to ensue ; 
 for reserve and taciturnity were so alien to her 
 sister's nature, that she knew they could not long 
 be maintained. In the afternoon, Helen, who had 
 been sitting alone in her room for some time, came 
 into the drawing-room, and finding there Mrs. Lil- 
 lingstone busy with her knitting, and Katty hard at 
 
186 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 , work on Alfred's new shirts, volunteered to read 
 aloud. Her proposition was received with favour, 
 and she drew from her pocket a volume of Mrs. 
 Hemans' poems, and commenced reading forthwith. 
 Katty always found it a treat to listen to Helen's 
 poetical readings, and on this occasion she was more 
 than ever disposed to admire the pathos, the tender- 
 ness, and the perfect modulations of her sister's voice. 
 The last piece she chose was " The Yoice of 
 Spring," and when she finished the closing stanzas 
 the eyes of her hearers were well-nigh dewy as her 
 own. They rememhered the fair May evening, two 
 years ago, when death came an unhidden guest to 
 their threshold. Katty thought only of her father, 
 as she remembered him in the latter years of his 
 life grave, mournful, and silent; but the mother 
 went back to an earlier day, when her children 
 were young, when she had a babe in her arms, and 
 when the master of beautiful, stately Lillingstone 
 was blythe and radiant in his noble, manly beauty ; 
 and she wondered not that Helen's voice quivered as 
 she read in low and earnest tones : 
 
 " But ye ! ye are changed since ye met me last ! 
 There is something bright from your features pass'd ! 
 There is that come over your brow and eye, 
 Which speaks of a world where the flowers must die I 
 Ye smile ! but your smile hath a dimness yet 
 Oh ! what have ye look'd on since last we met ? 
 
 " Ye are changed, ye are changed ! and I see not here, 
 All whom I saw in the vanish'd year 
 
THE CURATE. 187 
 
 There were graceful heads, with their ringlets bright, 
 Which toss'd in the breeze with a play of light, 
 There were eyes, in whose glistening laughter lay 
 No faint remembrance of dull decay ! 
 
 ft There were steps that flew o'er the cowslip's head, 
 As if for a banquet all earth were spread ; 
 There were voices that rang thro' the sapphire sky, 
 And had not sound of mortality. 
 
 Are they gone? is their mirth from the mountains pass'd? 
 Ye have look'd on death since ye met me last ! " 
 
 And when the final stanza was concluded, Mrs. 
 Lillingstone' s tears were falling like rain. Her 
 heart was with the past the beautiful, joyous, 
 long-faded past of her early married life ; and the 
 latter years of her sojourn at Lillingstone her 
 cares and perplexities the change that had come 
 over her husband's once bright and loving nature 
 the gloom and the fears that distracted the last 
 months of his life his sudden death the parting 
 from the beloved home of bridal days, and the 
 coming, in the dull, grey October evening, to her 
 new residence at Oldminster, seemed like the 
 troubled changes of a painful dream ! When she 
 had wiped away the tears she looked up again, and 
 she was alone with Helen ; Katty had been called 
 away by Sarah. 
 
 Mrs. Lillingstone watched Helen anxiously ; there 
 was something beyond pensive regret, something 
 more than poetic sadness in the downcast, abstracted 
 gaze of her dark, thoughtful eyes. She was sitting 
 
188 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 quite still, her head rather bent, her hands folded in 
 her lap, and her book sliding away on to the floor. 
 One great thought and care evidently possessed 
 her mind ; and, when her mother spoke, in her 
 lowest and gentlest tones, she started and let fall 
 the little volume from which she had been reading. 
 Then she hastily picked it up, and, meeting her 
 mother's glance, coloured violently. 
 
 "Helen, my child! what is it? Has any one 
 been vexing you at Harrop ? " asked Mrs. Lilling- 
 stone, tenderly. 
 
 To her extreme consternation Helen burst into 
 tears, and made no reply. " What is amiss, dearest? " 
 asked the mother again, trembling with anxiety, and 
 hovering herself on the verge of hysterical weeping. 
 
 But Helen did not answer; she only cried on, 
 sometimes bitterly, sometimes quietly, while her 
 mother in vain strove to soothe her grief, and begged 
 her to disclose its cause. 
 
 "I am not sorry, mamma only " and again 
 there was a burst of such weeping, that Mrs Lilling- 
 stone could only wipe away her daughter's tears, 
 and smooth her ruffled ringlets, and entreat her to be 
 comforted ; but it was a real relief when Katty came 
 back, and entered at once into her anxieties, and 
 besought Helen to open her heart to them. 
 
 At length Helen grew calmer, and her voice was 
 no longer broken by sobs; and then, after much 
 hesitation and pressing, she began her story. Her 
 
THE CURATE. 189 
 
 first words were few, but very much to the purpose 
 " Mamma ! I am engaged ! " 
 
 Katty could scarcely restrain an exclamation of 
 wonder. Mrs. Lillingstone looked aghast. That her 
 daughter had done something dreadfully imprudent 
 she felt assured, and she had some difficulty in 
 faltering out, "Engaged, Helen! and without your 
 mother's sanction! Katty, did you expect this?" 
 
 " Indeed I did not !" replied Katty, still doubting 
 the evidence of her own ears. " I had no idea that 
 Helen even cared for any one ; and I cannot think 
 to whom she is engaged !" 
 
 Katty felt a little hurt at Helen's secresy/ They 
 had shared the same chamber on the previous 
 evening, and it would have been but natural to 
 bestow on her sister, so little her senior, this con- 
 fidence which is above all other confidences. 
 
 " I am sure, mamma, I could not help it," rejoined 
 Helen, in a most larmoyantc tone she was evidently 
 prepared for heroics, and quite ready to enact the 
 rdle of a damsel persecuted for true love's sake ! 
 
 "Let us hear all about it ! " said Katty, recovering 
 her good-humour. "But, Helen dear! you should 
 have waited ; it vexes mamma that you did not ask 
 her before you made it an engagement." 
 
 " You have never loved, Katty ! " said Helen, with 
 mild reproach, and an air of superior compassion. 
 Katty could say nothing to this ; she never had not, 
 at least, in the sense in which Helen intended it ; so 
 
190 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 she was fain to be silent, and wonder whether love 
 and imprudence were always identical. 
 
 Helen continued, "Do you remember that I 
 spoke to you a little while ago of the clergyman at 
 Harrop?" 
 
 " Yes ; you did not like him. You said he was a 
 Puseyite, " replied Katty. 
 
 "Yes; and so he is! or a Geologist I forget 
 which. 
 
 " The two are very dissimilar," said Katty, a little 
 dryly. 
 
 "Well! it does not matter what he is; but Sir 
 John cannot bear him, and though the living is in 
 his gift, he cannot turn him out, and put some one 
 he likes better in his place. Is it not shameful ?" 
 
 "I have no doubt it is exasperating," replied 
 Katty. 
 
 "Yery! All last summer and winter, Sir John 
 and Lady Harrop were obliged to go to Specleton to 
 church, seven miles there and seven back, and a 
 very trying road for the horses too !" 
 
 "But, Helen dear, what has this heretical clergy- 
 man to do with your engagement?" asked Katty, 
 quite puzzled to know in what way an elderly, 
 obnoxious, and married vicar of Harrop could pos- 
 sibly affect her sister's happiness. 
 
 "Wait a little, I am coming to my own part of 
 the story. Last January, when the people were 
 hating him worse than ever, he fell into rather bad 
 
THE CURATE. 191 
 
 health, and Sir John persuaded him to go to Italy, 
 promising to find a competent clergyman to act as 
 curate in his absence. So he went, and the curate 
 chosen was the Reverend Arthur Lascelles, a person 
 of great talent and good family. He lived all by 
 himself in that great rambling vicarage, and it 
 followed very naturally that Lady Harrop, who 
 likes him very much, asked him frequently to the 
 Court. I saw him once or twice when I was 
 there in March ; but this time I found him nearly 
 living in the house, and the GKEATEST FAVOUKITE with 
 Sir John, as well as with Lady Harrop. Well, 
 somehow we became intimate. All the young ladies 
 liked him ; but he brought me chants and church- 
 music, and he said there were some airs in "The 
 Messiah" that would just suit my voice, and I 
 practised them with him and for him and really, 
 mamma, I don't know how it was I never meant 
 to care for him ; but one day I found out that I did, 
 and the same day he told me that he cared for me ; 
 and all at once I felt that if anything or anybody 
 came between us I should never be happy any 
 more ! 
 
 " I could see how deeply he loved me ; and could 
 I be so cruel to him and to myself to torment him 
 by uncertainty ? It was when we were all out 
 walking in the village, and Lady Harrop and Miss 
 Darlington were gone into a cottage, and one or two 
 more had walked on quickly, for it was a cool day. 
 
192 THE L1LLINGSTONES. 
 
 while we had strolled into the lanes to look for 
 violets, and it was all settled, and we were en- 
 gaged." 
 
 "Did you tell Lady Harrop?" asked Mrs. Lil- 
 iingstone. " But I need not inquire, Helen; for if 
 you had done so, she would have spoken to me 
 when she brought you home yesterday." 
 
 " No, mamma," returned Helen, uneasily. " We 
 thought it best to be silent while I remained at 
 Harrop Court. Arthur said you had a right to be 
 the first person consulted. Eut Lady Harrop sus- 
 pected something, and that, I know, was why she 
 did not invite me to extend my visit ; for there is 
 to be a grand pic-nic in a fortnight to Shreck- 
 enham Abbey, and she knew I counted upon going. 
 And yesterday, when we were driving home, she 
 mentioned the subject, and begged me, if anything 
 had passed between us, to be quite explicit with 
 you, mamma ; and I said I would ; but I did not 
 confess anything to her." 
 
 " I wish you had, my dear. The attachment was 
 formed under Lady Harrop 's roof, and I think frank- 
 ness was due to her." 
 
 Helen was silent. She did not tell her mother 
 how deprccatingly Lady Harrop had stated her sus- 
 picions : the fact being that her ladyship blamed 
 herself exceedingly for having brought the young 
 people together, and allowed them so many oppor- 
 tunities for love-making, and what Sir John, in hia 
 
THE CUKATE, 193 
 
 plain north country fashion, called philandering. 
 She admired her curate extremely. He was a good 
 young man, of moderate views and high classical 
 attainments, of refined tastes and fascinating man- 
 ners, and passionately fond of music, and poetry, 
 and the fine arts in general. Moreover, his family 
 was not at all inferior to Helen's, and her ladyship 
 privately admitted to herself, rather better than the 
 Harrops ; hut then of course there was a " lut" and 
 a very serious one, too, or she would never have 
 sent her favourite Helen back to Oldminster, with 
 a delightful pic-nic in prospect Arthur Lascelles 
 was as poor as curates proverbially are. He was 
 the younger son of a younger son, who had been 
 unfortunate, and whose father was a spendthrift. 
 And poor Arthur had chosen the Church, as 
 the profession into which he could scramble with 
 the least possible expenditure. How he scrambled 
 through his university terms, poor fellow, no one 
 save himself and perhaps his scout, who despised 
 him accordingly had the remotest idea. No one 
 ever imagined that the well-born, handsome under- 
 graduate, who could never be seduced into the 
 faintest approach to temporary "fastness," sate fire- 
 less and shivering in his rooms through the greater 
 part of the Michaelmas and Lent terms ; and very 
 few suspected the reason why he invariably refused 
 all invitations, even from reading men, because he 
 could not possibly ask them in return to his own table. 
 
194 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 In his first year he gained a scholarship, on which 
 he afterwards mainly depended, for remittances from 
 home became smaller and less frequent, till at 
 length, and long before he went up for his E.A. 
 degree, they ceased entirely. He was ordained to a 
 curacy near London, and there he worked on, hope- 
 less of promotion, because deficient in patronage, till 
 Sir John Harrop accidentally crossed his path, ad- 
 mired his sermons, and liked his society, and offered 
 him the curacy of Harrop during the absence of the 
 obnoxious vicar. 
 
 The stipend was handsome, far exceeding the 
 ordinary pittance that falls to the share of appren- 
 tices to the clerical calling ; and in the society of 
 Harrop Court he seemed to have regained the foot- 
 ing which was his right by birth, but which adverse 
 circumstances had hitherto denied him. 
 
 Sanguine and happy, and luxuriating in the 
 atmosphere of rank, and refinement, and wealth, in 
 which he found himself, as it were, at home, he met 
 Helen Lillingstone ; was charmed by her grace and 
 beauty, delighted with her musical and poetic tastes, 
 and finally taken captive by discovering the extra- 
 ordinary congeniality that existed between them in 
 tendencies and feelings. Poor, romantic Helen ! 
 she needed a sober-minded practical husband to 
 restrain her flights of fancy, and to subdue into 
 ardour her impetuosity, and into deep and settled 
 purposes her wild undisciplined impulses ; and 
 
THE CURAIE. 195 
 
 behold ! the youth to whom she was pledged, was 
 all theory, ideality, and poetry. Lady Harrop 
 trembled at what her own imprudence might have 
 caused when she beheld Mr. Lascelles hanging over 
 Helen's chair, whispering sweet things, and quoting 
 his favourite authors, while Helen's heightened 
 colour and bashful gaze betrayed at once the nature 
 of their conversation, and her own appreciation of 
 its merits. 
 
 Of all this Mrs. Lillingstone was of course igno- 
 rant as yet ; but when she had fully digested the 
 unpalatable fact that her daughter had engaged 
 herself without her sanction, she inquired whether 
 Mr. Lascelles was in a position to marry. 
 
 Helen coloured, and tormented the trimming of 
 her dress, while she replied, * l Well, mamma ! 
 Arthur was quite open about money-matters, though, 
 of course, I had not much to say on the subject. I 
 could not be mercenary, you know ; but he did say 
 that his present position, though extremely pleasant, 
 and of its kind lucrative, was by no means secure ; 
 for the vicar might return any day from Salerno, or 
 Sorrento, or somewhere, and dismiss him forthwith. 
 So he is going to speak to Sir John about it, and 
 perhaps he will get him some nice little living, or a 
 settled curacy where the duties are not too toilsome, 
 and the emolument handsome ; so then, you know, 
 mamma dear, we could be married at once ! I don't 
 want to be rich, I had rather be happy ; and I shall 
 o 2 
 
196 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 be happier with. Arthur in a cottage on a hundred a 
 year, than I should he with any one else in a man- 
 sion, or with thousands at niy disposal." 
 
 Mrs. Lillingstone sighed; hut she folded her 
 young daughter in her arms, and kissed the blush- 
 ing cheeks and the eloquent lips, and she thought of 
 the time when she too was nineteen, and wooed by 
 the handsome young heir of Lillingstone, whose 
 possessions were the last thing she cared about, and 
 whom she would gladly have wedded had he been 
 a poor curate with, a pitiful 100 per annum, and 
 no patronage. In looks and feeling Helen Lil- 
 lingstone was her mother's own daughter, and the 
 romance of her disposition was decidedly an in- 
 heritance. 
 
 " And when is your Arthur coming?" asked 
 Mrs. Lillingstone, fondly, still thinking of the days 
 that were no more." 
 
 " To-morrow," whispered Helen, clinging still 
 closer to her mother. " Oh, thank you, mamma, 
 for feeling with me ! Now I have told you, all is 
 light; for I know you will love him and under- 
 stand him." And Helen sat down to tea with her 
 face brighter and sunnier than ever ; and told such 
 interesting tales of Harrop Court, all interwoven 
 with "Arthur," that her listeners almost forgot 
 that it was necessary to replenish their cups and 
 butter their bread. 
 
 Then Alfred came in from school, and he had to 
 
THE CURATE. 197 
 
 hear the news, which he appeared not to relish at 
 first, till he thoroughly understood that the young 
 man was a veritable Lascelles, descended in a 
 straight line from two of the best families in 
 England. And then he told Helen it might do 
 in five or six years' time, when he had reason- 
 able prospects; but that meanwhile she would 
 probably lose better chances than she had yet 
 dreamed of. And Helen replied with spirit, that 
 she hated to hear marriage discussed in that worldly 
 style, and probable engagements spoken of as 
 " chances !" Alfred laughed at her indignant tone, 
 and walked away, singing, with provoking dis- 
 tinctness : 
 
 "Now all ye lovers that faithful prove, 
 
 The sun shines fair on Carlisle wall, 
 Pray for their souls who died of love, 
 For love shall still be lord of all ! 
 
198 THE LILLINGSTONE8. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 LADY HAHItOP's NOTIONS. 
 
 ON the morrow, punctual as the sun, came the Rev. 
 Arthur Lascelles, and two hours afterwards came 
 Lady Harrop, filled with dismay, and almost sinking 
 tinder the weight of her own self-accusations. Great, 
 therefore, was her relief when she found Helen and 
 her mother hoth ready to be congratulated, and in 
 no wise inclined to lay to her charge the impru- 
 dence of which, in her secret soul, she acknowledged 
 herself guilty ; and no less was her surprise that 
 Mrs. Lillingstone should so soon have yielded to the 
 representations and entreaties of the young people, 
 who sadly needed a steady head to think and to act 
 for them. But thankful as she was to escape the 
 expressed or implied reproaches of a justly alarmed 
 parent, Lady Harrop could not quite silence her 
 conscience, "For," argued she, "let them say what 
 they will, it is an exceedingly had match for the 
 girl ; and such as it is, I feel I have had a hand in 
 making it." 
 
LADY HARROW'S NOTIONS. 199 
 
 So she felt it her duty to set before Mrs. Lilling- 
 stone and Katty tlie lovers were in the garden, 
 planning a rectory covered with roses and clematis 
 the disadvantages of an unconditional and indefinite 
 engagement, which must terminate either in an 
 imprudent marriage, or in no marriage at all. 
 
 "My dear Lady Harrop," said Mrs. Lillingstone, 
 piteously, " surely you will not take part against 
 my poor child ! " 
 
 "Ko, no, indeed! " returned Lady Harrop, warmly ; 
 "it is because I care so much about Helen that I 
 give vent to my solicitude in words which are 
 perhaps rather too sweeping. I admire and esteem 
 Mr. Lascelles more than I can express, and I need 
 not say how truly I love your daughter, and yet I 
 cannot wish to see them united. If it were Katty, 
 I should only think she might do better, and say 
 nothing about it ; and if it were that prudent little 
 Bertha, I should be inclined to congratulate Arthur 
 on the acquisition of a thoroughly practical wife. 
 As it is, Helen and he are only too much alike ; they 
 expect to live like birds in a nest, or like butterflies 
 in a flower-garden; they have not the remotest idea 
 of those unrom antic, but necessary, items in wedded 
 life, without which all the poetry and refinement 
 in the world must wither away, for want of sub- 
 stantial nourishment at the root. Helen's vicarage 
 or rectory, when it comes, must have a kitchen as 
 well as a drawing-room; and she must learn to 
 
200 THE LILL1NGSTONES. 
 
 consider the contents of her larder, as well as of her 
 book-case. And all this is foreign to her nature, and 
 disqualifies her for marriage with a poor gentleman 
 like Arthur Lascelles." 
 
 "But they will he content with a very modest 
 establishment. I know Helen is rather too visionary, 
 too apt to overlook the common requirements of 
 every-day life, but it strikes me that her marriage, 
 and even her engagement, will render her more 
 domesticated : it is true that if she were contem- 
 plating a union with a man of wealth, like Sii 
 John, or like my dear husband in our palmy Lil- 
 lingstone days, there would be no necessity for 
 domestication." 
 
 "Pardon me!" interrupted Lady Harrop, "I 
 must differ from you there. I think eveiy girl, 
 every woman, ought to be thoroughly domesticated. 
 Depend upon it, an undomesticated woman can never 
 make her husband happy, however elevated the 
 sphere in which she moves." 
 
 " You astonish me ! My dear Lady Harrop, with 
 your very efficient housekeeper, and your excellent 
 staff of servants, where would be the utility of your 
 spending your time in cooking, or clear-starching, 
 or even in mending your own stockings ? " 
 
 "There would be none. I believe that I best 
 fuliil my duty in that state of life to which it hath 
 pleased God to call me, by paying people to send up 
 my dinners and iron my muslins ; I can afford it, 
 
LADY HARROP'S NOTIONS. 201 
 
 and I find abundant occupation in other duties, 
 which I cannot and may not pay servants to per- 
 form. But notwithstanding this, I hope I am a 
 really domesticated woman. I flatter myself Sir 
 John thinks so." 
 
 Mrs. Lillingstone looked puzzled. 
 
 " Do you know," continued Lady Harrop, "that 
 I think the word domesticated is very much mis- 
 apprehended? Shall I give you my own view of 
 the subject?" 
 
 "Pray do! I never gave the matter much thought 
 myself; and there is Katty, eager to improve her 
 mind. 
 
 ""Well, then; I hold that domestication, though 
 an absolute term, admits of diverse interpreta- 
 tions. If I were asked ' What is domestication ? ' I 
 should reply, ' It is that quality, or combination of 
 qualities that enables a woman to make her home 
 a little heaven of comfort, neatness, order, and cheer- 
 fulness.' I have heard girls called domesticated 
 who ought to have been designated mere drudges. 
 It is very seldom that an educated woman proves 
 her title to domestication by scrubbing floors, and 
 rubbing candlesticks, and turning the house out of 
 the windows at stated periods. Some women enjoy 
 these lustrations as much as Helen and other 
 young ladies of similar temperament enjoy a new 
 poem. They glory in the taking up of carpets and 
 the scouring of paint ; they rejoice in washing-day 
 
202 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 and ironing-day; and they feel proud and happy 
 women when they have spent six or eight hours 
 in culinary preparation. And yet, I think the 
 adjective, domesticated, Misapplied when applied to 
 them. They have the genius of routing nothing 
 more ; and they generally fail in making their 
 husbands happy, while their unfortunate daughters, 
 if their tastes are dissimilar to their mother's, are 
 compelled to something like involuntary servitude, 
 or tempted to unbecoming disputes." 
 
 "Then domestication varies according to our 
 station in life ? " said Katharine. " But are not some 
 women obligated, as Sarah says, to scrub and scour, 
 and brew and bake, whether they like it or not ? " 
 
 " Certainly; when any species of work becomes a 
 real necessity, it becomes also a duty ; and, as such, 
 must not be set aside. I was not however referring 
 to such cases, but to others, where there is more of 
 choice than necessity in the matter : I only wanted 
 to say, that drudgery and domestication are not 
 often synonymous. Don't you agree with me, 
 Katty?" 
 
 "Yes, Lady Harrop ; but I was wondering 
 whether I might call myself domesticated." 
 
 "That you may," replied her mother, affection- 
 ately; "if, as Lady Harrop implies, domestication 
 is the spreading around one a bright, genial home 
 atmosphere, a making the very best of things 
 for comfort and for refinement; then, my Katty, 
 
LADY HARROP'S NOTIONS. 203 
 
 I am sure no one has a better clain to the distinc- 
 tion." 
 
 "And I am quite sure of it too," said Lady 
 Harrop ; and she bethought herself of the nice light 
 cake of Katty's making, and her instruction of 
 Walter and Alice, and her pretty economies in her 
 own dress, her ornamental needle-work on her little 
 sister's frock, her readings, her practisings, and her 
 quiet but intense appreciation of all that was beau- 
 tiful in nature, art, or literature ! Yes, Katharine 
 Lillingstone was the very type and model of a do- 
 mesticated Englishwoman. Happy the man, whether 
 rich or poor, peer or commoner, who should some 
 day call her bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh ! 
 
 But Lady Han-op did not know half Katty's toils. 
 She did not know how much dusting, and cooking, 
 and ironing was privately performed before Mrs. 
 Lillingstone came down in the morning; or how 
 many little cares and little worries devolved upon 
 that bright-looking, brave-hearted girl, who sat now 
 in her simple, lady- like costume, as busy and skilful 
 with her crochet-work as if she had not been 
 stewing rhubarb and making pies for two hours 
 since breakfast. 
 
 Katty never talked about her performances ; and, 
 dear ladies, believe me, such performances are better 
 not talked about. If you like to do a little amateur 
 scrubbing and nibbing, pray do it, and do it con 
 amore; I am not the woman to say you nay; but 
 
204 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 don't talk about it all the afternoon and evening ; 
 don't tell your husband how dreadfully busy you 
 have been, and how horribly tired you are ! Don't 
 give him a catalogue of your proceedings since he 
 went away to the office, or to the warehouse ; don't 
 tell him how many beds you have made, how many 
 chambers you have swept and dusted, how much 
 suet you have chopped, and how many of his collars 
 and shirt-fronts you have starched and ironed 
 though, by the way, it is better to starch one 
 day, and iron the next. Above all, don't give him 
 the history of that unhappy maid- of-all- work's 
 impudence, and laziness, and disobedience, and 
 thoughtlessness, and dirtiness, and general good-for- 
 nothingness, finishing up by a solemn asseveration 
 that you have "been on your feet" ever since 
 breakfast-time ! 
 
 Such disclosures never answer ; the husband has 
 consignments, and bills of lading, and invoices, and 
 payments falling due, and all the wearisome con- 
 comitants of "debit and credit" on his mind. Ever 
 since he went away at nine o'clock, he has been 
 living in a hard, rough, go-a-head, work-a-day 
 world, of which you have no knowledge, lady fair ! 
 and now he wants rest, he wants refreshment, he 
 wants cheering up, and your small talk fidgets a ad 
 wearies him, and finally, if persevered in, makes him 
 angry and disgusted ; and if he be not a very good 
 man, he will probably take his hat and seek the 
 
LADY HARROP'S NOTIONS. 205 
 
 recreation he so sorely needs elsewhere ; and if he 
 be not good at all, that is, not Christian at all, he 
 may seek it in a way that you, and everybody else 
 will be shocked at. Be quite sure that if domestic 
 peace, and joy, and comfort be not your continual 
 aim and aspiration, you are not domesticated, albeit 
 you are great in pickles, and preserves, and raised 
 pies, and skilful in the uses of Grlenfield starch ; and 
 albeit you rise up early, and late take rest, and eat 
 the bread of carefulness, and wage incessant war 
 against dust, and keep your windows shining, and 
 your door-step immaculate. 
 
 And all this Lady Harrop contrived to say in a 
 much prettier way than I can say it; but at last 
 they came round again to the question really under 
 consideration what was to be the nature of Miss 
 Helen's domestication before she could be qualified 
 to become the wife of a poor gentleman ? 
 
 "What can she do? what does she do?" asked 
 Lady Harrop. 
 
 Mrs. Lillingstone began to reflect. She was sure 
 that Helen did something, but at that moment she 
 really could not tax her memory with any detail of 
 her second daughter's housewifely propensities. She 
 remembered distinctly that she fed her canary, 
 though she generally deputed the cleaning of his 
 cage to Walter or to Milly ; that she watered the 
 green-house plants quite regularly, and arranged cut 
 flowers artistically; that she was very clever at purse 
 
206 THE L1LLINGSTONES. 
 
 making, and crochet, and talking, and had once made 
 some delicious lemon cheesecakes from the receipt of 
 the HaiTOp Court housekeeper, on condition that 
 some one else would squeeze the lemons, and achieve 
 the pastry, and attend to the baking. 
 
 Katty knew also that, occasionally, she drove 
 Sarah frantic by her well-meant endeavours in the 
 culinary department ; and that sometimes, on such 
 occasions, the kitchen became too hot to hold them 
 both. Mrs. Lillingstone said at last, that she had 
 no doubt that Helen would now set herself to leam 
 the mysteries of housekeeping, and that she was 
 sure Katty, and Bertha when she came home, would 
 teach her everything. 
 
 "And what are the young people's plans? Of 
 course they have no idea of marrying till Mr. Las- 
 celles realises a suitable and permanent income." 
 
 " No, certainly not. But my poor Helen is very 
 humble in her temporal aspirations. She thinks 
 she could be happy on a hundred a year." 
 
 "I am quite sure she could not. It would be 
 poverty to a person like Helen, and to Arthur posi- 
 tive, unmistakable penury ; and of the worst kind, 
 too, for a clergyman must make some kind of ap- 
 pearance, and the struggle between ways and means 
 would be painful and incessant. My dear friend, 
 do not let your daughter make herself so wretched ; 
 do not let her commit such an act of injustice 
 against herself, and against Mr. Lascelles ! They 
 
LADY HARKOP'S NOTIONS. 207 
 
 are both very young ; life, humanly speaking, lies 
 before them ; let them tarry awhile, till Arthur 
 has let me see say three hundred a year, and till 
 Helen has some idea of the price of butcher's meat, 
 and an adequate knowledge of the true value of a 
 sovereign, as compared with her bond fide income. 
 
 And then Lady Harrop promised, on the part of 
 Sir John, that his good offices in the way of patron- 
 age should not be wanting ; and after dinner she 
 took Helen apart, and gave her certain counsel, 
 which the young lady conceived to be dreadfully 
 humdrum after the morning's love-making, and 
 quite too common-place to be acted on for the 
 present, at least." 
 
 " And, my dear," said the kind-hearted woman, 
 in conclusion, " though you will probably not be 
 married for two or three years, there is no reason 
 why you should not begin to make your little pre- 
 parations. "When a young lady is going to marry on 
 a small income and especially when the engagement 
 is protracted, as yours must be if she be wise, she 
 will provide herself with plenty of neatly-made, 
 substantial clothing. If I were you, my dear, I 
 should take a pride in saying that my trousseau was 
 all the work of my own hands ; and besides, my 
 love, if you do all your own sewing, you can afford 
 to spend more on material." 
 
 "How dreadfully matter-of-fact Lady Harrop is," 
 thought Helen, who had been seven weeks in making 
 
208 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 a night-gown, which Bertha, in despair of getting it 
 out of the way, had at last completed herself. 
 
 The next day came sundry huge packets directed 
 to Miss Helen Lillingstone. When opened, they 
 were found to contain a whole piece of Irish linen, of 
 excellent make and tolerable fineness ; two pieces of 
 Crewdson's calico one of heavier, one of lighter 
 texture and several yards of muslin and cambric. 
 Also a dozen reels of Taylor's best sewing cotton, a 
 plentiful stock of good Eedditch needles, a new 
 silver thimble, and a pair of cutting-out scissors 
 " presents from Lady Harrop to a betrothed maiden." 
 
 And the dismay, the regret, and the secret anger 
 of the betrothed maiden, as she surveyed the goodly 
 pile of raw material, which she was expected to 
 manipulate into pretty, useful under-clothing, was 
 something ludicrous to contemplate. 
 
STRATHALLAN. 209 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 STRATHALLAN. 
 
 THE waves were breaking gloriously on the shore of 
 Strathallan Bay, there was a fresh wind, and the 
 tide was coming in rapidly. Blue was the sky 
 above, blue was the restless sea, and blue were the 
 mountains that seemed to shut out Strathallan and 
 the neighbouring line of coast from the rest of the 
 world. Half way up the slope of a lofty fir-crowned 
 hill stood the castle of Strathallan, the ancient scat 
 of the Campbells, and sitting on the grass, under the 
 shelter of a huge boulder, that rose up half-way 
 between the castle and the shore, were four young 
 people the heir of Strathallan and his sister, and 
 their two cousins, Bertha and Mildred Lilling- 
 stone. Bertha had quite recovered her strength 
 and her good looks ; indeed, from day to day they 
 seemed to improve, and Eric wondered at her perfect 
 and marvellous loveliness. Milly, too, was looking 
 the better for the fresh sea breezes and the pure 
 mountain air ; her skin, though dark, was clearer 
 P 
 
210 THE LTLLINGSTONES. 
 
 than when we first saw her in the schoolroom at 
 Lillingstone, and there was absolutely a tinge of 
 colour on her cheeks. Moreover, she held herself 
 better, and her abundant tresses, though disordered 
 at present by the wind, were neatly, and even 
 tastefully arranged, for Lady Campbell had been 
 trying to teach Milly the duty of attending to her 
 personal appearance, while at the same time she 
 endeavoured to persuade Bertha to cultivate her 
 mind and to seek higher aims than those she had 
 hitherto set before her. And it would have seemed, 
 judging from outside appearances, that her en- 
 deavours had met with very decided success, for 
 Milly began to look like a modern young gentle- 
 woman, and Bertha began to apply herself to various 
 studies, and to speak generally in a less worldly and 
 a less complacent tone. 
 
 They were very busy now, those two English 
 sisters and their Scotch cousins, in examining the 
 ferns which they had gathered on their way to the 
 castle. Mildred had flung herself heart and soul 
 into the study of botany; and Bertha also, when 
 Eric offered himself as professor, took up the science 
 with apparent ardour, but with secret indifference. 
 "What did she care about pistils and stamens, and 
 plants PhsDnogamous and plants Cryptogamous ? 
 Ferns and heather were very becoming when worn 
 in the hair; but all that " twaddle," yes, 
 " twaddle " was the inelegant expression to which 
 
STRATHALLAN. 211 
 
 Bertha privately condescended all that twaddle 
 about fronds, sori, and sp&re-cases, and the rachis, 
 was wearisome in the last degree ; and when 
 Mildred discovered for herself the very trivial dif- 
 ference between the Asplenium viride and the Axple- 
 nium trichomanes, and rejoiced therein, she thought 
 her something more than an enthusiast, and very 
 nearly a simpleton. But then Eric must be a 
 simpleton also, to say nothing of Janet ; for he was 
 always seeking after ferns, and exulting when a i*are 
 specimen came under his observation. He was posi- 
 tively rude one night, Bertha thought, about a very 
 beautiful Scolopendrium, whose species he could not 
 accurately determine. He walked away to the old 
 gardener at the lodge, to consult him on the subject, 
 while she was playing at his own request, made 
 some hours earlier, his favourite airs from "La 
 Sonnambula." 
 
 Now Eric had made up his mind to be married. 
 His father wished it, his mother wished it, and he 
 wished it very much himself; it only remained to 
 discover the lady who was to crown the happiness of 
 his life. Por a young man he was singularly un- 
 ambitious ; he had no desire to shine in the political 
 or in the fashionable world; he wished nothing 
 better than to live quietly at Strathallan to his 
 life's end, serving God in lowliness and pureness of 
 heart, ruling with kindly sway the simple people 
 who, from his cradle, had looked upon him as their 
 
 P 2 
 
212 THE LTLLINGSTONES. 
 
 Crown Prince, and enjoying in the depths of his 
 soul the grandeur and beauty of the sublime scenery 
 of his native home. But his tastes were domestic ; 
 and always in his dreams of the future there moved 
 by his side a fair young bride with gentle eyes, and 
 loving tones, and a heart to love him as he, with his 
 strong passionate nature, would fain be loved by the 
 woman he called his wife. 
 
 Latterly this sweet vision had been rather less 
 visionary than of yore. In all the pictures which, 
 unknown to any living creature, this romantic youth 
 was incessantly painting on thin air, his future bride 
 wore the form and features of Bertha Lillingstone. 
 She realised all his boyish dreams of grace and 
 beauty ; her voice was low and sweet in speech ; and 
 she sang him into Elysium on moonlight nights, 
 when, with her guitar, she sat on the terrace giving 
 him all his own national airs and his favourite 
 English ballads. 
 
 And did Lady Campbell perceive her son's growing 
 infatuation, and did she wish to have Bertha for a 
 daughter ? 
 
 She did perceive it, and Bertha was not the 
 daughter she would have chosen. But Lady Camp- 
 bell was not made of the stuff of which ordinary 
 mothers are made. She could trust her son almost 
 implicitly I should have said quite implicitly, had 
 not the beautiful Bertha been in question; and 
 moreover, she had the good sense to feel that Eric 
 
STKATHALLAN. 213 
 
 certainly had a right to make his own choice, for he 
 was God-fearing, steady, and twenty-two years of 
 age. Besides, she would have some difficulty in 
 stating her grounds of objection to Bertha. If at 
 times she had suspicions about her temper, they were 
 but suspicions, for Bertha had always been guarded 
 in the presence of her aunt ; and indeed, since her 
 terrible adventure on the moors, had been, at least 
 outwardly, gentler, humbler, and less given to taking 
 offence ; even that sad criminal, Milly, was frequently 
 spared when her proceedings must certainly have 
 annoyed her well-disciplined sister. 
 
 The Master of Strathallan was rather disposed to 
 make up the match. He loved a beautiful face and 
 refined manners ; he did not care about fortune, and 
 wished only that his idolised son should make 
 himself happy in his own way. Eric's wife, when- 
 ever she came, would be his darling ; for Eric's dear 
 sake he would take her to his heart and make her 
 his pet, and believe that she was all that his son's 
 bride ought to be ! and already he began to be pater- 
 nally in love with Bertha, and bestowed on her more 
 petting and caressing than she cared to receive ; 
 for Bertha was one of those persons who, fortunately 
 or unfortunately, can live on placidly and contentedly 
 without any outward demonstrations of affection from 
 lover, kindred, or friends, provided always they are not 
 slighted nor their claims unrecognised. So that her 
 uncle's endearments and pet names were rather too 
 
214 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 much, for her; only he was Eric's father; that 
 thought restored her equanimity when the Master 
 of Strathallan gave her great fatherly kisses, and 
 hugged her in his long arms, and called her his 
 "wee cushat dove," and his "bonnie birdie." It 
 was true he kissed his own veritable daughter ten 
 times oftener and twice as loudly, and he was very 
 demonstrative to Milly, who took his fancy hugely, 
 because he was sure she was "baith guid and leal," 
 the Master of Strathallan gloried in his broad 
 Scotch but then Janet did not wear collars, and 
 Milly never cared for the rumpling of hers, and the 
 silly children liked to be kissed, and they would 
 actually run to meet him and claim their privilege. 
 
 Lady Campbell had told her son that she was not 
 sure whether Bertha was the woman to make him 
 happy. She had said, moreover, that she was not 
 quite satisfied about her Christian character; but 
 there had been a visible alteration since her illness 
 in the winter, and she begged him to do nothing 
 hastily, but to watch and wait awhile before he 
 compromised himself by word or look. And Eric 
 promised, not altogether certain that his mother's 
 caution was needless. 
 
 They were sitting, as I told you, under the shelter 
 of a monstrous boulder, watching the force of the 
 wind on the waves and on the trees, but safe them- 
 selves from its unceremonious skirmishes. They 
 were puzzled too about a fern, which even Janet had 
 
STRATHALLAN. 215 
 
 never seen before ; and Eric persisted in making them 
 hunt out its genus and species, instead of enlighten- 
 ing them on the instant, according to demand. 
 Bertha was dreadfully tired of the whole affair. 
 1 ' What did it matter," she said to herself, "what 
 the thing was called ? A. fern was a fern, and that 
 was enough. " But then Eric cared about ferns as 
 much as she cared about servants, equipage, and a 
 thoroughly appointed establishment it behoved her 
 to care, or to seem to care, also. 
 
 " I have it! " cried Janet, springing up and career- 
 ing about with an energy unworthy of the dignity 
 of a young lady in her sixteenth year ; " I am pretty 
 sure, after all, it is only a variety of the Asplenium 
 lanceolatum" 
 
 "Nothing of the kind," replied Eric; "you are 
 wrong in the genus. Try again ; it is a Poly podium " 
 
 " A Poly podium ! " said Hilly eagerly ; "oh, that 
 alters the case ! Let us have another search, 
 Bertha." 
 
 But Bsrtha was " 'ware of a presence " that very 
 naturally took off her attention from the contemptible 
 little green thing about whose lineage and connections 
 she had just been so interested ; for at the foot of the 
 knoll where they were sitting, stood a servant from 
 the house with letters in his hand. Eric sprang 
 down to receive them. There were two one for 
 Bertha, one for Mildred, and both from Oldminster. 
 
 Eric and Janet strolled away to a little distance 
 
216 THE LILL1NGSTONES. 
 
 while the sisters read their letters ; but they were 
 speedily recalled by something very like a shriek 
 from Hilly. 
 
 "Is anything the matter?" cried Eric, hurrying 
 back. Hilly was looking red and excited, and Bertha 
 indignant ; something had evidently occurred. 
 
 "Yes," returned Hilly at once; "there is news, 
 great news, from home ! Helen is going to be mar- 
 ried ; she has written to tell us so." 
 
 "And I also have a letter from mamma," said 
 Bertha, trying not to look provoked. 
 
 " And who is it ?" asked Janet, eagerly : "any one 
 we know ? Let me guess a minute Ah ! I know, 
 it is Hr. Granville Golding ; he went all the way to 
 Hadleigh to get her a copy of t In Hemoriam !' " 
 
 "Wrong," cried Hilly, rather loudly. Bertha, in 
 her gentlest tones, said that " Janet was mistaken. 
 Helen had never liked Hr. Granville Golding ; and 
 futhermore, she did not think he would have the 
 presumption to address her. The elder Hr. Gold- 
 ing's father had been in business at Hadleigh, and 
 his grandfather was a farmer, or a miller, or some- 
 thing equally plebeian." 
 
 There was something in these remarks that jarred 
 most unpleasantly on Eric's feelings. He remem- 
 bered that but for Granville Golding and his noble 
 dog, Bertha might have perished on Hasleslack 
 Hoor. He fancied, too, that the young man parti- 
 cularly admired her ; and at one time he had rather 
 
STRATHALLAN. 217 
 
 feared that Granville's claims would interfere with 
 his own, and yet she despised him him, and all 
 his race ! It was true that the Golding and Lilling- 
 stone pedigrees could in no wise be compared ; but 
 then Granville was well-educated, gentlemanly, 
 and generous ; and was he to be contemned because 
 he could not prove sixteen quarterings ? Eric was 
 quite ready to acknowledge that there ought to be 
 equality of rank in marriage, but he did not quite 
 believe that rank depended solely upon aristocratic 
 descent. He saw that from time to time certain 
 families rose in the scale of society, while others sank, 
 and, in most cases, deservedly ; and he rather liked 
 the idea of self-elevation ; for, if it were sound, sub- 
 stantial elevation, he argued, there must have been, 
 as anterior causes, great moral worth, good sense, 
 genius, and indomitable energy and perseverance. 
 Was not such a heritage as glorious as the blood 
 of the Normans ? Might not any man be proud to 
 transmit such types of character to succeeding gene- 
 rations ? And as his cousin continued to speak 
 deprecatingly of a family whose worth and re- 
 spectability were unquestionable, whose sons were 
 undoubted gentlemen, and whose daughters were 
 pure-minded and well taught, he could contain 
 himself no longer ; and when she ceased speaking, 
 burst out with 
 
 '" Trust me, fiertha Lillingstone; 
 
 From yon blue heavens above us bent, 
 
218 THE LILLINGSTONES, 
 
 The grand old gardener and his wife 
 Smile at the claims of long descent. 
 
 Howe'er it be, it seems to me, 
 'Tis only noble to be good, 
 
 Kind hearts are only coronets, 
 And simple faith than noble blood/ " 
 
 Bertha was aghast; she had no idea that Eric 
 was such a democrat, and she was exceedingly per- 
 plexed as to who the " grand old gardener and his 
 wife" might be. She concluded, however, that 
 Alfred Tennyson referred to some faithful retainers 
 of his own family. She began some rambling speech 
 about the superiority of goodness over all other dis- 
 tinctions ; but her remarks were not quite as lucid 
 as might have been expected from a person of 
 Bertha's sound sense and excellent understanding, 
 and she felt that she was stating the case very con- 
 fusedly. It was a relief, therefore, when Milly and 
 Janet cried out simultaneously that they must talk 
 about Helen's marriage now, and settle other ques- 
 tions at a future period. 
 
 "Well," said Janet, as Mr. Granville is not the 
 gentleman, " I can think of no one else whom Helen 
 knows; but I dare say she has made many ac- 
 quaintances at Harrop Court." 
 
 " She has made one too many," said Bertha, with 
 an asperity she vainly tried to disguise. Had she 
 not often and often, in words most eloquent, and 
 in argument most convincing, warned Helen against 
 
STRATH ALLAN. 219 
 
 curates, and classed them with, apothecaries' boys, 
 and lawyers' clerks, and drapers' assistants ? It was 
 enough to irritate a prudent sister like Bertha, even 
 if she could have digested the unpalatable fact that 
 her counsel had been set at naught. 
 
 " I hope Helen is not betrothed to Sir John's 
 valet, or to that solemn butler," said Eric, with 
 mock agitation. " Pray, Bertha, relieve my cousinly 
 anxieties ! " 
 
 "A little better than that, of course. Helen has 
 too much refinement to like any one who is not a 
 gentleman. It is the curate! that Mr. Lascelles 
 we saw at Specleton, just before we left Oldminster, 
 and he is as poor as a church-mouse. And mamma 
 actually countenances the engagement, and talks 
 about their marriage ! " 
 
 " And why should she not ? " replied Eric. " If 
 Mr. Lascelles is a Christian and a gentleman, and 
 if he and Helen love each other, why should a ques- 
 tion of money keep them apart ? " 
 
 "Ah, Eric!" returned Bertha, "you do not 
 know the harass and the miseries of a very limited 
 income. How should you, the heir of Strathallan, 
 understand what it is to have to consider every 
 sovereign, nay, every shilling, before you spend it ? 
 And then Helen has no idea of economy : she has 
 the same allowance as the rest of us, but she never 
 makes it enough. She likes sketching, and reading, 
 and practising, and she has great taste, and is really 
 
220 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 clever at fancy-work and drawing, but all that does 
 not qualify her to be a poor clergyman's wife. She 
 ought to marry a millionnaire. 
 
 " And is this Mr. Lascelles very poor?" asked 
 Eric. 
 
 " He has actually no certain income ; he is taking 
 duty now at Harrop in the absence of the rector, 
 who, on his return, will certainly dispense with 
 the services of his curate. I dare say Sir John will 
 do all he can, for Mr. Lascelles is his protege, and 
 the acquaintance was commenced at his house ; but 
 I really thought Helen, with all her romance, would 
 do letter." 
 
 " Do better ! " Eric did not like the words from 
 the lips of a young girl. He earnestly wished 
 Bertha were not so exceedingly prudent, so abound- 
 ing in worldly wisdom. He was silent awhile, for 
 he and Bertha were alone. Milly had walked on 
 with Janet, to whom she was confiding the contents 
 of her letter. Milly had seen Arthur Lascelles, and 
 she highly approved of the engagement. 
 
 At last Eric said, " Bertha, I suppose you would 
 not marry a poor curate ? " 
 
 Bertha coloured, and scarcely knew how to reply : 
 Eric's question was personal, and her answer might 
 be of importance. She thought a moment, and 
 then replied, " Certainly, I have never seen the 
 curate who would tempt me to join my fate with 
 his ; though I believe it would be better for me to 
 
STRATHALLAN. 22 1 
 
 commit an imprudence than for Helen. She was 
 made for petting and loving, and being surrounded 
 by luxuries. I could brave many things from which 
 she would naturally shrink ; I could contrive, and 
 work, and be content to * rough it,' for the sake of 
 any one whom I cared about " Bertha was going 
 to add, " and I think I should rather like it ; " but 
 she had a conscience, and that conscience told her 
 that such a statement would be a positive untruth, 
 so she refrained. But she had said enough to con- 
 vince one who was only too eager to be convinced ; 
 and Eric walked on by her side, blaming himself for 
 having again been disloyal to his cousin, and to 
 his love. Had there not been that promise to his 
 mother, Bertha would have re-entered Strathallan 
 Castle as its future mistress. 
 
222 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 CHAPTER XYIL 
 
 BETWEEN TWO STOOLS. 
 
 THAT very evening, after the young ladies had re- 
 tired, Eric once more spoke to his mother of his 
 feelings towards Bertha. Sir Allan also was pre- 
 sent ; and he was half-inclined to censure his son's 
 prudent reserve as mere laggard coolness. They 
 began by talking over Helen's engagement, and 
 wondering how so romantic a young lady could ever 
 venture to undertake the menage of a poor clergy- 
 man's household ; and then very naturally the con- 
 versation reverted to Bertha, and to her views of 
 this important era in her sister's life. 
 
 "I think," said Lady Campbell, "that Bertha's 
 view of the subject is exceedingly just. She is re- 
 joiced to think that her sister is happy; but she 
 knows Helen's temperament too well not to fear for 
 the future. As she remarks, there is no question 
 about principle or temper, but everything to ques- 
 tion Avith regard to Helen's suitability to the position 
 she may expect to hold; and she fears, lest the 
 
BETWEEN TWO STOOLS. 223 
 
 happiness of both Helen and her betrothed should 
 eventually be marred, if not destroyed, by continual 
 domestic mismanagement." 
 
 " I thought her the most graceful, and languid, 
 and useless person I ever encountered," said Eric. 
 "Mother! do you remember that day when she and 
 Katty were first invited to Harrop Court ? I do not 
 believe she would ever have provided herself with 
 pocket-handkerchiefs if Bertha had not schemed, and 
 worked, and packed for her. I shall never forget 
 that deplorable bonnet, that looked as if it had been 
 to sea for a week ! " 
 
 Lady Campbell smiled at the recollection of poor 
 Helen's difficulties on that eventful morning; and 
 she recollected also how Bertha had done every- 
 thing, and thought of everything for her careless, 
 thriftless sister. 
 
 Sir Allan broke her reverie. "My dear Nelly, 
 Bertha is a little angel ! Anything so winsome and 
 bonnie I have not seen for many a long year ; not 
 since I first saw you, Nelly, in the Assembly-rooms 
 at Bristol, at that concert. Ah! that is nearly a 
 quarter of a century ago, and Bertha's mother was 
 a merry lassie then, and poor Lina was alive and 
 going to be married. You are very bonnie, Nelly; 
 I am not sure that Bertha comes up to you ! " 
 
 " It is not fair to make comparisons, Allan. My 
 dark complexion, and my raven-black tresses, are so 
 utterly dissimilar from Bertha's fair, delicate beauty. 
 
224 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 It is very good of you to think your own wife the 
 handsomer ; that is, the handsomer in days gone-by, 
 when, like her niece, she was sweet seventeen ; but 
 I am quite sure that even then, in her best days, 
 her charms fell short of Bertha's." 
 
 tl We will not institute comparisons at all," said 
 Eric ; " but it must be confessed that Bertha's 
 beauty is as faultless as it is remarkable ; and I 
 really believe, notwithstanding all our misgivings, 
 that her mind is as fair and as perfectly propor- 
 tioned. I have watched her very closely, mother, 
 and the more I see of her, the more reason I find to 
 retract the unworthy suspicions I formed in the 
 early day? of our acquaintance. I believe that she 
 is everything that I could wish! " 
 
 And yet, even as he spoke, he accused himself of 
 insincerity, for he did wish that to Bertha's exqui- 
 site beauty and sweetness of manner were allied 
 some slight tinge of poor Helen's despised romance, 
 and some portion of Milly's frank, impetuous na- 
 ture, and ardent love of study. " But then," he 
 argued, " am I not a wretched coxcomb, to be re- 
 quiring the perfections of several characters to be 
 united in one for my especial benefit ? And is it 
 not the excess of vanity to suppose that such a 
 woman as I would create, could ever care for me, 
 or sacrifice herself to one so faulty, and so lacking 
 in much that is good and beautiful ? " 
 
 " And yet I wish she were not quite so prudent," 
 
BETWEEN TWO STOOLS. 225 
 
 said Lady Campbell, with a half-suppressed sigh ; 
 " such an excess of worldly wisdom in a young girl 
 is not, I think, desirable. It must militate against 
 bettei tendencies, against higher aspirations." 
 
 " My dear Nelly," interrupted her husband, "I 
 think you are really too hard upon Bertha; you 
 require more from her than from the rest of her 
 family, or from your own children. I have had 
 a great deal of her company since she came to 
 Strathallan, and I must say that I never saw a 
 sweeter, prettier, more sensible little lassie in my 
 life ; and I tell you, Eric, / am quite satisfied that 
 she should be Lady of Strathallan, and reign here 
 with you, when it pleases God to take your mother 
 and myself to a better world." 
 
 Eric's eyes showed his appreciation of his father's 
 judgment ; he, too, as was very natural, thought his 
 mother rather hard and uncompromising towards the 
 lady of his love. "And yet," argued Eric, " my 
 mother is the gentlest, humblest, most charitable 
 woman in existence ; and, withal, she is so discri- 
 minating, so far-seeing, and so unfailingly correct in 
 her previsions. I wish Bertha were a girl after her 
 own heart. I really believe she would rather I had 
 fallen in love with that lackadaisical Helen, or even 
 with that good little rough diamond, Milly ! Well, 
 it cannot be helped. 1 see my mother feels more than 
 she will say, and even Janet does not take to her 
 as I could wish. But then, if Bertha loves me, and 
 ft 
 
226 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 I know she does, I shall have so much influence 
 over her, I can mould her to my will; a girl of 
 seventeen can have no permanent tastes, no solid 
 judgment ; surely, I can alter the little things my 
 mother dislikes, and surely, my mother herself can 
 and will supply the few finishing touches that are 
 requisite to the perfection of a character that is 
 lacking in so little." 
 
 So mused Eric Campbell, and a most illogical 
 and contradictory musing it was. But he went to 
 bed that night determined to propose to Bertha in 
 a week or two at the farthest; he was resolved 
 she should return to Oldminster as his betrothed. 
 The next day there were letters again a whole 
 budget for everybody ; and Bertha carried off hers 
 into the seclusion of her own chamber. There was 
 a long epistle from Katty, full of home news and 
 pleasant chat, and there was a stiff communication 
 from Walter, written with the hardest of pens, and 
 with an elaboration that was worthy of Bertha herself. 
 He had, written by the same post to Milly, whom 
 he addressed as, " old, fellow," and " dear little Mill." 
 
 But Bertha had another correspondent a new 
 one, apparently ; for the handwriting, though not 
 quite strange, was unfamiliar, and she could not 
 guess whose communication she was going to read. 
 She opened it at length, and turning at once to the 
 signature, found it to be " Granville Golding." 
 Her face grew hot, for she knew instinctively what 
 
BETWEEN TWO STOOLS. 227 
 
 was coming. Yes ; that very Granville Golding, 
 whom she had avowed would never have the pre- 
 sumption to think of Helen, had actually proposed 
 to her ! The young man's better was manly and 
 ingenuous. In some measure he knew himself to be 
 Bertha's inferior; but he pleaded that he loved her 
 devotedly ; that Ids education had been as liberal as 
 her own brother's; that his entire family would 
 with rapture open their arms to receive her ; and 
 last, but not least, that his fortune was now worthy 
 of her acceptance. His godfather, from whom he 
 had never received the slightest notice since at the 
 baptismal font he had in his name renounced ' ' the 
 pomps and vanities of this wicked world, and all 
 the sinful lusts of the flesh," was just dead, and his 
 will being opened he, Granville Golding, eldest 
 son of Thomas and Sarah Golding, of Oldminster, 
 was left sole heritor of nearly a million of money ! 
 
 A million of money ! Bertha gasped for breath, 
 for she was asked to marry this million of money. 
 It was laid at her feet ; she had but to stretch out 
 her hand and pick it up. 
 
 And if she did pick it up, and pay for it by 
 mingling the proud ichor of the Lillingstones with 
 the less unmingled blood of the Goldings the Gold- 
 ings who came of farmers, and millers, and corn- 
 dealers, and money-mongers, what then? Why, 
 she would secure a house in town, a country-seat, 
 a box at the opera, her own carriage, liveries, dia- 
 
228 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 monds, presentation at court, the delights of the 
 season, Parisian milinery, French cooks, and French 
 maids, and a well-looking, gentlemanly, good tem- 
 pered, adoring hmland. 
 
 Granville Golding had not spoken to Mrs. Lilling- 
 stone ; he wished first to be sure of Bertha's favour, 
 and then, if she would only write him one little 
 line, nay, only one little word, to signify her accept- 
 ance of his hand and of his wealth, he would see 
 her mother without an hour's delay, obtain her 
 sanction, and immediately set off to Strathallan, to 
 ratify in his own person the engagement on which 
 his happiness for life depended. 
 
 Bertha felt herself to be in a regular dilemma ; 
 though no actual love-passages had passed between 
 herself and Eric, there had been a great deal that 
 might have been put down as love-making. Eric 
 had shown his partiality a thousand times ; there 
 had been smiles, glances, words, that had spoken 
 volumes, and Bertha had shown unmistakably that 
 they were fully understood, and that she was far 
 from displeased. 
 
 Like a prudent young woman as she was, she 
 began to weigh the pro and con of the business ; for 
 business, and very serious business it certainly was. 
 Eric offered her rank equal to her own ; he was heir 
 of Strathallan, and he would make her eventually 
 Lady Campbell. Bertha liked titles, and she felt 
 secure that he would prove a good, kind, generous, 
 
BETWEEN TWO STOOLS. 229 
 
 indulgent husband her woman's instinct told her 
 that he loved her passionately ; but then his tastes 
 and hers were utterly dissimilar. He would take her 
 to town sometimes, no doubt, but by far the greater 
 portion of her time would be passed at Strathallan, 
 and already Strathallan Castle, though its heir was 
 her lover, was becoming a dull, wearying sort of 
 place. Magnificent scenery ! What did she care 
 about it ? She had looked at it now for more than a 
 month, and she knew it by heart ; and if she became 
 Mrs. Granville Golding, the beauties of the Ehine, 
 and the glories of Switzerland and Italy would be 
 open to her, and she began to feel that life in the 
 country in such country as Strathallan, especially, 
 would be insupportable. So she pondered the ques- 
 tion a little while longer, and then came to a 
 decision. She would accept Granville Golding; it 
 became her duty to accept him ; as the wife of a 
 man of wealth she would be able to benefit her 
 family, assist Alfred in all his views, educate Walter 
 and Alice, and introduce her sisters into society. Oh, 
 that stupid, thoughtless Helen ! why had she gone 
 and sealed her fate, when now she might have com- 
 manded such remarkable advantages? But even 
 there she could be useful; money was power; and 
 influence and patronage might be purchased for coin. 
 " No," said Bertha to herself, " I cannot answer it 
 to my conscience to refuse Granville Golding. As a 
 sister and as a daughter, I should be most unwise, 
 
230 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 most selfish. And besides he, or rather his dog, 
 saved my life ; and / know he declared that beauty 
 like mine he had never seen, or even imagined. 
 But I wish I had not spoken so decisively yesterday. 
 After speaking as I did on the subject of the Golding 
 pedigree, it will seem strange, nay, equivocal, that 
 I should be willing to-day to marry into their 
 family. And when the news of this immense fortune 
 gets bruited about, as it will, from John 0' Groat's 
 to Lands' End, it will seem as if it were the money 
 I cared about, instead of the man, and I should not 
 like to be pointed out as the young lady who mar- 
 ried at seventeen for an establishment. Well ! I 
 must rely on my own tact. I am only thankful 
 Eric did not speak out last night, when I was 
 secretly exasperated at his unloverlike caution, or 
 bashfulness, whichever it might be ; because if he 
 had, I should have been his betrothed at this 
 moment ; and I do not think I should ever have had 
 courage to break with him, when once the engage- 
 ment was completed. But I cannot have Granville 
 here, Eric might make revelations that would be 
 fatal to my prospects ; and Granville himself, he is 
 quick enough; he might discern something. I 
 think I will write to him, and say that I am so taken 
 by surprise, that I must request a little time for 
 consideration. I will say that I am honoured by his 
 proposal, and that I think I could be happy with 
 him ; but that before making so important a de- 
 
BETWEEN TWO STOOLS. 231 
 
 cision, I ought to weigh the matter very closely 
 he cannot find fault with that, and he cannot see 
 mamma till I write again ; and in the meantime I can 
 alter my manner to Eric, and settle my general plan 
 of action. 
 
 And Eertha was true to her resolve ; she wrote to 
 her lover at Oldminster, and made quite an elope- 
 ment on the following afternoon in order to post her 
 letter secretly ; she banished all the little shy con- 
 ocious airs she had been wont to practise for Eric's 
 benefit, and treated him with frank, cousinly un- 
 reserve ; she observed in his hearing that a country 
 life must be unendurable, and declared herself out 
 of humour with that silly botanising. Eric was 
 thunderstruck, and profoundly miserable ; and he at 
 once attributed Bertha's change of conduct to the 
 displeasure she might justly feel at the delay of his 
 own avowal of love. She felt herself trifled with, 
 no doubt. He resolved that she should no longer 
 have cause for such resentment. So he proposed, 
 and received, of course, a kind, even affectionate, 
 but still decided rejection. 
 
232 THE LILLINGSTONES 
 
 CHAPTEE XVIII. 
 
 THE SCHOLARSHIP. 
 
 THE time came at last for the contests for the Old- 
 minster Grammar School scholarships. It was early 
 morning, and Alfred was sitting alone in the dining- 
 room, looking over his papers, and making all possible 
 preparations for the approaching examination. All 
 was silent in the house ; the servants were not yet 
 stirring, and nothing broke the stillness except the 
 loud, clear singing of Helen's canary in his gilded 
 cage ; and, pen in hand, the young man worked on 
 without let or hindrance till past seven o'clock, 
 when the door opened, and Katty stole quietly into 
 the room. 
 
 With an expressive yawn Alfred tossed his " Iliad" 
 to the farther end of the table, and closed his 
 " Herodotus" with a bang that seemed to say that 
 for the present his services could be comfortably 
 dispensed with. 
 
 " Come here, old Kittums," said Alfred, drawing 
 his sister to a chair by his side, and passing his arm 
 
THE SCHOLARSHIP. 233 
 
 affectionately round her waist. "-Look here ! I've 
 got it all up pretty well ; but it has been very close 
 work, I can tell you ; it had struck one before I 
 laid down my pen last night, or rather this morning, 
 and it must have been close upon two before I went 
 to sleep, and I was hard at work again down here 
 when the Minster clock went five." 
 
 Now many sisters, quite as kind as Kate, but not 
 so considerate, would have been tempted to say, "But 
 what a pity that you left so much work to the last ; 
 how many hours you have wasted in bed, in novel- 
 reading and in desultory pursuits, that would be in- 
 valuable now, had you spent them more prudently! 
 I hope all this confidence and dilatoriness may not 
 issue in defeat." But Katty was true to the best 
 instincts of her womanhood, and these told her that 
 it was a serious error to torment a man with his own 
 defalcations when the crisis of his fate was impend- 
 ing, and above all, when the evil was altogether past 
 remedy. She could not help thinking it was a great 
 pity that so much should have been crowded into 
 the last few days ; that all the late winter and the 
 spring should have passed away with so little steady 
 labour, and of course, with such unsatisfactory re- 
 sults ; but she only said, "And you have quite 
 finished now ? " 
 
 "Yes! that is, I have done all that I can. It 
 is weary work, this grinding and cramming, Katty, 
 and I do wish I had equalised my work a little, 
 
234 THE TJLLINGSTONES. 
 
 and not left the chief pressure to the very last. 
 However, it's only your plodding, painstaking 
 students, who toil on for ever with more good will 
 than success, poor fellows, that always keep up 
 to the mark, and never allow themselves a week's 
 laziness ; they can't afford to lose ground, you know, 
 because they feel they can't depend upon themselves 
 to catch up if they find themselves startlingly behind 
 hand. I never could go at the jog-trot pace." 
 
 "And yet jog-trot wins the race sometimes," 
 said Katty, half jestingly ; she had a strong inclina- 
 tion to refer to the old fable of the "hare and the 
 tortoise." 
 
 " Ah, yes," returned her brother, thinking of the 
 same thing. "The hare and the tortoise, you 
 know; but that is only a fable, though people 
 good stupid people do quote it as if it were in the 
 Bible. I am not sure that some of them know which 
 of the wise saws really are in the Bible, and which 
 are not. Captain Cuttle was not the only man who 
 made blunders on that head. But depend upon it, 
 Katty, one handful of real talent is worth a bushel, 
 ay, twenty bushels, of plodding, poring, tread-mill 
 mediocrity. Patience and perseverance may do a 
 great deal, I know, but they will never achieve 
 much lasting good, unassisted by genius. Well ; I 
 am tired : I wish it were bed-time, for I feel dead 
 beat, Katty." 
 
 ' * You want some breakfast, ' ' replied Katty, brightly. 
 
THE SCHOLARSHIP. 233 
 
 She saw that Alfred was nervous and irritable, and 
 by no means physically qualified for the long day's 
 work and harass. His very tone of confidence be- 
 trayed doubt of his own position ; and all the while 
 he spoke, Katty felt as if he were arguing against 
 some invisible opponent, who kept telling him that 
 his every word was a mistake and a delusion. She 
 thought the best thing she could do was to minister 
 to his creature comforts, as he must certainly be 
 half-starving, since he had eaten no supper on the 
 previous night, and had been hard at work for about 
 three hours. So she went away to the kitchen and 
 asked Sarah to grind some fresh coffee immediately ; 
 and in less time than ever she had prepared break- 
 fast before, she was once more in the dining-room 
 with a large cup of hot fragrant coffee, well creamed 
 and sugared, and thin bread and butter and biscuits 
 at discretion. 
 
 "You are my good genius, Katty," said Alfred, 
 when he had eaten the last crumb, and drained the 
 last drop of his second cup. " You don't know 
 how horribly bored I was beginning to feel-, and my 
 courage, like the redoubtable Bob Acres', was all 
 oozing out at my finger ends. I was disgusted 
 with myself and with my work. I had the sensa- 
 tion of being doomed. However, I am all right 
 again now, thanks to you, Katty. Really you women 
 are, after all, veritable angels; you know exactly 
 what a fellow wants, and if it's anything short of 
 
236 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 the moon, or a roc's egg, or a four-leaved shamrock, 
 you generally manage to place it at his disposal." 
 
 " An eloquent tribute to the superiority of my 
 sex," replied Katty, laughing; " but no more than 
 we deserve. But now having convinced you, through 
 the medium of a good breakfast, that I am a veri- 
 table angel, I will go away; for, after the refresh- 
 ment I have administered, I shall expect you to set 
 to work again with hearty good- will. I dare say there 
 are some little bits yet that will be all the better 
 for another glancing over." 
 
 "That there are," he returned, somewhat gloomily. 
 " Yes ; I had better put my shoulder to the wheel 
 again. The worst of it is, the more I grind, the 
 more dissatisfied I feel. Just put me up some bis- 
 cuits, please, Katty; I shall not come home to 
 dinner, and I suppose it won't do to fast, even 
 though one has no appetite." 
 
 Katty did as she was bid, and added to the 
 biscuits a flask of sherry-and- water ; she only 
 wished she could be there to ensure the due con- 
 sumption of what she so considerately provided. 
 
 And then, the last moment being come, Alfred 
 strapped together his books, and put on his college- 
 cap as firmly as if it were designed to keep in place 
 all the knowledge and wisdom it was supposed to 
 cover, and without saying good-bye to anybody 
 strode away at a furious rate, and was down the 
 street, and round the corner of ITelsthorpe Lane 
 
THE SCHOLARSHIP. 237 
 
 before Katty could get back from the hall to the 
 dining-room window. 
 
 It was a long wearying day, and there was no 
 Bertha to compose their minds, and to administer 
 wholesome advice. Alice and Walter had already 
 begun theTr holidays, and it was too hot to play in 
 the garden, so they made themselves exceedingly 
 troublesome in the house. Helen sewed discon- 
 tentedly at a piece of calico taken from the appalling 
 heap of materials so kindly furnished by Lady 
 Harrop ; but her hands were warm, her needle rusty, 
 and her cotton too coarse, and she made little pro- 
 gress with the long seam she began soon after 
 breakfast. Katty had enough to do in superintend- 
 ing household concerns ; alternately scolding and 
 coaxing the two children, and keeping up her 
 mother's spirits, which were all the morning at the 
 very lowest ebb. 
 
 Nevertheless, even to Katty, the hours till their 
 usual mid-day dinner were very long and wean- 
 some, and afterwards, as the time of Alfred's return 
 drew near, they went all too quickly, and she wished 
 it were morning again. She fancied she had never 
 realised, till that day, how much depended upon 
 Alfred's gaining the scholarship. She had taught 
 herself to believe what her brother had told her a 
 hundred times since they first came to Oldminster, 
 that the taking of this scholarship was the first 
 step in the steep ascent which was to take them all 
 
238 THE L1LLINGSTONES. 
 
 back again to dear old Lillingstone How and why 
 this was so, Katty could not tell. Alfred had said 
 that before he could do anything which anything 
 certainly meant gaining money he must finish his 
 education, which, in the interim, he regarded as a 
 certain means to a certain end. And education 
 which may mean anything, from an occasional 
 quarter at a national school, to a lifetime of studious 
 toil meant with all the Lillingstones, tutors and 
 public schools up to a prescribed age, and then 
 graduation at one of the universities. The Lilling- 
 stones of Lillingstone had graduated at Oxford from 
 time immemorial, and the idea of setting themselves 
 to work in the wide arena of the world without 
 such a novitiate in the halls of learning, seemed 
 altogether preposterous and impossible. 
 
 Certainly it was a new thing for a Lillingstone 
 to work at all, unless it were in his country's 
 senate-house, or on the magisterial bench, or in 
 the president's chair at a public dinner or a public 
 meeting and classics and mathematics, and the 
 tone which university life gives a man, told very 
 well in such positions ; but then, the living re- 
 presentative of the house of Lillingstone was called 
 to far other toil toil that must result in something 
 more substantial than mere honour and glory toil 
 that must bring in current coin of the realm, bank- 
 notes; and sovereigns, and a cheque-book, and a 
 comfortable balance at the banker's. And how did 
 
THE SCHOLARSHIP. 239 
 
 Alfred mean to turn his Latin and Greek, his dac- 
 tyls and spondees, his cube-root and his equations, 
 into those desirable little bits of silver and gold 
 bearing the profile of her most gracious Majesty? 
 Katharine, with her simple good sense, and her 
 almost twenty-one years' experience, could not ima- 
 gine. Would he be a clergyman? She thought 
 not; he was too conscientious to tamper with 
 holy things ; and if he were not, it was difficult 
 to see how any amount of clerical patronage could 
 conduce to the restoration of the family estates. 
 A barrister ? Worse and worse. Where were the 
 means required for necessary preparation for that 
 learned profession, in which the chrysalis state 
 is sometimes prolonged for an unwarrantable period. 
 An author? Ah! that might do, indeed. Katty 
 thought of Sir Walter Scott, and Lord Byron, and 
 she imagined that Charles Dickens must be growing 
 tolerably rich, and able to redeem his inheritance, 
 if he had ever lost it. But she was not at all sure 
 that Alfred had any inclination towards authorship ; 
 and in the midst of her perplexity the clock struck 
 five, and she knew that the hour of trial was over, 
 and the combat decided. He would soon be at home. 
 Almost tremblingly she took her work into the 
 drawing-room, where Helen and her mother were 
 making each other by turns despondent and over- 
 confident. They said little, and Katty sewed as 
 fast as if by making good speed she would secure 
 
240 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 i 
 her brother's success. Presently they heard the 
 
 front door open and shut, and AI f red's step in the 
 hall. For worlds, neither Katty nor her mother 
 could have risen to meet him, and inquire the result 
 of the examination ; they sat looting at each other 
 doubtfully, neither moving nor speaking a word. 
 Helen felt miserably nervous, and wished Arthur 
 were there to comfort her. Oh ! when would he 
 come in ? The minutes seemed like hours since they 
 had become aware of his presence in the house. 
 
 He did not come in at all. As they listened in 
 breathless silence, they heard, to their consternation, 
 that he was going up -stairs, with a slow and heavy 
 tread, miserably different from his wonted boyish 
 elastic step. 
 
 "He has failed it is all over!" said Mrs. Lil- 
 lingstone, sinking back upon the sofa. Helen burst 
 into tears, and sobbed piteously. 
 
 " Shall 1 go to him, Katty, or will you?" asked 
 Mrs. Lillingstone, presently. 
 
 " I think, mamma" returned Katty, trying for 
 her mother's sake to choke back the tears that were 
 rising fast " I think we had better leave him a 
 little while. If he has been unsuccessful he will like 
 to be alone a little, I know. He will get strength 
 and calmness best if he is left to himself at present." 
 
 Mrs. Lillingstone mournfully acquiesced ; but the 
 time passed on, and nothing- was heard of him whom 
 they had hoped to welcome home as the conquering 
 
THE SCHOLARSHIP. 241 
 
 hero of the day. Katty gave the children their tea, 
 and sent them for a walk with the little housemaid ; 
 but no one else could make up their minds to eat or 
 to drink every thought, every sympathy, every 
 emotion was with the son and brother so sorrow- 
 fully secluded in his own chamber. 
 
 It was getting dusk, when Katty said, " Mamma, 
 don't you think it would be as well to go to Alfred 
 Xow ? I am afraid he does not mean to come down 
 to-night." 
 
 " Mrs. Lillingstone needed no second incentive ; 
 she was longing to go to her boy, only she was 
 afraid of vexing him, and she had a habit of shrink- 
 ing, herself, from taking the initiative. But as Katty 
 thought it best, she hesitated no longer, and folding 
 up her work with trembling hands, she went up to 
 the room which was her son's study, as well as his 
 sleeping-chamber. She knocked at the door ; there 
 was no answer, and she tried the handle ; but the 
 bolt was drawn, and again and again she knocked, 
 crying, " Alfred, Alfred, my boy! let me in; let 
 your mother in ! " 
 
 In a rough, husky voice, Alfred replied at length, 
 " Presently, presently, mother ! Not yet ; come 
 again in half an hour." 
 
 So the poor mother went down again with a 
 sinking heart, and in the drawing-room, talking to 
 Kate and Helen, she found Mr. Miller, one of the 
 under-masters of the Oldrninster Grammar School. 
 
242 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 She held out her hand in silence. He read her 
 misery in her pale, sad face, and he tried to say 
 something that should console her ; hut it was all in 
 vain, and he felt sorry that he had come at all, 
 since the wound was too recent to be healed or even 
 soothed by kind words or gentle sympathy. And he 
 himself was sorely disappointed, for he had hoped 
 great things of Alfred Lillingstone ; for, up to the 
 period of his success at Christmas, he had given 
 promise of no ordinary talent and disposition for 
 work. But during the last half-year, everything 
 had been changed; he had been careless and self- 
 confident, working only by fits and starts, and 
 relying, as it seemed, far too much on his own 
 natural quickness and excellent capacity he had 
 gloried, Mr. Miller fancied, in keeping his place 
 with as little preparation as could be, while his com- 
 peers, with less talent, were toiling day after day in 
 order to continue to hold their position in the form. 
 He lingered a little while, trying to comfort them 
 by saying that failure sometimes was a greater 
 blessing than success, and that doubtless there was a 
 very sufficient reason for this trial, painful and un- 
 locked for as it was, since every link in the chain of 
 life was wrought and fitted in by One who knew 
 best what was needed for discipline and for future 
 joy. He went away, leaving Katty a little less 
 sorrowful ; but Helen and her mother were none 
 the better for his visit. Half an hour had elapsed ; 
 
THE SCHOLARSHIP. 243 
 
 Mrs. Lillingstone went again to seek admittance to 
 her son's room. This time the door was merely 
 latched, and she went in immediately. Alfred was 
 lying on his hed, his books lay scattered about the 
 floor, and his face was swollen with crying. He 
 was but a boy, after all, and there are some tears 
 that can never disgrace a man. 
 
 Mrs. Lillingstone stooped down and kissed him 
 fondly, and he threw himself into her arms, and 
 wept there as unrestrainedly as when, years ago, he 
 had poured out his childish sorrows on that surest 
 and sweetest of earthly resting-places a loving 
 mother's bosom ! 
 
244 THE LILLINGSTONE8, 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 NEW PATHS. 
 
 "On, Katty! oh, Alfred! what do you think has 
 happened?" said Helen, when on the following 
 evening they came home from a long walk to 
 Specleton. 
 
 "I cannot guess!" was Katty 's breathless ex- 
 clamation ; but she secretly hoped that the Oxford 
 dons had come in a body to reverse the decision 
 respecting the scholarship. 
 
 "Arthur Lascelles has a living given him!" re- 
 plied Alfred. 
 
 "You are wrong!" said Helen, with a pensive 
 sigh. " I heard from Arthur this morning, and his 
 prospects are gloomier than ever ; that old disagree- 
 able vicar is coming back again to shock the people 
 with his Puseyite rationalism." 
 
 " My dear Helen, excuse me; but Puseyites are 
 never rationalistic in their tendencies. You might as 
 well accuse Baptist Noel of preaching Mormonism !" 
 
 ""Well," returned Helen, pettishly, "I know 
 nothing about different sects, and I don't care to 
 
NEW FATHS. 245 
 
 know. All I know is this, the old man is coming- 
 back to Harrop Yicarage, and of course Arthur will 
 have to go away, and he has been offered the curacy 
 of Specleton, but that is only fifty pounds a-year ! " 
 
 " Well ! " interrupted Katty, rather unceremo- 
 niously, for she discerned tears in Helen's voice. 
 " You have not told us yet what has happened, and 
 I am dying of curiosity to hear." 
 
 " Bertha is going to be married!" was Helen's 
 answer, given with a gravity and a solemnity befit- 
 ting the occasion. " Granville Golding was here 
 while you were out." 
 
 " Granville Golding!" returned Alfred, "and 
 what has he to do with Bertha ? I suppose she is 
 not going to marry him / " 
 
 " But she is though ; they are engaged now, and 
 Bertha will come home directly, and they will be 
 married as soon as her trousseau is ready." 
 
 < < Granville Golding ! " cried Katty. ' ' Why, Helen, 
 you must be dreaming ! Bertha never quite liked 
 the Goldings, she never could forgive them for their 
 antecedents, and I am sure when she went away she 
 cared nothing about Granville, and I did think she 
 liked Eric." 
 
 " And I am quite sure Eric liked her," inter- 
 rupted Alfred ; " he as good as told me so the day 
 before they left Oldminster. Ay, and it was some- 
 thing more than liking, if my eyes, and ears, and my 
 sixth sense especially, did not play me false." 
 
246 THE LILLINGSTOKES. 
 
 "Eric did like her, and he has proposed, and she 
 has refused him ; and that is one reason why she will 
 he at home directly." 
 
 " Refused Eric ! is it possible ! Why, he is worth 
 twenty Granville Goldings. Not hut what Granville 
 is a very good fellow, and as for the stumbling-block 
 of his grandfather's mill and farm, I don't care a 
 rap about it. But Bertha ! that is a different 
 thing. It was but the other day that she denied 
 Flora Golding's claims to gentle blood, and she 
 declared that not one Golding of them all was really 
 a gentleman ! and now to think she is ready and 
 willing to transmute herself into a Golding! I 
 cannot believe it, and I never shall, till I see her 
 and Granville walking to church arm-in-arm, like 
 all respectable true lovers should." 
 
 And then Mrs. Lillingstone came down, and Katty 
 and Alfred eagerly appealed to her to know what 
 Granville Golding had said. 
 
 "Why, my dears, he behaved very nicely, very 
 nicely, indeed. It seems he has been in love with 
 dear Bertha for a long time, only he thought there 
 was no hope ; but lately some one has left him an 
 immense fortune. He is far richer than Sir John 
 Harrop, Katty; and he said, now that he had a 
 home to offer her, worthy of her rank and of her 
 personal claims, he ventured to speak and and he 
 said a great deal that I -cannot exactly remember. 
 His father and mother sanction the match, and 
 
NEW PATHS. 247 
 
 Flora wishes it with, all her heart, and Bertha her- 
 self has accepted him, provided I make no objec- 
 tion." 
 
 "And you will not, mother?" said Alfred. 
 * ' Well ! I really believe Granville Golding is as 
 good and as nice a fellow as ever breathed." 
 
 "!N"o! I see no reasonable ground of objection, 
 my dear, though I must own I am surprised at 
 Bertha. It always seemed to me that she despised 
 the Goldings, especially since her visit to Harrop 
 Court." 
 
 " Ah ! but Granville Golding was not a millionnaire 
 in those days," replied Alfred dryly. 
 
 "Alfred, you ought not to say such things!" 
 said Katty vehemently. " I am sure if Bertha had 
 not liked Granville Golding, the change in his cir- 
 cumstances would not have determined her. You 
 are always too hard upon Bertha." 
 
 " Am I ? Well, perhaps I am. I believe I had 
 very uncharitable thoughts just then ; but I will try 
 to think better of it, and when Bertha comes back 
 you shall see how well I will behave. Indeed," he 
 added sadly, ' * of all people, I have no right to 
 play the censor, seeing what a fool I have made of 
 myself in the face of all Oldminster. Bertha cannot 
 be more inconsistent than I have been. When I 
 recall the prospects and the resolutions of last 
 Christmas, and then revert to the carelessness and 
 the foolishness of the last six months, I " and 
 
248 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 his voice died away, overpowered by the rising tide 
 of regretful emotion. 
 
 Mrs. Lillingstone could not bear to see her son's 
 sorrow, and she hastened to change the current of 
 his thoughts by speaking of Bertha's letter, which 
 Granville had shown her, and which she had read 
 over several times, and remembered pretty accu- 
 rately. It was a model of a letter maidenly, 
 frank, simple, and yet most elegantly worded, and 
 the references to her mother's judgment, and to the 
 feelings of his own family, were most charmingly 
 expressed. Nothing could exceed the propriety and 
 the ladylike good sense of Bertha's second letter to 
 her rich suitor ; the one which she wrote after her 
 rejection of Eric's addresses, and after she had had 
 time to consider the matter well and impartially, 
 and to weigh her decision as carefully as so impor- 
 tant an affair demanded. Granville was charmed 
 with the letter, and his mother and father little 
 less so. 
 
 But Katty went to bed that night like one in a 
 dream, and Helen philosophised sadly enough on the 
 power of riches. Here was Bertha who, she was 
 sure, would not break her heart if Granville were 
 killed to-morrow going to be married immediately, 
 going to have everything she wanted, and all for 
 money dirty, contemptible, tyrant money ! Whereas 
 she and Arthur, who loved each other as no true lovers 
 had ever loved before, must wear out the best years 
 
NEW PATHS. 249 
 
 of their life in waiting for the merest competency 
 which would permit them to enter on the holy estate 
 of matrimony. But then, thought poor Helen (and 
 she comforted herself greatly with the reflection), it 
 is only " the course of true love that never did run 
 smooth ! " And she felt a great pity, mingled witli 
 contempt, and almost horror, of Bertha's proceedings. 
 
 A day or two after, Katty was once more startled 
 out of the wonted composure, that, after the shock of 
 Alfred's failure, and the announcement of Bertha's 
 engagement, was slowly and imperceptibly returning. 
 Alfred had been out all morning and all afternoon, 
 and in the evening he called Katty to come and 
 walk with him in the Minster-fields. She gladly 
 obeyed, for she was tired with sewing and reading, 
 and the evening was charmingly bright and cool ; 
 the day had been overpoweringly hot. For some 
 minutes they strolled along by the side of the river, 
 almost in silence, and Katty seemed intent on 
 watching the blue dragon-flies that flitted hither 
 and thither among the reeds. 
 
 Alfred broke the silence first. ' ' Well, old Kittums, 
 do you know why I brought you here ? " 
 
 " "No. But I suppose you want to have a talk 
 with me." 
 
 "That is it exactly. I have something to tell 
 you ; I want to talk it over with you first, before I 
 speak to the others. Katty, I have made up my 
 mind what to do ! " 
 
250 THE LILLLNGSTONES. 
 
 " Have you ?" 
 
 "Yes. It was Granville Golding's notion; and 
 I have been with, his father for some hours. Katty, 
 I have made up my mind to go into business." 
 
 " You, Alfred! I thought you hated business 
 and you know there never was a Lillingstone in 
 business yet." 
 
 " Then there will be a novelty to record in the 
 family annals; for I am going to Liverpool, in 
 October, to be a merchant's clerk. Mr. Golding has 
 a brother there, one of the first merchants in the 
 place, and it is the height of my ambition to secure 
 a high stool in his counting-house." 
 
 Katty looked incredulously. " You cannot like 
 it, Alfred ? " 
 
 "No; I cannot say that I do; but, Katty dear, 
 I have lived years since I lost the scholarship three 
 days ago. I have been looking my position in the 
 face as calmly and as critically as I can, and it 
 seems to me at least I begin to think that perhaps 
 it will turn out a good thing that I did not gain 
 what I had set my heart on. I don't quite see 
 what 1 could have done had I won all the honours 
 of the University. I might have done something 
 for myself, no doubt; but that would never have 
 contented me. It was no boyish vaunt when I said 
 that I would be master of Lillingstone once more. 
 I mean it, Katty. If God will grant his blessing, I 
 mean to work on, till I see my mother in her old 
 
NEW PATHS. 251 
 
 house ; I don't say my sisters, for the experience of 
 the last few weeks convinces me that long ere 
 Lillingstone be redeemed they will, one and all, have 
 chosen other homes, and formed other ties. But, 
 Katty, I see now I wanted a pulling up. I needed 
 some great trouble, for I had grown proud, and con- 
 ceited, and careless ; last winter's laurels made me 
 vain-glorious; and worse than that, Katty for 
 many months I had almost left off caring for those 
 things that you and Milly care for most the ONE 
 THING did not come first ; no, nor second, nor third, 
 I am afraid ; but anywhere, or nowhere, and at the 
 best, last of all. Ever since I came to Oldminster I 
 have been looking forward to the scholarship. I 
 knew that I was not seeking first the kingdom of 
 God and His righteousness ; but 1 thought when 
 once I had gained my point, I should feel differently. 
 And now the scholarship is lost, and as far as regards 
 my future plans, I am not a step forwarder than 
 when I left Lillingstone." 
 
 " Don't say that, Alfred dear; these two years 
 will turn to good in some way or other. Every 
 little link in the chain of life is so important that it 
 cannot be dispensed with. Depend upon it the time 
 has not been wasted." 
 
 " It has taught me one thing, what a poor, weak 
 creature I am. It has shown me that the mere 
 resolve to lead a religious life is nothing in itself; 
 that even the ordinances of the Church are nothing 
 
252 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 a mere dead form unless the heart is right with 
 God through faith in His Son." 
 
 " But you have had faith ? " 
 
 "A dead faith, Katty; and the faith that can 
 turn prayer and praise into channels of blessing 
 must he a living faith. "No I have made a mis- 
 take, the greatest that a man can make ; I thought 
 to seek equally the glory of this world and the bliss 
 of the world to come. It cannot be ; God will have 
 all the heart, or none ; we cannot serve God and 
 Mammon." 
 
 " And will there not be the temptation in busi- 
 ness to make that supreme ? " 
 
 " I am sure there will. But, Katty, there is this 
 difference ; I no longer trust myself, and / look to be 
 helped. I hope to be a thorough man of business, as 
 thorough a merchant as ever trod the busy quays of 
 Liverpool; and I mean, Deo volente, to work hard, 
 and, if possible, to love my work ; but I hope, also, 
 that I shall never make a god of my business. Oh, 
 Katty ! my failure here has been very, very painful ; 
 no one but God will ever know how bitter it was to 
 come home that night with my ruined hopes, and 
 my dead aspirations, and, worst of all, my self- 
 reproach ; but it was all for good for my soul's 
 good. I needed discipline, and God sent it in kind- 
 ness and in love. And now now, if He will help 
 one and give me His Blessed Spirit, I do think I shall 
 go on my way with a purer heart and a truer aim M 
 
NEW PATHS. 253 
 
 Katty's eyes were full of tears as she pressed her 
 brother's arm. " And mamma ?" she said ; " you do 
 not think mamma will object to this business plan?" 
 
 "I think not, when I explain to her all that is 
 in my mind ; she will not like it at first, I know. 
 And, Katty, don't think that there is any degrada- 
 tion in honest labour. If it became my duty to 
 break stones, or to carry a hod of mortar, I should 
 not be the worse for doing it. I shall not be the 
 less a gentleman on my high stool in a Liverpool 
 counting-house, than I should have been lounging 
 in cap and gown down the High Street of Oxford. 
 Broadcloth can't make a man ; and a lawful calling 
 can't unmake a gentleman." 
 
 " Xo, indeed ! I was very silly, very wrong, to 
 say what I did about the Lillingstones never having 
 been in business. And with such feelings I am 
 sure you will succeed." 
 
 " I hope so. But, Katty, I cannot tell you how 
 much I distrust myself ; a minute ago I felt strong, 
 find almost confident, now I am all despondence, 
 and the long vista of coming years seems dreary, 
 empty, and dark. Say something to cheer me." 
 
 " Listen ; here is the best cordial for care : ' De- 
 light thyself also in the Lord, and He shall give 
 thee tlie desires of thy heart. Commit thy way 
 unto the Lord ; trust also in Him, and He shall bring 
 it to pass. Best in the Lord, and wait patiently for 
 Him.' " 
 
254 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 FAMILY PARTINGS. 
 
 IT was a brilliant September morning, clear, calm, 
 and soft ; and a pleasant breeze came up the valley 
 to the old town of Oldminster, lightly fluttering the 
 leaves of the sycamores in the^ Minster-meadows, 
 and just whispering gently in the dark pine woods 
 that sloped upwards from the river, far away to the 
 foot of the hills. There was great stir that sunny 
 morning in the ancient, and usually sober-minded 
 town, and the stir culminated in one of the principal 
 houses of the High Street. It was Miss JBertha 
 Lillingstone's wedding-day ! 
 
 Yery lovely looked the young bride in her snowy 
 robes, and her snowy coronal, and her long flowing 
 veil ; and a fairer bevy of bridesmaids was never 
 seen than the four Lillingstone sisters, Flora Gold- 
 ing, and the little Mary Herbert, Alice's fast friend 
 and favourite companion ; and the long, old-fashioned 
 dining-room was filled now to Bertha's satisfaction ; 
 for the Lillingstones and the Goldings were a host 
 
FAMILY PARTINGS. 255 
 
 in themselves, and there were Sir John and Lady 
 Harrop, and Arthur Lascelles, and the Herberts, 
 and Dr. Armstrong and his lady, and two or three 
 special friends of Alfred's, who were invited in 
 order that there might be an equal number of ladies 
 and gentlemen ; for Eertha was duly solicitous that 
 each one of her fair bridesmaids, and indeed, every 
 lady present, either married or single, should be 
 provided with a suitable cavalier. 
 
 The day before the wedding had been a very busy 
 one. From sun-rise till midnight the sisters had 
 toiled, and planned, and arranged, and Eertha her- 
 self had been the guiding spirit of the household. 
 Early in the day there was packing to be done, and 
 fifty little things to be finished ; and after the early 
 dinner came the rehearsal of the next morning's 
 breakfast ; and great was the confusion of tongues, 
 and the diversity of ideas, respecting the position of 
 tables, people, dishes, and bouquets. Eertha at last 
 took the matter in her own hands ; she had the 
 dining-room cleared of all superfluous furniture, and 
 the tables arranged there and then, so as to accom- 
 modate the wedding-guests most conveniently, and 
 to afford the largest space for the necessary attend- 
 ants. Then she took a sheet of paper, and pen and 
 ink, and proceeded to make a plan of the table, 
 writing the name of each person in the place where 
 it was desirable that he or she should sit. 
 
 The coupling of the ladies and their beaux was 
 
256 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 not quite so easy. Scheme as she would, Bertha 
 found that the elderly married gentlemen were, for 
 the most part, apportioned to the young ladies, and 
 the young gentlemen bracketed with the matrons; 
 and this was only to be obviated by assigning the 
 married ladies to their own liege lords an expe- 
 dient which Mrs. Lillingstone declared was not to 
 be thought of. Arthur Lascelles naturally fell to 
 the share of Helen, and Katty petitioned for Mr. 
 Herbert ; but everybody refused upon any terms to 
 sit at the breakfast-table as the property of Dr. 
 Armstrong. It was tea-time before the momentous 
 question was settled, and then Bertha had it all 
 nicely arranged in black and white, the first rough 
 copy being consigned to the waste-paper basket. 
 
 Helen and Mildred were left alone for a little 
 while, with an injunction to count the gloves and 
 the packets of stamped and fancy envelopes. But 
 Helen, after languidly examining a dozen of gloves 
 marked "six and three-quarters," and, finding them, 
 for the most part, "sevens," pushed the box away, 
 declaring she had_ no patience to overlook the rest. 
 Mildred was laboriously sorting out the stationery, 
 and she looked up inquiringly. 
 
 "No, Milly! I have no more patience!" said 
 Helen. "I have no patience with Bertha; these 
 trumpery adjuncts of a wedding occupy her atten- 
 tion infinitely more than the wedding itself. I 
 always thought it was a very solemn thing to be 
 
FAMILY PARTINGS. 257 
 
 married, but Bertha makes nothing of it ; she is as 
 self-possessed, and as full of important trifles, as if 
 she were not going to play the principal part in 
 to-morrow morning's drama. Oh, it is pitiful, it , 
 is miserable, to have no heart ! I would rather wait 
 for Arthur till I am forty, and feel as I do, than 
 marry to-morrow with Bertha's splendid prospects, 
 and Bertha's feelings ! " 
 
 " Of course you would. Who would not ? " said 
 Mildred, emphatically. " But still, Helen, we 
 cannot tell what Bertha really feels ; she may be 
 very fond of Granville without showing it ; surely, 
 she must be, or she never would have accepted him 
 so readily when she might have had Eric." 
 
 " Eond of him ! I hate that phrase, Hilly ; it is 
 like the French, who ' aime ' their lovers and their 
 poodle-dogs in the same breath. One may be fond of 
 cheesecakes, or fond of marabout feathers ; but fond, 
 and, no more, of the man you mean to marry, is past 
 decency, and past common sense." 
 
 " I think if I were going to be married I should 
 feel very differently," said Mildred, gravely. 
 
 " To be sure you would ! " replied Helen, warmly. 
 " You would be thinking of your lover, your hus- 
 band that would soon be ; you would be thinking of 
 the happiness of being his so long as life lasted; 
 you would not be thinking of possible tableaux, and 
 lace and flowers, and cold chicken ! " 
 
 ''No, indeed! I should be thinking of the 
 
258 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 great and solemn step I was about to take. I should 
 be thinking of the new duties that lay before me, 
 and wondering whether I should ever be able to per- 
 form them aright. And then I should be hoping so 
 fervently that God's blessing would be on it all! Yes; 
 I am sure marriage is a very, very senous thing ! " 
 
 All this was a little beyond Helen. She held that 
 love, pure, fervent, undivided love, was requisite, in 
 order to form a pure and holy union, such as God 
 would bless ; and she was right, essentially right ! 
 But it never occurred to her to contemplate the 
 duties, the responsibilities to which that wedded 
 love must inevitably lead. Her ideas of marriage 
 were like the majority of story-books ; they termi- 
 nated blissfully at the altar; the cares and the 
 anxieties of the life beyond her bridal- day never 
 entered her imagination, or were so overlaid with 
 flowers and poetry, grey church walls, ivy-mantled 
 towers, rose-wreathed rectories, and pretty nick- 
 nacks, that they lost their real aspect, as does a 
 common-place landscape, when looked upon through 
 the medium of amber or rose-coloured glass. 
 
 Helen and Mildred were called away by the 
 arrival of something like a cart-load of flowers from 
 Harrop, and for a long time everybody was busy in 
 admiring and grouping, and finally placing them 
 in water, in order to preserve them fresh for the 
 morning. 
 
 The wedding passed off with all possible eclat ! 
 
FAMILY PARTINGS. 259 
 
 The day was lovely ; no untoward little accidents, 
 no provoking mistakes occurred how should they 
 when Bertha was the presiding genius? And the 
 ceremony was beautifully performed by the Rev. 
 Edward Herbert, M.A.. Rector of Oldminster, as- 
 sisted by the Rev. Arthur Lascelles and the Rev. 
 John Golding, a distant relation, and the first clergy- 
 man in the Golding family. Crimson cloth was laid 
 down from the church-gates to the porch, lest per- 
 chance the autumnal morning should prove damp ; 
 and the walk was lined with eager spectators that 
 seemed to include all the lower population of Old- 
 minster. Bertha walked up the aisle on her 
 brother's arm, the very personification of a lovely, 
 modest English bride ; she made the responses 
 clearly and sweetly, but her voice never faltered; 
 once only, Mildred, who watched her closely, saw 
 the colour come and go in her beautiful face, and 
 the snowy hand tremble, as it rested in her bride- 
 groom's tender clasp, and it was when Mr. Herbert 
 said, " I pronounce them man and wife, in the 
 name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
 Holy Ghost!" 
 
 And Milly felt then that Bertha was her own dear 
 sister, and that she was going away from her old 
 home, and that henceforth she would be theirs no 
 longer ; and do what she would, the tears would 
 come, and Helen and her mother had already been 
 quietly crying, so that the wedding did not pass off 
 s2 
 
260 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 without the indispensable adjunct of a little weep- 
 ing. Then came the signing in the vestry, and 
 Mildred very nearly committed the blunder of 
 signing Jierself " Mildred Golding," and she finished 
 up by the largest blot the register had ever seen. 
 The school-children strewed flowers along the 
 crimson-covered path, and Bertha's first step was on 
 some pretty feathery clematis, that Helen longed to 
 snatch up and place in her own bouquet, while 
 Granville crushed a handsome yellow dahlia, to the 
 infinite regret of his father, who was a dahlia 
 fancier, and a celebrated amateur flower grower. 
 
 The wedding breakfast was just what wedding 
 breakfasts usually are ; there were the usual 
 speeches, and compliments, and jokes, and poor 
 Helen was made very nervous by the advice which 
 she received from Mr. Golding, senior, that she 
 should follow her sister's example as speedily as 
 possible." Ah ! it was all very well to talk ; but 
 how could people marry upon fifty pounds a year ? 
 and that was Arthur's income just now ; for, in 
 default of anything better, he had concluded to 
 accept the pitiful Specleton curacy. 
 
 And then came the leave taking, and the depar- 
 ture of the happy couple ; and at the last moment 
 Sarah came forward with a white favour, the size 
 of a prize cauliflower, and a basketful of old shoes, 
 which were sent over the carriage with so good an 
 aim, that the whole opposite pavement was strewn 
 
FAMILY PARTINGS. 261 
 
 therewith. And amid this shower of dilapidated 
 shoes, and the waving of hands and handkerchiefs, 
 and the cheers of the juvenile townsfolk, and the 
 loud clanging of the Minster bells, Mr. and Mrs. 
 Granville Golding drove away to the railway station 
 at Fleetbridge, where they took train for Birming- 
 ham, and thence for London: from London going 
 on to Paris, and from Paris to Strasbourg, and so 
 through Germany and Switzerland, till they finally 
 rested on the shores of Lago Maggiore. 
 
 And so Bertha Lillingstone was " wooed and 
 married and aM " 
 
 And now it was Alfred's turn to depart. With 
 some little difficulty he had won over his mother to 
 consent to his going to Liverpool, and he had tarried 
 so long only on account of the wedding; the 
 interim, however, had been spent in learning the 
 mysteries of book-keeping, and in such studies as 
 might be useful in his future sphere. An acquaint- 
 ance with the Spanish language, and a thorough 
 knowledge of French, were strenuously recommended 
 by the merchant, Mr. Golding, who came to Old- 
 minster for his nephew's wedding, and was charmed 
 with the whole Lillingstone family, and with Alfred 
 in particular. 
 
 On the evening before the journey which the 
 merchant in esse and the merchant in posse were to 
 take together, Kate and Alfred had their last talk. 
 Mrs. Lillingstone and the others had gone to bed, 
 
262 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 and the "brother and sister remained crrer the draw- 
 ing-room fire, which had been kindled to enliven 
 the damp, chilly evening, for the weather had 
 changed since the day of the wedding. 
 
 "And you don't regret, now that the time is 
 come ? " said Katty, holding, or rather hugging up, 
 Alfred's hand, most affectionately. 
 
 "No, Katty! the longer I reflect upon it, the 
 more satisfied I feel. I really believe God calls me 
 to this path; but it is an untried path, and there 
 will be many dangers and many temptations." 
 
 " But God will be in the busy world, dear Alfred, 
 as much as in our quiet home. And you will trust 
 to Him to lead and keep you right, and to give you 
 strength to withstand the evils that will probably 
 surround you." 
 
 ' l 1 hope so, Katty ! I have had enough of trust- 
 ing to myself. I wish, though it is a foolish 
 effeminate sort of wish, but I can't help it I wish 
 I need not leave home in order to work out my 
 plans." 
 
 "You would have to do that in any case; even 
 had you gone to Oxford, you would have been very 
 much away ; and eventually you must have resided 
 elsewhere. It would be very difficult to make one's 
 fortune in Oldniinster, I think ! " 
 
 " So difficult as to be nearly impossible ; for me, 
 quite impossible. But, Katty, you'll always re- 
 member me on Sundays, and at night and morning?" 
 
FAMILY PARTINGS. 263 
 
 Katty's only rejoinder was an emphatic squeeze 
 of the hand, she could not trust herself to say a 
 word. 
 
 Alfred went on, " And, Katty, do try to make 
 Helen see that I am not in any way lowering myself. 
 I don't care for ' people J but it hurts me that one of 
 my own sisters should think I am. doing that which 
 is unworthy of a Lillingstone. Try to make her 
 see, that honest labour is not, and ne^er can be, 
 disgrace ; make her understand the dignity of win- 
 ning a good day's wages by a good day's work. 
 One must have money, more or less, in this world ; 
 and if I cannot enjoy the hoards of my ancestors, 
 or the lawful inneritance of the Lillingstones, am I 
 unworthy of my birth, of my name, because I seek 
 by honest and honourable work to gain the means of 
 living a civilised life, and, if it may be, to win back 
 the diverted inheritance of my family ? " 
 
 " ETo, no, indeed ! " cried Katty, warmly. 
 
 She was beginning to see things as they are, and 
 to estimate rank, position, and descent at their true 
 value. She had been working hard herself for two 
 long years; but then it was at home, and no one 
 saw it. With a man it was very different ; if he 
 became a tradesman the world must know it, and 
 there were those of his own standing with whom he 
 would inevitably lose caste. 
 
 But now, the brother and sister were brave to- 
 gether ; they believed in the dignity of human 
 
264 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 labour, and they were willing to forfeit the con- 
 sideration, and to lose the smiles of some whom they 
 knew, because they felt they were treading in duty's 
 inflexible paths, and because they trusted that God's 
 blessing was with them, and that He was guiding 
 their steps, and in His almighty wisdom and in His 
 love, leading them through the troublous paths of 
 that world to the haven where they would be. 
 
PART II. 
 
PART II. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE SISTERS. 
 
 " Do you know that I shall be twenty next week ? " 
 asked Mildred, one sunshiny spring morning, as she 
 sat with her sisters in the dining-room. 
 
 " Is it possible ? " asked Katty, looking comically 
 grave ; " then I must be nearly twenty-six, since it 
 is an indubitable fact that I am six years your 
 senior. How old I am getting quite a spinster ! " 
 
 " Ah, but you look bonnier and younger than you 
 did when Bertha was married, you old darling ! " 
 said Mildred, starting up to fling her arms round 
 her sister's neck, very much in her old-fashioned, 
 boisterous, Lillingstone style. " / think you wear 
 better than any of us." 
 
 Which was an indisputable fact. Katharine 
 Lillingstone looked handsomer, and almost younger, 
 than when we first saw her in the old school-room at 
 Lillingstone. Years had dealt kindly with her, for 
 they had matured her graces, and left an added 
 
268 THE ULLINGSTONES. 
 
 sweetness on her sensible, gentle face, while they 
 had taken nothing from the freshness of her early 
 bloom. Katty's fair, calm countenance was the 
 index of her mind ; the peace of God, which passeth 
 all understanding, reigned in her heart, and on her 
 quiet brow ; the light that shone so clearly and so 
 steadily in her deep, thoughtful blue eyes, was the 
 reflex of an inner light that came from no terres- 
 trial source. Long ago, on that first Sunday at 
 Oldminster, Katty had " found her rest ;" and since 
 that happy, thrice-blessed Sabbath, there had been 
 almost unclouded sunshine in her soul. She was one 
 of those over whom the petty cares and the minor 
 evils of life had little sway; lost wealth, changes 
 of circumstances, faded honours, were almost nothing 
 to her ; it was not in her nature highly to estimate 
 mere externals, and she seemed, as Mildred said, to 
 be constantly living out two favourite lines of hers 
 
 " Content to fill a little space, 
 If Thou be glorified!" 
 
 Let us look at the other inmates of the room, and 
 see if they, too, are the fairer and the better for the 
 flight of time. Who is that faded-looking lady, 
 with the dark, pensive eyes, and the long raven 
 ringlets ? She is pale, even sallow ; her cheek has 
 lost not only the roses, but the roundness, of youth ; 
 it is thin and hollow. Weakness and attenuation of 
 body have robbed her of many natural graces ; she 
 stoops sadly, and there is a fretful, weary expres- 
 
THE SISTERS. 269 
 
 sion on features worn and hardened by lines of care, 
 yet still beautiful in themselves. She looks full 
 thirty years of age. And can this be the once 
 elegant and blooming Helen Lillingstone ? 
 
 Yes ! It is indeed Helen, from whose sad face all 
 the brightness and colouring of youth have faded 
 away ! She is still, nominally, the betrothed of the 
 Eev. Arthur Lascelles ; but the young clergyman 
 seems in little haste to claim his long promised 
 bride. Indeed, until lately, he has not been in 
 circumstances to think of marriage ; prudence has 
 compelled him to tardiness ; and now that better days 
 are evidently forthcoming, he is cold and negligent, 
 and his letters are constrained, filled with mere 
 commonplaces, and few and far between. And 
 poor Helen has slowly and sorrowfully learned the 
 truth of the ancient aphorism, that "hope deferred 
 maketh the heart sick." 
 
 That girlish love of hers had been no passing 
 fancy, no common attachment ; all the deep passion 
 of her poetic and most passionate temperament had 
 been, and still was, concentrated in its unfathomable 
 depths. She loved Arthur Lascelles with all the 
 ardour and fervour of her loving, undisciplined heart. 
 Romantic, unpractical, even silly, Helen might be, 
 and certainly sometimes was; but she had a true 
 woman's nature after all, and her love was pure and 
 faithful, and holy in its patience, and in all its un- 
 wavering, devoted trust. 
 
270 THE LILLTNGSTONES. 
 
 For two years after Bertha's marriage, Arthur 
 had remained at Specleton ; then came an opening 
 from a source to which he had long ceased to look, 
 as to the probable promotion of his interests. A 
 nobleman, between whose family and his own there 
 was remote consanguinity, invited him to become 
 the pastor of a small episcopal chapel in his own 
 park, which said chapel, indeed, served his lordship's 
 dependents, and the villagers in general, instead 
 of their parish church, which was situated at a most 
 inconvenient distance ; he was also to assume the 
 office of domestic chaplain in the earPs household. 
 !N"ow, Lord Southcombe had several livings, more or 
 less valuable, in his gift, and Arthur naturally hoped 
 that one of these, when vacant, would surely fall to 
 his own share ; and these hopes, as we shall see, 
 were by no means presumptuous or unfounded. 
 
 Arthur's departure for Devonshire was a sore trial 
 to Helen ; but as she fervently trusted their separa- 
 tion was but a necessary preliminary to their future 
 and permanent union, she bore up with tolerable 
 fortitude, and tried to comfort herself with sunny 
 visions of the long-deferred hope at last fulfilled ; 
 and in this frame of mind she once more addressed 
 "herself to the manipulation of Lady Harrop's long 
 neglected gift. 
 
 It may be asked why Sir John Harrop did not 
 redeem his pledge by presenting to his young friend 
 some snug little living, or perpetual curacy ? It 
 
THE SISTERS. 271 
 
 happened in this wise things went all " con" 
 trairy" as our housemaids feelingly express them- 
 selves. Sir John had no direct patronage, but he 
 had some influence in high quarters ; and just when 
 that influence might have been most availing, there 
 was a change in the government, and Sir John's 
 friends were sent to the right-about. Then he 
 managed to fall out with a certain bishop of his 
 acquaintance, who might, had he been so minded, 
 have conferred all kinds of spiritual preferment and 
 temporal advantages on poor luckless Arthur ; and, 
 finally, he fell into an impaired state of health, and 
 was ordered abroad by some half-dozen eminent 
 physicians, whom he feed and consulted. So it 
 came to pass that Harrop Court was shut up, while 
 its master and mistress lived on, happily enough, in 
 Homan and Florentine palaces, and by degrees the 
 correspondence between Lady Harrop and the Lil- 
 lingstones languished, and Sir John, absorbed in 
 classic scenes and antiquarian pursuits, gradually 
 allowed the interests of Arthur Lascelles to slip 
 away from his memories of home. 
 
 And now several years had elapsed since Mr. Las- 
 celles went to live at Southcombe, and during that 
 period he had paid but one visit to Oldminster, when 
 every one said he was grown quite stout and hand- 
 some, and more agreeable than ever. And poof 
 Helen, alas! was faded, and looked full of care, 
 and was not quite so amiable as in those youthful 
 
272 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 romantic days, when he had first wooed her to be 
 his, in the pleasant Harrop-lanes. Bertha would 
 have had Helen under her own auspices in town, 
 and once she did prevail upon her to come up to 
 London and remain her guest during the most bril- 
 liant week of the season ; but Helen was listless and 
 indisposed, and her faded charms failed to attract 
 the many eligibles who daily and nightly were to be 
 found disporting themselves in Mrs. Granville Gold- 
 ing's splendid mansion. Bertha tormented her to 
 break off her long protracted engagement, telling 
 her that womanly pride forbade her any longer to 
 nourish an attachment for one who evidently cared 
 very little about her ; and Alfred seriously advised 
 that, in one way or another, the affair should be 
 terminated. But Helen would not listen either to 
 brother or sister ; neither would she permit Alfred 
 to interfere by seeking, as he proposed, an interview, 
 and a consequent explanation with her tardy suitor ; 
 she fretted on, trying to believe in her lover's good 
 faith, and hoping against hope that all would bo 
 right at last. And so matters stood on the day, 
 when after the lapse of more than four years we 
 once more see the Lillingstone family in their old- 
 fashioned dining-room at Oldminster. 
 
 And Mildred is she also changed ? Yes ; de- 
 cidedly for the better. She has ceased growing, and 
 her form is developed, and she pokes no longer, and 
 pays a due regard to her personal appearance. She 
 
THE SISTERS. 273 
 
 never be really handsome ; but she is considered 
 to be a fine-looking young woman, and everybody in 
 Oldminster, and for several miles round it, whether 
 young or old, gentle or simple, loves "Miss Milly." 
 
 " En-avant" is still her motto; she has been 
 steadily going onwards ever since she left Lilling- 
 stone, and her progress is in the right direction. 
 Her nature is fervent and impetuous as ever, full of 
 noble fire and generous spirit ; she is unselfish 
 always, straightforward in action, quaint in speech, 
 and strikingly original in thought. Those who 
 ki)ow Mildred Lillingstone best, say that converse 
 with her is one of their greatest pleasures, and thev 
 cannot fail to recognise the mingled strength and 
 sweetness of her character, and the vigorous clear- 
 ness of her intellect. Only Bertha will not do her 
 justice ; and that is not to be wondered at, for she 
 cannot appreciate the thorough unworldliness of 
 Mildred's spirit, and she sometimes hears from her 
 unpalatable truths, which no one else ventures to 
 utter in her hearing. 
 
 Walter is doing very well at the Grammar School, 
 and Alice is growing up clever and extremely pretty ; 
 she seems likely to rival Bertha in point of beauty, 
 by-and-by. Mrs. Lillingstone is still delicate, but 
 her health has greatly improved ; and Katty tells 
 her she will be a stout old woman yet ! She is 
 gentle as ever, with the same poetic tastes and 
 romantic tendencies, and she has the same habit a 
 T 
 
274 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 heretofore, of depending on her daughters in every 
 emergency ; she really has no will of her own, and 
 it is well for her that she is in the loving hands of 
 two such sensible, dutiful children, as Katharine 
 and Mildred. 
 
 " I really think we ought to celebrate your birth- 
 day," said Katharine, when Milly sat down again to 
 her painting. " What shall we do, Helen, it is not 
 quite warm enough for a pic-nic ? " 
 
 "Is it not?" returned Helen, languidly. "I 
 thought it felt quite hot this morning." 
 
 "Yes, in the sun; but it would be scarcely pru- 
 dent to sit out of doors at this early season, besides, 
 the weather in April is not to be depended on." 
 
 "Well! what can we do?" 
 
 "Suppose we make a journey to Fleetbridge," 
 said Mildred ; "it will be neither difficult nor expen- 
 sive, now we have the railway : we can do what 
 Sarah calls ' a vast of shopping,' and there is a 
 picture exhibiting there that I particularly wish to 
 see." 
 
 " What do you say, Helen? " asked Katty. 
 
 " Ah, go by all manner of means, you and Milly, 
 and Alice ; I shall stay with mamma ; I am not well 
 enough to go anywhere." 
 
 "Indeed, Helen dear, I know you are not at all 
 well," returned Mildred; "but I do think a little 
 more exercise. would do you good; the journey to 
 Fleetbridge is not fatiguing, and I am sure mamma 
 
THE SISTERS. 275 
 
 would not mind staying at home by herself. "Why, 
 we might even persuade her to go with us ; she was 
 talking only yesterday of several things she wanted, 
 and could not procure in the shops here. Come, 
 Helen dear, make up your mind and help us to coax 
 mamma, and let us all go together; we shall do 
 grand things, I am persuaded. I confess to feeling 
 most extravagantly minded." 
 
 " Ah, I know ! " cried Katty ; "I know exactly 
 what your extravagant fits are like ; you will buy 
 something for everybody; you will give Davies a 
 magnificent order for tracts and school-books, and 
 then you will come home with your purse empty, 
 and just half the things you really require for your- 
 self." 
 
 " I don't know, Katty I mean to have a bran 
 new silk dress this spring ; I have not had one since 
 Bertha was married." 
 
 " I am glad to hear it. But, Milly, don't let it be 
 like the dress in the 'Daisy Chain,' the colour of a 
 copper tea-kettle just where it is turning purple. 
 Do you know, I think Ethel May is not a little like 
 you." 
 
 "Do you? I am sure I ought to feel greatly 
 flattered. But seriously, she was so very good, and 
 so clever, that I should be ashamed to compare my- 
 self with her. Look at her Cocksmoor, and look at 
 my Hasleslack visitations. And then consider her 
 Latin and Greek why, I only know the Greek 
 T 2 
 
276 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 alphabet, and can scarcely struggle through a page 
 of Virgil without help." 
 
 " Ah, but there is your German and Spanish and 
 Italian, to say nothing of French, which I suppose is 
 too common to be of any account now-a-days." 
 
 " Oh, living tongues are not at all imposing. In 
 order to make a sensation, one ought to know 
 several dead languages, the deader the better. If I 
 only understood Hebrew now, and Sanscrit, and old 
 Sclavonic, or that ancient quichua dialect of the 
 aboriginal Peruvians ! But you care nothing about 
 my dress, that I am to buy on my birthday, of 
 all days in the year. Helen, what shall it be ? 
 Katty protests against copper-colour, shot with 
 purple, though, like that sensible Etheldred, I think 
 it would prove very serviceable. Shall it be snuff- 
 brown, or mazarin blue, or delicate rose-pink?" 
 
 " Well, rose-pink is rather gay in silk ; but never 
 wear blue leave that to Katty and Alice." 
 
 " And you will go with us, and give us the benefit 
 of your taste? You helped me to buy that grey 
 alpaca, that resists my utmost endeavours to wear it 
 out. Do you remember that day's shopping, Helen? 
 it will be three years ago, in August." 
 
 Helen sighed ; she made no answer. Three years 
 ago life had worn its fairest aspects ; and now all 
 was sadness and mystery and gloom. 
 
 "No," she said, presently, " I cannot go with 
 you. I am really not equal to it, and Kotty will 
 
THE SISTERS. 277 
 
 advise you about your dress quite as well and better 
 than I could." 
 
 ""Well, we can get that cerise ribbon Miss Binks 
 said you must have, to trim up your muslin jacket ; 
 four yards, is it not ? " 
 
 " I shall not have any fresh trimming, Milly; 
 bright colours are not for me now. I ought to wear 
 hues as faded as myself." 
 
 "Nay, now," said Milly, running up to her, 
 with a kiss and a squeeze, " who ever heard of such 
 a thing ? You are not faded to us, darling ; you 
 are our own old Queen of Sparta in all but her 
 good-for-nothingness ! And we mean to brighten 
 you up, and make you ever so bonnie, by the time 
 the roses come." 
 
 "No, no ! " murmured Helen: " no more bright- 
 ness no more roses for me ! " 
 
 " Ah, but Helen, that is not right, not wise, you 
 know. Should we quarrel with the sunshine because 
 the flowers are dead? Should we sicken at the 
 murmuring of bees and streams and breezes, because 
 the birds have ceased to sing ? There is something 
 so pityful in giving one's self up to die of a broken 
 heart ! there is something so grand in endurance, in 
 patient waiting, in steadfast trust ! " 
 
 "Ah, Milly, I have trusted till I can trust no 
 longer! It is six weeks to-day since I heard from 
 Arthur. Here is the letter ; read it, Milly, it will 
 not take you long." 
 
278 THE LILL1NGSTONES. 
 
 " But do you like me to read it ? " asked Hilly 
 in some surprise ; it seemed to her that a iove-lettei 
 must be so sacred a thing. 
 
 " Yes, yes ! " was the answer ; " anybody might 
 read it." 
 
 Mildred read it. She need not have hesitated ; 
 there was nothing in it that might not have been 
 proclaimed in the market-place, so far as Helen's 
 delicacy was concerned. It was very short, but 
 Mildred lingered over it. She had so wished to see 
 a love-letter, and was this a specimen ? Certainly, 
 it began with "my dearest Helen," and ended with 
 " yours affectionately," but all that came between 
 was cold and unloverlike in the extreme. Milly 
 thought he dared not subscribe himself " yours faith- 
 fully." 
 
 " Well, what do you think of it ? " asked Helen, 
 as Mildred silently gave it back. Katty and Alice 
 had gone away, and they two were alone now. 
 
 " I don't like it," said Mildred honestly. " I 
 am afraid you will think me unkind ; but it seems 
 to me only I am not much of a judge in these 
 matters that he writes because he feels he must, 
 and not because he likes it." 
 
 "That is it," returned Helen bitterly. "And 
 now, I suppose, he does not even acknowledge the 
 ' must. 7 Milly, you are clever tell me what I 
 ought to do ? This suspense is killing me ! What 
 would you do in my place ? " 
 
THE SISTERS. 279 
 
 "I would write to Arthur a plain, straight- 
 forward letter, asking for a plain, straightforward 
 answer. I would know why he is cold and negli- 
 gent. I would not make womanish complaints, or 
 fill ray letter with reproaches ; hut I would say that 
 I remained unaltered ; yet, if he felt that my affec- 
 tion was no longer essential to his happiness, it 
 would he hetter for both of us that the engagement 
 should he relinquished. I would say this, Helen, 
 kindly hut firmly, and in such plain words that 
 there could not possihly he any misunderstanding." 
 
 " He would give me up in a moment," groaned 
 poor Helen. 
 
 "Then let him give you up, darling; he is not 
 worthy of the riches of your love. Besides, you would 
 have the satisfaction of having asked for release." 
 
 "And what would the world he to, me after- 
 wards?" 
 
 " A place of much true happiness, I hope, in 
 time in time, Helen dear! Ah, darling, I wish 
 you had something better and nobler and more en- 
 during, to fill that poor, yearning heart of yours !" 
 
 " What can be better than true, unselfish love 
 love that lives on in misery and in sadness, never 
 changing, never wavering such love as mine, Milly ? 
 For God, who knows how faulty and foolish and 
 worldly I am, knows also that herein I never fail." 
 
 " Earthly love alone, Helen, never satisfied any 
 human soul ; there are depths in the human heart 
 
280 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 that only One love can fill, and that love, my dear 
 sister, passeth knowledge. We shall never know all 
 its fulness, all its tenderness, all its glory, till we 
 see * face to face/ and know even as we are known." 
 
 "Milly, you talk like a child, like a saint, but 
 not like a woman. Your heart has never been 
 touched ; you know nothing of the strength and 
 joy and sorrow of earthly love. Some day, Milly, 
 it may be otherwise.'* 
 
 Eut Milly made no answer ; she looked steadily 
 down the street at the confectioner's boy delivering 
 tea-cakes, and her cheeks and brows and even her 
 neck were all one glow of burning crimson. 
 
BROKEN TIES. 281 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 BBOKEN TIES. 
 
 " I HAVE made up my mind, Milly ; I shall do as 
 you advised me," said Helen, on the following day. 
 " I have spoken to mamma, and she says you are 
 quite right, and I had better write as you said." 
 
 "I am glad mamma approves; I should not like 
 you to act solely on my counsel." 
 
 " Yes, I shall write at once. There is no letter 
 again this morning. Oh, Milly, anything would be 
 easier to bear than this miserable suspense ! " 
 
 And Helen did write ; but many were the sheets 
 she covered and threw aside before she could finish 
 a letter to her own satisfaction. It was written in 
 the solitude of her own chamber, and many were 
 the tears it cost ; but at length it was closed and 
 directed, and Helen came down to tea, calmer than 
 she had been for some days, but looking so pale and 
 heart- stricken that her mother and sisters could 
 scarcely conceal their distress. 
 
 When the time came for an answer, th.o agony of 
 
282 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 expectation was nearly intolerable. "Not Helen 
 only, but Katty and Mildred and Mrs. Lilling- 
 stone, watched with mingled dread and longing the 
 morning and afternoon approach of the postman. 
 But several days passed away, and the anxiously 
 expected letter did not arrive. Helen's feverish 
 agitation hourly increased, and Mildred and Katty 
 exchanged indignant reniarks whenever they were 
 quite alone. 
 
 Mildred's birthday arrived, and she, with Katha- 
 rine and Alice, paid the projected visit to Eleetbridge. 
 It was not a very pleasant day, for the wind was 
 high and keen, and towards noon the sun ceased to 
 shine, and was hidden behind heavy, cold, grey 
 clouds ; the dust, too, was most annoying, and as it 
 happened to be market-day at Pleetbridge, there was 
 rather more bustle in the streets than was altogether 
 agreeable to persons accustomed to the quiet, sombre 
 respectability of Oldminster pavements. 
 
 Nevertheless the sisters managed to enjoy them- 
 selves extremely, for there were so many pretty 
 things to be seen in the shop -windows, and so much 
 to be bought for money, that they found no leisure 
 and little inclination to deplore the inconveniences 
 of jostling throngs, clouds of dust, and a prevailing 
 north-east wind, that was in no wise the beautifier 
 of their complexions. There were many purchases 
 to make ; and Milly verified Katty 's predictions by 
 buying a new book for her mamma, a pretty neck hand- 
 
BROKEN TIES. 283 
 
 kerchief the milliner called it a fichu for Helen, a 
 silver thimble for Alice, a smart cap for Sarah, 
 a porte-monnaie of wonderful capacity for "Walter, 
 a heap of little books for gratuitous distribution, 
 and a pair of French kid gloves that Katty shrewdly 
 suspected were destined to become her property. 
 Mildred's new dress, also, was duly chosen and 
 bought, and it was neither copper-colour, nor rose- 
 pink, nor unbecoming blue, but green and black 
 glace, with what the shopman called " a magnificent 
 face," and, as Katty assured herself, both by touch 
 and by vision, of excellent material and handsome 
 appearance. Katty also bought herself a very pretty 
 spring bonnet, and ordered one for Alice, and they 
 all amused themselves with anticipating the brilliant 
 figures they were going to make in their own quiet, 
 old-fashioned little town. And Katty decided that 
 Helen must have a bonnet like her own, only a little 
 handsomer, and that mamma must have her Leghorn 
 altered to the fashion, and newly trimmed. And 
 then they went to the confectioner's to dine, and 
 Katty would treat Milly with macaroons, because it 
 was her birthday it being privately understood 
 that macaroons were Milly 's weakness ; and they 
 bought oranges and lemon-drops and drawing ma- 
 terials, and they visited the picture-gallery, and had 
 an excellent view of the painting Mildred had so 
 much desired to see ; and, finally, they spent half an 
 hour in the museum of the Town Hall. And then 
 
284 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 they discovered that it was very cold, and, having 
 concluded their business, agreed that it would be 
 better to return at once to the station, and await the 
 arrival of their train within shelter of the comfort- 
 able ladies' -room 
 
 Their brief journey was soon accomplished, and 
 they found Oldminster no warmer than Fleetbridge. 
 Of a dusky grey were the hills and the moors, and 
 steely grey was the cold sky, and grey was the 
 winding river, and grey the desolate marsh-land 
 through which the train approached the town. 
 
 " What does this remind you of ? " asked Mildred, 
 as they sped along the embankment. 
 
 "Of everything that is sad and desolate and 
 weary, ' ' said Katty. " Of a dull, grey life life 
 without love, without hope, on this side the grave. 
 The whole world looks cold and dreary." 
 
 "I was thinking of one of Tennyson's picture- 
 verses. How is it, I wonder, that in reading his 
 poems, you derive not only the pleasure which truly 
 good, fine poetry must always give, but that which 
 you receive from viewing a perfect picture, artistic in 
 its design, and exquisite in all its details ? Tennyson 
 is a very pre-Raphaelite among poets." 
 
 " I remember the time when you did not care for 
 Tennyson." 
 
 " Ah, my mind had not grown up to him then. 
 I care for him now, more and more, every year I 
 live. But I still have no fancy for * Claribel,' and 
 
BROKEN TIES. 285 
 
 I do not much mind for * Lilian,' or for * Made- 
 line, 1 or * Adeline.' I wish he had not coquetted 
 with so many ladies." 
 
 "And you like him now as well as your old 
 favourite, Longfellow ? " 
 
 "Yes; that is, I like them in different ways; 
 they cannot be compared. One worships Tennyson 
 as one learns to understand him ; but any one who 
 has once loved Longfellow, will love him always. 
 Tennyson steals upon your affections; Longfellow 
 charms you even in your premiere jeunesse, and 
 charms you for ever." 
 
 " And what were the lines you were thinking of ? " 
 
 "These: 
 
 ' The plain was grassy, wild and bare, 
 Wide, wild, and open to the air, 
 Which had built up everywhere 
 
 An imder-roof of doleful grey. 
 
 It was the middle of the day; 
 
 Even the weary wind went on, 
 
 And took the reed-tops as it went. 
 
 Some blue peaks in the distance rose, 
 
 And white against the cold white sky, 
 
 Shone out their crowning snows. 
 One willow over the river wept, 
 And shook the wave as the wind did sigh ; 
 
 Above in the wind was the swallow, 
 
 Chasing itself at its own wild will, 
 And far through the marish, green and still. 
 
 The tangled watercourses slept, 
 Shot over with purple, and green, and yellow ! * 
 
 " Exactly the scene around us ; only instead of one 
 
286 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 willow, there are many. And see, snow has fallen 
 again on the Endleboro' Pikes, making the similitude 
 perfect. But I do not remember the lines. Where 
 do they occur ? " 
 
 "In * The Dying Swan.' It is one of my great 
 favourites ; so fine a specimen of word-painting. But 
 I believe many people think it stupid half queer 
 and half mystical. But look, we have passed the 
 marsh-lands; we are in our own beauteous valley 
 again, which, however, is not seen to advantage to- 
 day. And here is the station. I am glad we are at 
 home." 
 
 The Oldminster streets were almost deserted ; the 
 market-square was silent and dusty, and the cloisters 
 dark and grim ; while a strong blast swept down the 
 hills, and over the desolate moors, filling the whole 
 valley with a wearying, soughing sound, that fell 
 dismally on the ear, like the wail of an indignant 
 banshee. The sisters were glad to find themselves 
 standing before their own door, ringing the bell, and 
 paying the porter who had carried up their parcels 
 from the station. 
 
 " "Where is mamma? " asked Katty, as she looked 
 into the unoccupied drawing-room. 
 
 " Well, she's just stepped down the town," re- 
 plied Sarah. " Mr. Herbert sent up to see if we had 
 any cotton wool, for there's been a child a' most burnt 
 to death in Bongate Lane, and missis thought we 
 had none ; but after a while she remembered the 
 
BROKEN TIES. 287 
 
 old bureau in the top room, and may "be, she said, 
 there was some there, for there' d used to be ; and 
 sure enough there was lots. And so your ma, 
 Miss Katty, just rolled it up, and tucked it under 
 her cloak, and went right away down to Bongate, 
 and she ain't come back yet." 
 
 "And where is Helen, I wonder," said Mildred. 
 " Surely she is not gone with mamma? " 
 
 "Bless you, Miss Milly, no! She'd never go for 
 to put her head out of doors and this east wind 
 a-blowing and such clouds of dust I'm sure there 
 isn't a room in the house fit to be seen ; and I can't 
 help it ! Miss Helen was here a while since ; if she 
 isn't in the dining-room or in the school-room, she's 
 gone up-stairs, I suppose." 
 
 Helen was not in either dining-room or school- 
 room ; therefore it was evident she was not down- 
 stairs at all. They went up to take off their bonnets, 
 and Katty begged Sarah to let them have tea as 
 soon as her mamma came back ; and Sarah promised 
 to go down and set the tray that moment, adding 
 that she had made them some pikelets on purpose, 
 and that there were some slices of ham " that was 
 only a- waiting to be cooked." 
 
 They were nearly ready to go down again, when 
 Mildred was seized with a sudden desire to present 
 her pretty pink and white fichu. She went at once, 
 and tapped at Helen's door. 
 
 There was a low, indistinct "come in/' that 
 
288 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 sounded to Milly almost like a sob. She opened the 
 door, and there, by the window, sat Helen, looking 
 like a person suddenly bereft of sense and reason. 
 She was unnaturally pale and unnaturally motion- 
 less ; her dark eyes were tearless indeed, but fixed 
 and stcny, and her features rigid and settled, as 
 though chilled by the iron presence of Death itself. 
 There was something awful in the dull, blank aspect 
 of that white, expressionless face. 
 
 " Helen, Helen dearest! what is it?" cried 
 Mildred, as she stood beside her, holding the limp, 
 passive hand that lay heavily and coldly in hers. 
 "Tell me, darling, what it is? Who has been 
 grieving you? " And she took Helen in her arms 
 and rocked her to and fro as if she were a suffering 
 child ; but Helen seemed paralysed, and she moaned 
 under her sister's loving embrace, as if her touch 
 were cruel pain. On the toilet lay an open letter, 
 and at a glance Mildred understood what had hap- 
 pened, for she recognised the well-known hand- 
 writing of Arthur Lascelles. Again she spoke to 
 Helen, begging her to lie down, and beseeching her 
 to say if she really felt very ill ; but no word could 
 she extort from those parched, blanched lips, and 
 Milly began to believe that the half stifled "come 
 in" must have been the delusion of her own fancy. 
 At length, shocked and frightened, she went to call 
 Katharine, and she found her mamma just come in, 
 and full of a sad tale of neglect and suffering which 
 
BROKEN TIES. 289 
 
 she had just been hearing from Mrs. Herbert. " It 
 will be a mercy if the poor little child dies at once, 
 she is so dreadfully burned," Mrs. Lillingstone was 
 saying, when Mildred, with a face nearly as colour- 
 less as the one she had left up-stairs, came into the 
 drawing-room. 
 
 " MiUy ! Milly ! what is the matter ? " she cried, 
 breaking off abruptly from her story. 
 
 "Have you seen Helen?" asked Mildred, in a 
 tone that was full of apprehension almost of 
 horror. 
 
 " No yes that is, I saw her before I went out. 
 I turned back to borrow her Shetland veil. I left 
 her reading quite comfortably. Where is she ? " 
 
 " She is in her own room. Do not be alarmed, 
 dear mamma, but I think she has had a letter 
 while you were away the letter you know.' 1 
 
 " My poor child ! my poor wronged Helen ! " cried 
 Mrs. Lillingstone ; "do not stop me, Milly ; I must 
 go to her this moment." And she rushed up-stairs, 
 while Milly vainly tried to prepare her for the state 
 in which she would find Helen. 
 
 Katharine and Mildred both followed, and they 
 found their mother weeping unrestrainedly over the 
 cold inanimate form, that neither spoke nor stirred, 
 nor seemed conscious of her presence. 
 
 "Oh, Katty, she will die!" whispered Mrs. Lil- 
 lingstone, after looking for a few moments into the 
 wide-open, rayless eyes, from which the soul seemed 
 
 TJ 
 
290 THE ULLINGSTONES. 
 
 suddenly to have departed. "What shall we do? 
 Had we better send for Dr. Thwaites ? " 
 
 "Let us get her to bed, mamma,' 7 saidKatty; 
 "she is frozen with staying in the cold so long. 
 Let us uiidress her, and put her feet in hot water, 
 and tell Sarah to warm her bed ; but first of all, we 
 will give her some brandy or some wine. It is some 
 sort of fit, I am afraid ; but it will go off presently. 
 Just give Milly the keys, mamma dear, and I will 
 call Sarah." 
 
 But Katty spoke with a calmness and hopefulness 
 she was far from feeling. She had never seen any- 
 thing so deathlike since that summer evening, years 
 ago, when she had come in from her pleasant walk, 
 to gaze on the white, rigid face of her dead father, 
 Sarah flew at Milly 's summons, and by her aid all 
 was done that Katharine had advised, yet still Helen 
 lay in that strange and terrible trance, and they 
 agreed to send for Dr. Thwaites. 
 
 He came, and approved of the treatment, ordering 
 it to be continued. He said at once that she had 
 sustained a severe shock ; that no immediate danger 
 was to be apprehended, only she would require for 
 some time constant care and attention. 
 
 It was some hours before the attack went off, and 
 not till then did the sisters and their mother begin 
 to discuss the letter which had originated their dis- 
 tress. It still lay on the table, and they thought it 
 l;(.'Bt, under the circumstances, to read it, without 
 
BKOKEN TIES, 291 
 
 any reference to Helen herself, who had at last fallen 
 into a quiet, natural sleep. 
 
 So they carried it off into Mrs. Lillingstone's own 
 room, and Mildred read it aloud. It contained a 
 full, even eager acceptance of Helen's offer of release. 
 Mr. Lascelles spoke of their early engagement as a 
 " youthful dream, a boy and girl fancy ! " 
 
 "Boy and girl, indeed!" said Mildred, hotly 
 " Helen might be considered a girl at nineteen ; but 
 who ever heard of a man of five-and-twenty, a gra- 
 duate of Cambridge, and a clergyman of the Church 
 of England, in full orders, being called a boy ?" 
 
 The writer went on to say, that he had long been 
 aware he was not calculated to make a woman of 
 Helen's type of character happy, or even contented ; 
 he was so much older, and life to him wore far 
 different aspects from those it had assumed in those 
 happy, romantic days at Harrop Court, almost five 
 years ago. He had different views now, new hopes, 
 new desires ; and Helen, too, he believed, was 
 altered, and would be infinitely happier, freed from 
 ties that were too early and too hastily formed. 
 
 And then came what Mildred called "a rig- 
 marole" about everlasting respect, undying esteem, 
 fraternal affection, and the steadfast friendship which 
 might at a future time replace the impulsive and 
 thoughtless love of other days ! And the epistle 
 concluded with a promise to send back immediately 
 all the correspondence he had preserved, and Helen's 
 L 2 
 
292 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 likeness, and all other mementoes of the broken 
 contract ; and then with fervent thanks to Helen 
 for breaking the engagement, which was no longer 
 essential to the happiness or prosperity of either, 
 but which honour forbade him to renounce without 
 her fullest approbation, he closed the letter, which 
 Hilly would have cast at once into the fire, had not 
 the more prudent Katty restrained her. 
 
 "It is abominable, cruel, wicked!" said Milly, 
 still looking longingly at the tempting blaze. " He 
 affects to misunderstand every word she says. The 
 engagement no longer necessary to the happiness of 
 either, indeed ! How dare he pen so atrocious an 
 untruth ? I am glad of one thing though he makes 
 use of no religious phraseology; he gives her no 
 cant about the decrees of Providence ; there is not 
 a word indicative of his sacred calling, and I am 
 glad of it. It would have been too disgusting, too 
 terrible, to impute to Providence the evils caused by 
 his own hard-hearted fickleness ! " 
 
 "My poor Helen ! " sighed the mother; " I fear 
 I am not blameless in this matter. I consented 
 much too readily to the engagement. I thought 
 only of my child's present content, and I never 
 waited to ascertain how far it might be for her 
 future happiness to become the betrothed of Arthur 
 Lascelles. And yet ; five years ago yes, it will 
 be five years in June since she came home from 
 Harrop Court, and, all smiles and tears and blushes 
 
BROKEN TIES. 293 
 
 told me of her love and yet, then all seemed so 
 bright and promising! Arthur was so devoted to 
 her, so attentive to me, so kind to all of you. And 
 till within the last eighteen months, I never saw 
 any reason to doubt his fidelity, or to suspect the 
 wisdom of Helen's choice. " 
 
 "Well, mamma," said Katty, "it is over now. 
 Arthur has been cruel, and, I think, cowardly ; but 
 this is a case in which there is no redress, an evil 
 utterly past remedy ; if we could, and if we would 
 compel him to ratify the engagement he was once so 
 eager to conclude, we could not make him love her 
 again. Nothing remains but to comfort poor Helen, 
 and to try and divert her mind from dwelling too 
 intently and too continuously on her great sorrow ; 
 and then, mamma dear, we know it has not hap- 
 pened by chance ; painful as it is, and hard to bear 
 patiently, it must be for Helen's good in the end T 
 We may console ourselves in this way, though 
 Arthur may not; he should rather remember that 
 it is written, Tor it must be that offences will 
 come, but woe to him through whom they come ! ' ' 
 
 " Yes, my child, I know it ; but I cannot quite 
 feel it yet. I know God sends trouble to make us 
 better and happier in the end ; but I dread sorrow, 
 and above all this sorrow, which for some time I 
 have feared might come upon us. Ah ! my Helen, 
 if your mother could shield you from suffering, your 
 poor heart should be at rest even now ! " 
 
 "It will be at rest presently," said Milly, in a 
 
294 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 low voice ; and then, seeing the look of terror in her 
 mother's tearful eyes "I do not mean at rest in 
 the fullest meaning of the word. God forbid ! I 
 mean that here, in this world, her heart will rest 
 from its sorrow ; that she will he happy yet, and full 
 of peace and joy I " 
 
 "I do not know I cannot tell," said Mrs. Lil- 
 lingstone, doubtfully. 
 
 "Yes, yes, dear mamma! I anticipate the day 
 when Helen's heart will be filled with a joy that 
 nothing can take away, with a peace which the 
 world giveth not, which passeth all understanding !" 
 
 Mrs. Lillingstone looked wistfully at the two ex- 
 pressive faces : there was Katty's calm, quiet brow, 
 that told of the peace within, and there was the 
 clear, deep light shining in Mildred's wonderful eyes, 
 that spoke of faith and hope, and undying love and 
 
 j7 ! 
 
 " I would give worlds for that peace ! " she said, 
 mournfully. " Oh ! for the rest that earthly storms 
 cannot destroy ! Eut where shall it be found ? " 
 
 Half-timidly, half-deprecatingly, lest her mother 
 should think she assumed the office of teacher, 
 Katty opened her little pocket Testament, and pointed 
 out to her these words " Come unto Me, all ye that 
 labour and are heavy laden, and 1 will give you 
 rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for 
 I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find 
 rest unto your souls ; for My yoke is easy, and My 
 burden is light." 
 
SHADOWS. 295 
 
 CHAPTEK III. 
 
 SHADOWS. 
 
 IN three days Helen came down-stairs again, and to 
 all appearance she was better than she had been for 
 many weeks. Things began to subside in their 
 ordinary channels, and Arthur Lascelles' name was 
 mentioned no more in the family circle. 
 
 But there was a cloud, a shade of sadness on the 
 quiet household, a shadow deeper and more abiding 
 than had been experienced since their first coming to 
 Oldminster. Outwardly there was little change ; 
 Helen was quieter, but she could scarcely be sadder, 
 than she had been for several months ; she had been 
 irritable and nervous; others less loving and more 
 impartial than those who were constantly at her 
 side might have called her cross. Now, she was 
 gentle and subdued, and there was a touching tone 
 of meek patience in all she said and did ; and after 
 the first few days she ceased entirely to speak of her 
 sorrow, or of him by whom it was caused. Mrs. 
 Lillingstone pursued her usual tranquil course ; but, 
 unspoken and unrecognised, there was a great and 
 
296 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 ever-present fear in her inmost heart. Katty was 
 "busy as was her wont with household duties, and 
 Mildred found abundant occupation in attending to 
 Alice's education, in her own studies, and in the 
 manifold labours of love among her school-children 
 and the poor of the neighbourhood, to say n'othing of 
 some old women who lived on the borders of Hasle- 
 slack Moor, and who always counted upon a regular 
 hebdomadal visit from Miss Milly, to whom they 
 recounted the exact progress of their " rheumatics," 
 and asthmas, and other infirmities, and listened in 
 return to the chapter and the hymns she invariably 
 read, and to the pleasant remarks that as invariably 
 succeeded. 
 
 But once or twice it occurred to Katty that Mil- 
 dred was not quite so bright as once she had been, 
 and she wondered whether there was anything 
 further than Helen's sorrow to dash the sunshine of 
 that uniformly cheerful brow and eye. She decided 
 that there could be nothing else, since other troubles 
 they had none, unless it were a secret, unconfessed 
 anxiety about Bertha and Milly was open as the 
 noon-day. 
 
 And yet Mildred had a trouble of her own a 
 quiet, deep, hidden trouble, that no one in her own 
 home ever suspected. Only Janet Campbell who 
 was endowed with wonderfully acute perceptions, 
 especially where those were concerned whom she 
 tenderly loved, as she did her cousin Mildred divined 
 
SHADOWS. 297 
 
 her secret the secret which she flattered herself no 
 one in tho world knew, or ever would know ; and 
 Janet loved her all the better for the discovery she 
 made. Milly had visited Strathallan a second time, 
 and Janet had been twice at Oldminster, and the two 
 girls, though very dissimilar in many respects, had 
 formed a friendship of the closest and tenderest 
 nature. Still, as we have seen, Milly had her secret, 
 and kept it ; and Janet was nearly the last person 
 in the world to whom she would have wished to 
 confide it. 
 
 Erom the beginning of June till late in the 
 autumn of the preceding year, Milly and Alice had 
 been at Strathallan. Bertha's name was seldom 
 mentioned there ; never in the presence of Eric, who 
 was wonderfully changed since those days when he 
 had taught himself to look upon his beautiful cousin 
 as his bride elect, and the future lady of Strathallan. 
 It is true he was that age when a few years make 
 more difference than before or after the age when the 
 last lingering traces of the youth disappear, and the 
 principles and character of the full-grown man begin 
 to develop themselves in every word and action of 
 the daily life. But Lady Campbell and Janet and 
 Mildred all knew that other changes than those of 
 the mere transitions of increasing years had passed 
 over the beloved son and brother the cousin so 
 highly esteemed, so reverentially admired, so affec- 
 tionately regarded. 
 
298 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 Eric was now in his twenty-seventh year, and it 
 was a great disappointment to his father that he 
 was still unmarried, still disengaged, and, worst of 
 all, as there was every reason to believe, still un- 
 attached. Sir Allan had never quite forgiven 
 Bertha ; he had desired his wife and daughter not 
 to speak of her in his presence, and for a time the 
 very name of Lillingstone was a source of irritation 
 and chagrin. Nevertheless, the Master of Strath- 
 allan was a just man, and after a while his con- 
 science rebuked him so severely, that he ceased to 
 blame the unoffending relatives of his offending 
 niece, and he became willing, and even anxious, to 
 accede to Janet's earnest request that she might pay 
 another visit to Oldminster, and bring back with her 
 her favourite Mildred and one of her other cousins. 
 
 Helen was the one unanimously chosen to ac- 
 company Mildred ; but she could not be induced to 
 leave home ; she was half hoping, poor girl, half 
 expecting to see Arthur in the course of the summer, 
 and nothing would have prevailed upon her to ab- 
 sent herself from Oldminster while there remained 
 the remotest chance of the fulfilment of her long- 
 cherished desires. So Alice went to Strathallan, 
 for Katty had been in town with Bertha, and at 
 Cheltenham with Mrs. Gaunt, formerly Miss Flora 
 Golding, with whom they had all been very intimate 
 ever since Bertha's marriage. Alice was extremely 
 happy at Strathallan, and she had no idea that her 
 
SHADOWS. 299 
 
 uncle wouM have preferred her remaining at Old- 
 minster, or anywhere else, solely because she re- 
 minded him so strongly of Bertha, whom indeed she 
 resembled more and more as she grew older. 
 
 Alice was rather afraid of Eric ; he was always 
 kind and considerate, but " so grave," as she said in 
 her first letter from the Highlands to her friend 
 Mary Herbert. And she often caught him looking 
 into her face with an expression of mingled pain 
 and pleasure that she scarcely knew how to interpret, 
 though she was not without some indistinct notion 
 of the feeling with, which he regarded her, for she 
 knew that at times she was startlingly like Bertha, 
 and she knew also what Bertha had once been to 
 her cousin Eric, which knowledge, it must be re- 
 marked, was acquired rather by inferences than by 
 any direct communication on the subject. However, 
 for her the summer glided joyfully away, and she 
 left Strathallan with undisguised regret. It was the 
 end of October when they once more found them- 
 selves in the familiar High Street of Oldminster. 
 
 And from that time Mildred had been keeping 
 stern watch over herself; she did not know, till the 
 excitement of her return was over, how much of her 
 thoughts, her interests, and her happiest associations 
 were left behind her at Strathallan. Morning, noon, 
 and night, she found herself wondering whether Eric 
 would like this, and disapprove of that ; and she fell 
 unconsciously into many of his ways of thinking and 
 
300 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 reasoning, and working out the questions which 
 they had so often discussed during the months they 
 had spent together in the peaceful retirement of 
 Strathallan. And then, as weeks rolled on, and 
 the tide of daily life flowed onwards in its ordinary 
 quiet channels, and the intercourse that had been so 
 sweet grew more and more a thing of the past, there 
 came a void in poor Milly's heart, a craving that 
 made her feel very wretched and very much dis- 
 satisfied with herself; and, humbled and ashamed, 
 she scolded herself severely, and lectured herself 
 without ceasing on the weakness and foolishness 
 and general impropriety of indulging such vain 
 regrets, such fruitless hopes. 
 
 And for some time Mildred went on battling with 
 herself, trying to dismiss Strathallan, and above all 
 the heir of Strathallan, from her thoughts ; but she 
 made little progress, and at last became convinced of 
 what, however, no one else suspected, a decline of 
 strength, and a failing of general health, that told 
 her she had taxed to the utmost her powers of en- 
 durance. 
 
 She would certainly have succumbed, physically 
 at least, had not Helen's affairs reached a crisis, and 
 so occupied her mind and called out her sympa- 
 thies, that she had but scant leisure to dwell on 
 her own peculiar source of sadness. But now that 
 all was settled, and all immediate causes of anxiety 
 removed, she found herself no nearer a satisfactory 
 
SHADOWS. 301 
 
 state of mind than when she first returned from 
 Scotland. "What was to be done ? Self-upbraiding, 
 self-discipline, and even self-torture, seemed to be of 
 little avail. What could she do, or not do, in order 
 to regain that freedom of heart which she had so un- 
 wittingly lost ? And then came another question 
 did she honestly wish to be free of heart ? And, 
 dealing uncompromisingly with herself, Mildred was 
 obliged to confess, that a return to her former in- 
 difference, or rather, to her mere cousinly regard, 
 was the last thing she would desire. 
 
 So once more she took herself to task, and seriously 
 contemplated the state of her feelings. And thus, 
 reasoning and musing, a new light broke in upon 
 her. " It never occurred to me," she said to her- 
 self, as she sat alone in her room, cogitating and 
 sewing with all diligence ; "it never occurred to me 
 before to regard this unreturned affection of mine as 
 a trial a trial sent by God. Yet, of course, it has 
 all happened under His permission, and by His 
 express will. Let me look matters fairly in the 
 face. I do -jes! I do care for Eric, as he docs not 
 care for me ; and I cannot help caring, for all I have 
 tried very hard indeed. In one way he is fond of 
 me, I know. I am his dear cousin ; but nothing 
 more no, nothing, nothing more ! Now, what 
 shall I do? When one really loves, and at the 
 same time esteems and reverences any particular 
 person, I am quite sure it is useless to try to 
 
THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 unlove that person ; it is only just killing one's self 
 by inches, and gaining nothing in the end. ' Love is 
 love for evermore ; ' that is, true love is the love 
 that is founded on esteem and respect, and the 
 admiration that one must feel for real goodness and 
 real superiority of character and intellect. I have 
 thought often lately of that old song, which says 
 
 ' It is the heaviest of all pain 
 To love and not be loved again.' 
 
 But the old song says wrong: it is far severer 
 pain, it must be, to make a mistake in loving, and 
 then to find out that one has been caring for a myth, 
 an ideality, that never really existed to find one's 
 self loving on, and respect and reverence gone, and 
 gone for evermore ! Nothing could be so bitter as 
 to find that which we held dearest and best upon 
 earth proving itself unworthy ; and that is what 
 my poor Helen has had to suffer. Well, there is no 
 shame, no real shame, as God holds shame and good 
 report, in loving one so good, so high-minded, and 
 so noble as my cousin Eric. Such love must do one 
 good, even if in one sense it must be for ever in 
 vain. And no one must know anything about it no, 
 never unless perhaps I were dying, and then, when 
 1 was surely going where there are no false shames, 
 no foolish pride, no wrong standards, I think I 
 should like him to know that I did care for him." 
 And in spite of all her good sense and right- 
 
SHADOWS. 303 
 
 mindedness, poor Milly felt just then as if dying 
 would be the happiest and the easiest solution of 
 all her difficulties. And she even went to the book- 
 case, and took down "Records of Woman, " and 
 looked for "Properzia Bossi," and repeated to her- 
 self a line well impressed on her memory a line 
 she half wished she could adopt as her own 
 
 "But I go 
 Under the silent wings of peace to dwell." 
 
 But it was only for a few minutes that Mildred 
 felt so sad and desponding ; the weakness passed, and 
 she went on to herself: "Hush, hush ! poor, way- 
 ward, foolish heart ! Bather let me bear the pain 
 as becomes a true woman and a true Christian. I 
 will try to forget that it is necessary to be happy ; 
 perhaps it is not necessary to be happy as we 
 commonly regard happiness. I will try to live for 
 others, to put myself out of the question, to work 
 hard whiJe the daylight lasts, to draw pleasure from 
 every pure and innocent source, and to be content to 
 wait till evening-time for the rest and the joy that 
 will surely come at last. I have so many blessings, 
 so many rich gifts ! Life has been to me, on the 
 whole, a draught of so much sweetness, and shall I 
 reject the first bitter drop my Father sees fit to 
 mingle in my cup ? Thank God for His inestimable 
 mercies ! Yes, I thank Him for creation, preserva- 
 tion, and all the blessings of this life, but still more 
 
304 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 do I thank Him for that greatest of all blessings, the 
 hope of eternal life in His dear Son ! Sorrow may 
 endure for a lifetime, though I do not helieve it will, 
 or ought ; but there is all eternity for rest and peace, 
 and the inconceivable bliss of the world to come. 
 Oh, God will give me strength, God will guide me 
 in the right way ! He will show me how to glorify 
 Him best! I must not be a dismal, disappointed, 
 embittered Christian, if there can be such an anomaly, 
 which I don't believe there is, or ever was, or ever 
 will be. "Why should the children of the Kingdom 
 wear sackcloth all their days ? 
 
 ' Nor by the wayside ruins let us mourn, 
 Who have th' eternal towers for our appointed bourn.' 
 
 One thing I am quite certain about I must not 
 let myself be idle ; I must not give myself time to 
 meditate on my sorrow, to reflect on the brightness 
 and joy that might have been. I think I will go 
 twice a week to Specleton through the summer, and 
 it is high time Alice began German. Then I must 
 devote myself more than ever to Helen ; she needs 
 all our love, all our sympathy, poor darling ! Her 
 grief is infinitely beyond mine ; and oh ! she does not 
 see yet that pain is discipline, and that discipline is 
 sent in love, and from Love. And the life to come 
 is not so fair to her as the life that might have been 
 hers, had things been different. Not yet, not yet ! 
 but she will see it one day I know ! Ah ! I ahall 
 
SHADOWS. 305 
 
 find plenty to do, and, God helping me, I will do it. 
 I shall love Eric all the same, but I have no idea 
 of dying of a broken heart, or of turning into a 
 melancholy, peevish old maid, * crossed in love,' as 
 people call it. Rather let me say 
 
 ' The star of the unconquered will, 
 
 He rises in my breast ; 
 Serene, and resolute, and still, 
 And calm, and self-possessed.' 
 
 And say it, too, humbly and truthfully, and in 
 the strength of One who is the Source and Spring of 
 all calmness and stillness and resolute endurance, 
 and who knows my weakness and sorrow and need." 
 That evening, as Helen lay on the sofa, with her 
 old beloved Tennyson in her hand, she was watching 
 Mildred sitting at the large table, peeling Seville 
 oranges, for it had seemed to her that it was just 
 the right time to be making marmalade, and she 
 thought a little cookery would do her no harm. 
 And as Helen watched the bright, serious eyes, 
 and the calm, quiet mouth, she sighed, and said to 
 herself, " Oh, happy Mildred ! What must it be to 
 be heart-whole, and free, and caring only for the 
 sorrows of others, as she is! Everything in the 
 world seems to give her pleasure ; she is actually 
 peeling those oranges as if she enjoyed it ! And she 
 never seems tired, or melancholy, or out of spirits 
 She is very grave, though, sometimes. I have 
 
306 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 fancied, once or twice, that she had something to 
 grieve her, that she told to no one. But I dare say 
 it is all care for me, dear, good, unselfish Milly! 
 Ah ! she is worth twenty such women as I am, or 
 ever can he ! " 
 
 And Mildred went on with her oranges in silence, 
 and at length Helen asked, "Milly, are you ever 
 miserahle ? " 
 
 " Yes, sometimes," replied Mildred, quickly, and 
 colouring in spite of herself. " But I am never 
 miserable long, or without being ashamed of myself. 
 People who have as many blessings as I have, and 
 the same sure hope of the joy to come, have no right 
 to be miserable." 
 
 "]NTo right? Oh, Milly! as if one could help 
 being miserable ! " 
 
 "One can," replied Milly, firmly. "God never 
 meant any one to be miserable. Everything in the 
 world of nature, as well as in the world of grace, 
 speaks of hope, and the resurrection of that which 
 for a time is taken away and buried out of our 
 sight. Nothing but unrepented sin can make any- 
 body thoroughly and permanently miserable." 
 
 " Happy Milly ! " said Helen, tenderly and mourn- 
 fully. "Eut if you should ever have anything to 
 make you miserable, you may feel quite differently. 
 Theory and experience are two things, you know, 
 dear." 
 
 Helen looked earnestly at her, but Mildred made 
 
SHADOWS. 307 
 
 no reply ; she was peeling her oranges as if just then 
 nothing else in the world was worthy of considera- 
 tion. And after a long silence, her only remark 
 was, "Helen, I think some hlanc-mange would he 9 
 good thing for you. There is isinglass in the 
 house ; I will make you a mould for to-morrow. I 
 heard you tell Alice you were quite tired of calves' - 
 feet jelly." 
 
308 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 A WALK ON THE MOORS. 
 
 THE summer came in all its splendour, and a most 
 brilliant summer it was. Never had the hills and 
 the moors and the deep woods of Specleton looked so 
 beautiful since the Lillingstones came to live at 
 Oldminster. And in July Alfred came home for 
 several weeks, the longest holiday he had taken for 
 nearly five years. He was in his twenty-third year 
 now, and a fine, handsome young man he was, tall 
 and stalwart, with clear, earnest dark eyes, and dark 
 curling hair, and a pair of whiskers that were the 
 delight of Walter's heart, and the secret envy of 
 the younger male branches of the Golding family. 
 Commercial pursuits had certainly not deteriorated 
 him either in looks or in manners, and it needed but 
 a few minutes' converse to be assured that his mind 
 also was still of the highest order, and his tastes 
 still intellectual and refined. 
 
 " And you really like business?" said Katty to 
 him one day, when they were roaming about on 
 Hasleslack Moor. 
 
A WALK ON THE MOORS. 309 
 
 "I do like it, Katty ! My work is my pleasure, 
 and I take a pride in doing it expeditiously and 
 well. Besides, I assure you, business is not, and 
 need not be, the humdrum sort of thing that people 
 commonly suppose. There is as much scope for 
 talent there, as in any of the learned professions. 
 Why, Katty, for the first few weeks, I thought the 
 complications and the ramifications, and the heights 
 and depths, and the ins and outs, of a thorough 
 business life, would be quite beyond my limited 
 capacity. Mastering a Greek author or a knotty 
 problem seemed to be baby-play compared with all 
 the arcana of commerce into which I, an unfledged, 
 uninitiated neophyte, desired to penetrate. Happily, 
 I remembered the advice Dr. Armstrong gave me 
 when I was first promoted to the sixth form to 
 master one thing at once, and to master it thoroughly, 
 before I proceeded to another ; and I gave heed, too, 
 to an injunction that I received from the pages of a 
 little French book that Bertha gave me when I 
 began to study the language, and it was this, 
 ' Learn something perfectly, and refer everything 
 thereunto.' " 
 
 " And was it long before you began to understand 
 what was required of you ? " 
 
 "No; after the first four or five weeks I began 
 to see my way pretty clearly. One thing explained 
 another, and one thing led to another, and Mr. 
 Golding was most kind, and extremely patient ; and 
 at last it all seemed to come to me, and ever since I 
 
310 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 have found the greatest pleasure in mastering the 
 difficulties, and unravelling the intricacies of com- 
 merce." 
 
 " And then you have been abroad several times?" 
 "Yes; I have been over to Spain, and twice to 
 Germany ; and I am not sure whether Mr. Golding 
 will not send me to Monte Video next spring. I 
 have found, too, so many clever and highly educated 
 men since I first devoted myself to commerce, and 
 all revolving in those same mercantile orbits, where, 
 in my ignorance and boyish conceit, I fancied culti- 
 vation and refinement never could exist, and certainly 
 never prosper. It does us good, also, to associate 
 with foreigners ; it rubs off some of our insular pre- 
 judices, at the same time that it makes us appreciate 
 more fully our insular privileges, our national policy, 
 and our national Protestantism. Ah, Katty! how 
 thankful I am now, that I lost that greatly desired 
 scholarship ! Situated as I was, and am, what 
 would Oxford have done for me ? Mind, I don't 
 undervalue an university education, but for me it 
 vould have been of little avail. I can smile now at 
 .ny own folly, at groping my way so blindly and 
 so ignorantly. What I clearly proposed to myself 
 when once I had taken my degree, I cannot now 
 imagine. How strange it is to look back upon one's 
 old self after the lapse of ever so few years, and feel 
 constrained to own one's utter want of common 
 sense in so very many particulars ! " 
 
 "Very; I know full well what that is. But, 
 
A WALK ON THE MOORS. 311 
 
 Alfred, may I ask you I do so want to know are 
 you any nearer the end you proposed to yourself 
 almost seven years ago ? Is Lillingstone any nearer 
 being yours ?" 
 
 "Much nearer, Katty dear, thank God! If I 
 complete the Monte Yideo transactions to Mr. Gold- 
 ing's satisfaction, I believe, nay, I am pretty sure, 
 he intends taking me into the firm. Nor is that all ; 
 since I have become a man of business and in these 
 wide-awake, go-ahead times, Kate, you cannot tell 
 how business-habits sharpen one's wits I have spent 
 some of my leisure time in going over our own 
 affairs ; and it seems to me, I am not quite sure yet, 
 that there is every cause to believe that our misfor- 
 tunes, humanly speaking, originated quite as much 
 in our ignorance and incapacity in the simplest affairs 
 of business, as in our evident imprudence and care- 
 less expenditure. There has been falsehood and 
 treachery at work, Katty, if I mistake not ; there 
 have been those who have fattened themselves, and 
 are yet thriving on the spoils of Lillingstone. If 
 what I conjecture be right, it will not take half the 
 money I thought, to redeem my inheritance." 
 
 "Oh, Alfred! can it indeed be so? What will 
 mamma feel when she first sees a prospect of return- 
 ing to Lillingstone ! What shall we all feel ! But, 
 nevertheless, I have learned to love Oldminster 
 exceedingly, and I shall be very sad when I come 
 to bid it farewell." 
 
312 THE L1LL1NGSTONES. 
 
 " One thing, Katty what I say now is said in 
 confidence, though I don't mind letting Hilly know. 
 That girl has sense and mother- wit enough for half- 
 a-dozen ordinary women ! Mamma must know 
 nothing, and Helen must know nothing ; they are 
 not strong enough to bear anxiety and suspense, and 
 there may be sore disappointment in store for me 
 yet. I intend to take the invaluable advice of the 
 town clerk of Ephesus. I shall go through the 
 documents once more, and then I shall consult Mr. 
 Golding, and if he agrees with me, and thinks that 
 there is an honest and a likely case, I shall submit 
 it to legal inspection, and if I receive a favourable 
 opinion, proceed at once to institute inquiries that 
 ought to have been made many years ago." 
 
 " Do you remember that Sandmouth lawyer that 
 we all used to dislike so very much? His name 
 was Gryde, I think. Well, I have often fancied 
 that man was false ; if he spoke to me in that fawn- 
 ing, cringing way he had, I always felt uneasy, and 
 wished he would go away, and never come to Lilling- 
 stone again. I remember him when I was quite a 
 little girl. I could not bear him then because he 
 squinted, and had a broken nose, and because some- 
 body said that his hair, which was raven-black, you 
 know, was dyed, its natural hue being carotty." 
 
 " You are right. Gryde is the very man I sus- 
 pect ; he still manages the Lillingstone estates, and, 
 unless I greatly belie him, he has built up his family 
 
A WALK ON THE MOORS. 313 
 
 on the ruin of ours ; and it is commonly said of him 
 in the neighbourhood, that he has feathered his own 
 nest at the expense of his integrity. But there are 
 others who, if he be guilty, must be implicated in 
 his fraud ; and altogether, I fear, it will be an ex- 
 tremely complicated affair, requiring great caution, 
 tact, prudence, and sober judgment. Let us talk 
 no more about Gryde, at present, Katty." 
 
 " Very well, there are a hundred other and better 
 things to talk about. In the first place, how did 
 you find Bertha when you were in London some 
 time since?" 
 
 1 1 Very well in health, and prospering externally ; 
 but I suppose you would wish to inquire further 
 well, then, I thought her looking faded and dis- 
 satisfied and fretful ; and between ourselves, Katty, 
 I think she leads Granville such a life as I would 
 not lead, no, not if in compensation thereof, I might 
 have Lillingstone back again to-morrow ! A better 
 fellow than Granville Golding never lived, even a 
 million of money has done him no harm ; and if a 
 man can stand sudden and extraordinary prosperity, 
 he must be a really good man. How did you find 
 matters last year ? " 
 
 " Not at all as I should like to have found them. 
 I really should not like to say what I thought of 
 their domestic portraiture. There was only one 
 thing at Eedlands that gave me undivided pleasure, 
 and that was the society of my little nieces. They 
 
314 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 are sweet children, Alfred ; Bertha has half promised 
 to bring them down with her when she comes in the 
 autumn ; and if she does, I shall try to persuade her 
 to leave Lily with us for the winter. You cannot 
 think how it pleases me to enact the rdle of ma 
 tante" 
 
 " Yes ; I was delighted with the children. They 
 see hut very little of their mother though, I fear. 
 Granville doats on them, and thinks no man in 
 Christendom is blessed with two such lovely little 
 daughters as he is. Eric need not fret for what 
 he has lost. Bertha would never have made him 
 happy, and I shall tell him so some day, as I did 
 tell Mildred yesterday. Helen was very wearied 
 with staying with Bertha ; but then, poor thing, she 
 was in no mood for gaieties, and 'going into society 
 was a penance rather than a pleasure to her." 
 
 " That reminds me I have been wanting to catch 
 you alone ever since yesterday morning, that I 
 might speak to you about Helen. It is my belief 
 that she is in a very bad state of health ; she has 
 been ailing so long, without any decided form of 
 illness, that you are all getting accustomed to her 
 invalid looks and ways, and are therefore insensible 
 to the slow but sure advances of what may be in- 
 sidious and incurable disease. I don't want to 
 frighten you, Katty, but Helen looks to me like a 
 person in a decline. "What does Dr. Thwaites say of 
 her?" 
 
A WALK ON THE MOORS. 315 
 
 " He has not seen her for some weeks ; she says 
 she does not need advice, and that it would be an 
 unnecessary expense. A few days before you came 
 mamma wished to send for him ; but Helen would 
 not hear of it ; she even declared she would not see 
 him if he were sent for; and so we gave up the idea." 
 
 " Nevertheless she shall see him before she is 
 twenty-four hours older. I have great confidence 
 in Dr. Thwaites, and I think if there were danger 
 he would warn us of it without hesitation." 
 
 " I am sure he would. But oh, Alfred ! I cannot 
 think there is anything serious to be apprehended. 
 Helen has been for months as you see her now ; all 
 last winter she was so delicate that we kept her very 
 much in the house, and I do not see that there is 
 any alteration for the worse." 
 
 " How long has she taken to breakfast regularly 
 in bed?" 
 
 " Since the beginning of the winter. In the cold 
 weather we would not let her get up at the ordinary 
 time, and when the spring came the practice was 
 somehow continued. Nothing was said about it, 
 but I went on carrying up her breakfast morning 
 after morning. And then came the breaking off of 
 the engagement, and for a while she was worse, and 
 had to be kept very quiet, and since then she has 
 seemed to prefer being very much in her room ; and 
 I must confess that at the present time she comes 
 down later than she ever did before." 
 
316 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 LA 
 
 "And is she always the same as she has been 
 while I have been at home ? Why, Katty, she goes 
 to the sofa as instinctively as you and I take a chair 
 on coming into the room ; and she seems to need it, 
 too, for the fatigue of dressing is evidently almost 
 too much for her. And what does she eat ? " 
 
 " Very little, very little indeed. Oh, Alfred, you 
 make me very sorrowful, and I feel so grieved that 
 I have not noticed these little indications earlier ! 
 But it has become such a regular thing for Helen to 
 lie on the sofa, and to seem weak and languid, that 
 it has ceased to alarm us." 
 
 " I can quite understand how it is. If I had 
 been at home like the rest of you, I should have been 
 equally unimpressed with her altered ways and 
 looks. She has declined so very gradually, that the 
 different stages have been and are imperceptible to 
 those who are with her from day to day. How- 
 ever, Dr. Thwaites shall see her to-morrow ; I shall 
 tell him to pay me a visit, and my place to-morrow 
 morning shall be by her sofa ; she will not object to 
 see him as a friend, though she may not wish to 
 consult him as her medical adviser." 
 
 And then for a time the two walked on in silence, 
 for Katty 's heart was very heavy, and she was re- 
 proaching herself with carelessness on her sister's 
 behalf. How could she have been so blind, so 
 thoughtless, as not to have noticed the slow decay 
 which seemed creeping over Helen's delicate frame ! 
 
A WALK ON THE MOOKS. 317 
 
 Presently Alfred said: "And now, Katty, I have 
 something else that I want to tell you before we 
 reach home. Do you know that a few weeks ago I 
 had an adventure, that I should like to confide to 
 you, and to no one else ?" 
 
 "What was it?" 
 
 " Listen. One evening in the month of May, I 
 went across, as I often do, when business hours are 
 over, to the Cheshire side. For some reason or 
 other we were clear of the counting-house unusually 
 early, and I took the six o'clock boat to Bock Perry, 
 got a cup of tea there, and walked on to Eastham. 
 There had been a pic-nic in the Eastham Woods, 
 and many people went back to Liverpool in the last 
 boat, which I also took to return home. It was a 
 lovely, warm evening, and the party on board were 
 very full of merriment. One group especially 
 attracted my attention ; there was an elderly gentle- 
 man with a countenance that by no means pre- 
 possessed me in his favour, and with him were 
 several young ladies, one of whom I speedily dis- 
 covered to be his daughter, and whom he and the 
 others called Ada. 
 
 "Now Miss Ada was a very pretty little thing, 
 with long curls and a broad, flapping hat, but she 
 was much more like a kitten than a young lady. 
 Her mirth seemed inexhaustible; she was full of 
 pranks, and her spirits were evidently at the highest 
 pitch. All the way down the river she laughed and 
 
318 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 chatted, and tripped about to her heart's content, to 
 the amusement of her young companions, and to the 
 undisguised admiration of her elderly and pompous 
 papa. When we reached Liverpool it was rather 
 late, and it would have been nearly dark had it not 
 been for a brilliant full moon. There was some 
 little difficulty about the landing, and though the 
 rope was thrown out, we remained at a distance of 
 about two yards from the stage, and the plank was 
 not laid down. Several gentlemen, more adven- 
 turous than wise, I suppose, and annoyed at the 
 detention, leaped ashore easily enough, and were 
 soon lost in the crowd. Little Miss Ada, full of 
 frolic and mischief, declared she would follow their 
 example, for she was quite tired of stopping there 
 all night ; and before any one could interfere she 
 sprang to the edge of the chasm, which, in the 
 uncertain light looked narrower than it really was. 
 Another lady, older and steadier than the rest of 
 the party, put out her hand to detain her ; but she 
 shook her wilful little head, and saying something 
 saucy, managed to elude her grasp. Whether she 
 was prompted by a spirit of daring, or recklessness, 
 or whether the engine, which at that moment made 
 a stroke or two backwards, threw her off her balance, 
 I cannot tell ; it all happened in a moment ; she 
 seemed to attempt the leap, and immediately fell 
 into the water between the steamer and the landing- 
 stage. In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred such 
 
A WALK ON THE MOORS. 319 
 
 an accident would have been fatal, for there was 
 every danger of being drawn in among the iron 
 piers of the stage, or sucked in under the boat ; but 
 you know I swim like a fish, Katty, and dive to 
 perfection ; so without a second thought I jumped in 
 after her, and, providentially, I found her almost 
 immediately, and had her safe in my arms before 
 half the passengers knew what had happened. In 
 less time than I have taken to tell you all this, we 
 were both safe on the landing-stage ; of course, We 
 were both soaked in the dirty sea- water, and she 
 was terribly frightened and hysterical. I tried to 
 cut off without further parley, but I was seized by 
 the father, who showed every disposition to go down 
 on his knees to me ; and before I knew where I was, 
 I was hurried away to his carriage, which was 
 awaiting him under the Baths. I would not get in, 
 however ; I preferred walking in my wet clothes ; 
 but the old gentleman made me give my address, 
 and next day he cam*, full of gratitude and praises 
 of my prowess, which I know looked more distin- 
 guished than it really was. I was invited to his 
 house, and I went accordingly, and found him to be 
 a person of enormous wealth and good family, with 
 this only daughter and child, the Miss Ada of my 
 story. 
 
 ""Well, Katty, how do you think he wished to 
 reward me? A week after our adventure in the 
 Mersey he offered me his daughter's hand, with all 
 
320 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 her wealth and all her expectations, and an intima- 
 tion that the young lady herself was by no means 
 averse to the match." 
 
 "And what did you do?" 
 
 "Do? I could do but one thing respectfully 
 decline. I could not consent to marry the girl be- 
 cause I fished her out of the water, which any jack- 
 tar would have done had he been where I was. I 
 cared nothing at all for little Miss Ada ; she was and 
 is no more to me than any other young lady in Lan- 
 cashire, or Cheshire, or any other of the fifty-two 
 shires in south Britain. And a million, or two millions 
 of money would not tempt me to sell myself to an 
 unloved bride, and so I could only bow, and feel 
 highly honoured, and quite unworthy, &c., &c., and 
 say l no.' The old gentleman grew first stiff, and 
 then angry, and then enraged ; and I was very glad 
 to get away and leave West Derby behind me. But 
 if I could have liked her, her money would have 
 bought back Lillingstone, you know." 
 
THE DOCTOR ON LOVE AFFAIRS. 
 
 CHAPTER, Y. 
 
 THE DOCTOR ON LOVE AJfcTAIJIS. 
 
 THAT visit of Alfred's was like a" green spot in a 
 sterile plain. It did everybody good. Mrs. Lilling- 
 stone thought herself happy to be able to see his 
 face and hear his voice. Katty was in a state of 
 bliss whenever she could secure a long, uninter- 
 rupted season of converse with her darling brother. 
 Helen was certainly the better for his presence, for 
 she was drawn more continually out of herself, and 
 roused more frequently to interest in extraneous 
 subjects. Mildred was cheered and helped in many 
 ways ; and the children, as Walter and Alice were 
 still called, were wild with delight when he entered 
 into their pursuits, and when they could, as was 
 sometimes the case, secure him all to themselves. 
 
 Helen was better ; but Dr. Thwaites's verdict had 
 not been favourable. He thought that, to say the least 
 of it, she was in a very precarious state. "With every 
 care, and with attention to certain rules prescribed, he 
 hoped, he thought she might .in time become stronger 
 
 Y 
 
322 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 and more healthy ; but everything depended upon 
 the state of her mind ; and meeting Mildred one day 
 as she was coming home from Hasleslack, he said to 
 her, " Yon see, Miss Milly, this is a case in which 
 medical skill alone is insufficient. The evil lies in 
 the mind, and till that is soothed and calmed, 
 there is little hope of medicine or regimen effecting 
 a cure. Confound that parson ! with his Gregorian 
 chants, and his yolumes of poetry ! " 
 
 Mildred could not help smiling at the good doctor's 
 vehemence ; but the momentary brightness faded as 
 he continued, " Now to tell truth, Miss Mildred, I 
 half waylaid you this afternoon that I might say a 
 word in season. As I have just been saying, every- 
 thing depends on the state of the mind ; and I can- 
 not say it too often, because I am nearly powerless 
 unless you and the rest of your family second my 
 efforts ; though, after all, you and I can do but 
 little, unless the invalid herself struggle against her 
 own inclinations she must not give way ; giving way 
 kills more women than all other diseases that l flesh 
 is heir to,' and it kills men too, occasionally. 1 
 don't mean that people really die of what is popu- 
 larly called a broken heart though, God help us ! 
 there are such mournful cases but I refer to a 
 habit of nursing grief, neglecting exercise, and the 
 proper seasons of taking food and sleep ; fretting and 
 fuming one's self into a state of fever and chronic 
 nervousness, and so inducing maladies, or, at best, 
 
THE DOCTOR ON LOVE AFFAIRS. 323 
 
 bringing the constitution into such a state, that 
 minor indispositions shall have a power and a vio- 
 lence which, in other days, scarcely belonged to the 
 more fatal species of disease." 
 
 " What do you consider to be the best specific 
 for heart- complaint, doctor?" asked Mildred. He 
 little thought she also was a sufferer, and stood in 
 need of proper medicines. 
 
 " Firstly, and chiefly, trust in God, and a good 
 hope of the rest and the joy of eternal life. Secondly, 
 work earnest, healthy, regular work, and plenty 
 of it. If Miss Helen had had to get her own living, 
 it is highly probable that she would not now be 
 standing in need of my poor services." 
 
 Mildred made no reply; but her heart endorsed 
 every word that the doctor uttered. He was silent 
 for a little while, and then he broke out again 
 * ; Bless me ! I am going to forget the principal thing 
 I wanted to say. The chief thing to be dreaded 
 now, on your sister's account, is any sudden shock 
 any bad news coming to her without previous pre- 
 paration. I tell you candidly it would kill her ; in 
 her present state she would not, humanly speaking, 
 have a chance. She might not die there and then ; 
 but she would not live many months, probably not 
 many weeks : it would be her death-blow." 
 
 " Have you any reason for apprehending such a 
 shock?" asked Mildred, quickly. " Do you know 
 of any tidings afloat, likely to agitate my sister ? " 
 \ J 
 
324 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 " Well, I confess I did not speak at a venture- 
 Yesterday I was at Harrop, and I heard some news, 
 or rather some gossip, that completely put me out of 
 sorts ; but I dare say it is only mere talk/' 
 
 " "What is it, doctor? anything about Helen ? " 
 
 " Something that concerns her very nearly. I 
 wish with all my heart it didn't. The Berringtons, 
 who, you know, always affected the closest intimacy 
 with Mr. Lascelles hang him ! are telling every- 
 body that he is engaged, and on the point of marriage 
 with the Lady Isabella Blandville, second daughter 
 of his patron, the Earl of Southcombe." 
 
 " I cannot believe it. Thoroughly as I would 
 deprecate Mr. Lascelles' conduct, I cannot imagine 
 him guilty of so much baseness." 
 
 " Gently, gently, my dear Miss Milly! As the 
 young man was off with his old love, he can hardly 
 be called base because he is on with the new ! So 
 long as a man does not court two women at once, 
 we must pity and forgive the versatility of his affec- 
 tions, or rather, fancies ; and the Reverend Arthur 
 Lascelles, with his deep tones, and his deep, dark 
 eyes, and his white hands, is just the man to fasci- 
 nate any number of silly girls. Oh, the 
 
 * Snowy-banded, delicate handed, 
 Dilletante priest!'" 
 
 " But, doctor, I hope I am not uncharitable, but I 
 cannot help thinking that this fact if it be a fact 
 
THE DOCTOR ON LOVE AFFAIRS. 325 
 
 explains his evident readiness, his great anxiety, to 
 break with Helen. I am afraid our poor Helen was 
 a stumbling-block in his way, and he was only too 
 thankful to lay hold on any pretext for regaining 
 his freedom. Well, as far as I am concerned, I do 
 not mind who he marries, or how soon: but I 
 greatly fear the news will have a very serious effect 
 upon my sister. Had we better gently hint the 
 truth, and so break it to her by degrees, or had we 
 better be silent, and keep newspapers and news- 
 mongers out of her way ? " 
 
 "Miss Hilly, you are a thorough woman; you 
 rush to a conclusion without properly regarding 
 your premises ! Mr. Lascelles' engagement may be 
 nothing more than a groundless report, and it would 
 be unwise to take any steps till we are certified that 
 we are not going to circumvent a shadow." 
 
 "And yet, doctor, you thought it necessary to 
 take a step in advance, or why did you come to 
 meet me this evening ? " 
 
 " Mere precaution, mere precaution ; nothing 
 more ! Miss Milly, I won't argue with you ; I 
 know of old what the result must bo. "Well, well ! 
 you know there is such a report abroad, and I have 
 told you what would be the consequence of any 
 abrupt communication of such report. I leave the 
 rest to your own excellent judgment." 
 
 Milly walked on gravely and sadly enough, with a 
 miserable conviction in her heart that Helen had 
 
326 THE L1LLINGSTONES. 
 
 been deserted for another, richer and higher born, and 
 it might be, more beautiful and more accomplished, 
 but scarcely more loving, more true, more pure- 
 hearted. It was weeks since Helen had breathed 
 the name of her recreant lover, and how would it be 
 possible to convey to her the tidings of his approach- 
 ing marriage, without giving a thorough shock to 
 the system, already so worn and so shattered with 
 prolonged indisposition, and the unrestrained indul- 
 gence of a great heart-sorrow. 
 
 " Oh, if she were but a little stronger!" said 
 Milly to herself. "If either mind or body were 
 stronger there would be hope ; but as it is I must 
 trust her to God, though He can bring her through 
 this bitter trial, and restore her fading health, and 
 give that vigour of mind which is so essential to 
 earthly peace and daily contentment. He can, I 
 know I never doubted it but will He ? Ah, that 
 is a question I have no right to ask. God's part is 
 to do as pleases Him best ; to work out in His own 
 time and in His own way His sovereign wisdom. 
 It is mine to be quiet, and to trust Him implicitly, 
 and wait till He show me what it is that I should 
 do in this matter ! " 
 
 And meanwhile Dr. Thwaites was philosophising 
 after his own fashion : and just as Mildred brought 
 her reverie to a conclusion, he burst out with the 
 result tf his musings. 
 
 " Miss Milly, of all the mistakes that people make 
 
THE DOCTOR ON LOVE AFFAIRS. 327 
 
 in tliis troublesome world of ours, there is not one 
 more ridiculous and more mischievous than making 
 such a fuss about 'first love,' as poets and novelists 
 reverently name it. I just wish that for one gene- 
 ration everybody could be compelled to marry their 
 < first love.' The next generation would be the 
 wiser for it, I promise you. First love, indeed ! 
 I saw mine the other day." 
 
 " Well, doctor,' 7 said Mildred, turning to him 
 with an amused smile she could not repress, "and 
 how did you feel ? " 
 
 " Shocked, Miss Milly! I hadn't seen her since 
 we parted thirty-five years ago, and I said to myself, 
 quoting ' Locksley Hall,' with a trivial alteration, 
 ' 1 am shamed thro' all my nature to have loved so 
 cross a thing ! ' She has seven children and three 
 grandchildren. She has a thin, meek, subdued hus- 
 band, who goes about, poor creature, like a cat on 
 sufferance ; she has worried him almost out of his 
 senses ; she has alienated her sons and daughters ; 
 she scolds the maids, and chides the man, and makes 
 even the very dogs and the cocks and hens tremble 
 at her voice ! Ah, how gla I was that we fell out 
 over a green silk dress and a yellow spencer ! She 
 might have been Mrs. Thwaites at this very moment ! 
 "What an escape ! Bless that dress and that spencer 
 thing ! I wish I had them in my own house ; I would 
 keep them in a glass case out of reverence and pure 
 gratitude. First love ! first fiddlesticks, I say ! " 
 
328 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 "If you say first fancies, I think you will ba 
 nearer the truth, Dr. Thwaites. I don't believe in 
 a multiplicity of loves ; there may be any number of 
 fancies, more or less violent ; and some people, I am 
 sure, fritter away all their best feelings in these 
 fancies, and have consequently no heart left for a 
 pure and true love, such as is a glory and an honour 
 to any right-minded man or woman ! Fancies are 
 foolish things, and may be laughed at accordingly ; 
 but love is a sacred thing, about which we have no 
 right to jest or to trifle." 
 
 " I beg your pardon, Miss Mildred, I will not 
 jest again on this subject. You are quite right ; I 
 wish there were more young ladies of your way of 
 thinking ; but in most families love is either a 
 tabooed theme of conversation, or else it is degraded 
 into the ignoble and very unworthy pastime of flirta- 
 tion. If young people were brought up to think 
 more sensibly about what is sure, some day or other, 
 to concern them, there would be fewer unhappy 
 marriages. But mothers are in fault ; that's where 
 it is; mothers don't do their duty. Why don't 
 they teach their young daughters that an engage- 
 ment of marriage is, next to the securing of one's 
 personal salvation, the most sacred and solemn act 
 of a lifetime ? But they don't know it themselves, 
 half of them. If you were an elderly physician, in 
 good practice, Miss Milly, you would be heartily 
 sick of silly, frivolous, affected, worldly women." 
 
THE DOCTOR ON LOVE AFFAIRS. 329 
 
 By this time they reached the bridge, and the 
 doctor, who had still one or two professional visits 
 to make, bade her good evening and went on his 
 own way, and she pursued hers up the street, glad to 
 be relieved from the necessity of listening and re- 
 plying, and feeling very tired both in body and 
 mind. When she reached home she found that 
 Alfred and Katty and the children were gone for a 
 walk ; Mrs. Lillingstone was reading a new book 
 that Mrs. Herbert had sent to her that very after- 
 noon, and Helen lay on the sofa half asleep, with 
 the newspaper in her hand, and Milly thought that 
 she looked slighter, more fragile, and more worn 
 than ever. 
 
 She roused up, however, when Mildred came in, 
 and beckoned her to the chair by her sidej and bade 
 her tell her all the news, and how the old women at 
 Hasleslack were, and whether the fields were reaped 
 on the banks of Keir. 
 
 " All the news ! " Mildred's heart sickened 
 within her as she looked into the soft, dark, mourn- 
 ful eyes that met hers with such an innocent con- 
 fiding trust ; she could hardly keep back the tears 
 that would at once have betrayed emotion. But she 
 made a strong effort, and drove back the rising flood, 
 and proceeded to tell the invalid many little un- 
 important trifles, that were fain to interest one who 
 saw so little of the outer world. At last Helen 
 asked her if she had finished the water-colour draw- 
 
330 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 ing of the eastern e-nd of the minster, on which she 
 had been employed for some days. Mildred had 
 finished it ; she had put the finishing touches to her 
 work that morning before Helen came down, and it 
 was lying now in her own room, from whence she 
 volunteered to fetch it for her sister's inspection. 
 
 She was absent from the drawing-room for nearly 
 a quarter of an hour, for several things happened to 
 detain her. As she returned she paused awhile at 
 the back hall-door, thinking on her conversation 
 with Dr. Thwaites, and wondering whether there 
 really was any truth in the report which had reached 
 him at Harrop. One thing she resolved upon, that 
 no more newspapers should be placed within Helen's 
 reach, till she or Katty had first skimmed them over, 
 to discover whether among the " marriages in high 
 life " the one they dreaded to see might be spoken 
 of as " already arranged." There was nothing else 
 to be done. Helen saw so few strangers ihat there 
 was little danger from that source, and Mrs. Herbert 
 and the Goldings would refrain as carefully as them- 
 selves from any abrupt disclosure of such painful 
 tidings. 
 
 With one look at the bright, flowery garden, 
 Mildred turned away and went back to her sister's 
 couch. Mrs. Liliingstone was still absorbed in her 
 book, and Helen lay with her eyes closed, and the 
 newspaper still in her hand. Mildred bent over her 
 to see if she slept, but there was something in the 
 
THE DOCTOR ON LOVE AFFAIRS. 331 
 
 quiet face that was not slumber, and which made 
 Milly's heart beat painfully. She looked up, and at 
 that glance Milly divined the truth. 
 
 "What is it, Helen dear?" she asked, with an 
 assumption of calmness which she was very far from 
 feeling. Helen took up the paper, and without a 
 word pointed to one particular paragraph. Mildred 
 read : 
 
 "On the 20th instant, at St. George's, Hanover 
 
 Square, by the Eight Eeverend the Bishop of "W 
 
 assisted by the Honourable and Eeverend Edgar 
 Blandville, brother of the bride, the Eev. Arthur 
 Lascelles, M.A., Eector of Elston-Magna, to the 
 Lady Isabella Maria Blandville, second daughter of 
 the Earl of Southcombe." 
 
 There was silence when Mildred laid down the 
 paper ; she scarcely dared to look at Helen ; but 
 when she turned towards her, so placid was the 
 brow, so untremulous the lip, that she could scarcely 
 believe that the dreaded moment of disclosure had 
 come and passed over. There was only one thing 
 that showed there had been any cause of discom- 
 posure a bloom, richer and deeper than had ever 
 visited Helen in her best days, glowed now on 
 her sunken cheek, and gave a brilliancy, strange, 
 sad, and unearthly, to her dark and mournful eyes. 
 
 "Helen! my darling! my best Helen!" whis- 
 pered Mildred, " don't grieve about it ; he was not 
 worthy you are better without him." 
 
332 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 " Yes, much better," replied Helen, quietly; "only 
 don't call him unworthy, Milly ; he may be, but I 
 cannot bear to believe it ; and and since all was 
 quite over between us, why should he not choose 
 another ? I hope he will be happy, v ery happy ! 
 He should be if I could make him so." 
 
 " And you forgive him with all your heart ? " 
 
 "With all my heart; at the very first I forgave 
 him. Yes, I hope he is going to be happy ! He has 
 the living of Elston-Magna, you see, that was in 
 Lord Southcoinbe's gift." 
 
 Mildred was amazed and half frightened at Helen's 
 calmness. Pain, fain would she have construed that 
 tranquil tone and manner into rising indifference ; 
 but no, she knew Helen too well, it could not be ; 
 and some instinct told her that this astonishing 
 composure was infinitely more to be dreaded than 
 the wildest storm of lamentation, or the deepest 
 passion of tears. 
 
 The sisters were alone, for Mrs. Lillingstone had 
 stepped into the garden with her book, and Helen 
 said she would go to bed at once, as she did not wish 
 to be present when Mildred told them what had 
 happened. The last thing, Milly bent down to kiss 
 her sister, and whispered "God bless you, darling, 
 and give you strength ! " 
 
 Helen made no answer, but she wrung Mildred's 
 hand with a force that was painful to endure. 
 
THE SECRET OF STRENGTH. 333 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE SECKET OF STEENGTH. 
 
 LIKE all other sweet and pleasant things, Alfred's 
 visit drew to a close ; the last day, the last evening, 
 the last hour came, and there was nothing to be 
 done but to exchange embraces and farewells, and 
 leave quiet Oldminster, for busy, tumultuous Liver- 
 pool. 
 
 " Make haste and get well, Helen!" was his 
 parting injunction to his invalid sister, when on the 
 morning of his departure he came up to her room to 
 say good-bye ; and Helen smiled faintly, and said 
 she would do her best. So Alfred came down-stairs 
 in good spirits about her, and with a firm persuasion 
 that now that all suspense was finally over, and 
 Arthur Lascelles' fate irrevocable, she would gradually 
 recover peace of mind and health of body. 
 
 But as the weeks passed on, and summer waned 
 into autumn, Helen in nowise grew better and 
 stronger. She was always placid and quiet at 
 least when others were by and she seldom suffered 
 
334 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 any pain, or complained of anything beyond extreme 
 languor and debility; but day after day she rose 
 later, and when down- stairs , confined herself more 
 and more to the sofa, which she now scarcely ever 
 left. 
 
 At length it became a regular thing to help her to 
 dress at noon, and to undress her at night ; and one 
 evening she found herself so feeble, that she was glad 
 to allow Mr. Golding, who had dropped in for a chat, 
 to carry her up- stairs. The next day, she declined 
 coming down at all, and 'Dr. Thwaites, when he 
 called, did not press her to leave her room. Yet 
 still Mrs. Lillingstone hoped that a favourable change 
 would take place, and as no positive disease existed, 
 it seemed but reasonable to believe that no real 
 danger was to be apprehended. One day, however, 
 Dr. Thwaites told Katty, that he was so dissatisfied 
 with Helen's progress which was, in fact, no pro- 
 gress at all, but evident retrogression that he wished 
 her to have further advice, and that, with Mrs. Lil- 
 lingstone' s permission, he would bring a celebrated 
 physician from Fleetbridge to see her, and to hold 
 consultation with himself. 
 
 The Eleetbridge doctor came accordingly, and then 
 they all knew the truth Helen was dying, and all 
 hope of recovery had passed away ! Dr. Berry said 
 what Dr. Thwaites had said before him, that immo- 
 derate indulgence in distress of mind, acting upon a 
 naturally feeble constitution, had done the irrevocable 
 
THE SECKET OF STRENGTH. 335 
 
 mischief. Had Helen been stronger in mind, her health 
 might have suffered, but no permanent harm would 
 have ensued ; had she been stronger in body, she 
 might have fretted on for years into a premature 
 old age. Hers was one of those cases where the 
 physical and mental weaknesses act constantly upon 
 each other, till mind and body are alike exhausted, 
 and disease and dissolution are the consequence. 
 
 It was a beautiful September day, and the windows 
 of Helen's room were thrown wide open ; she herself 
 was dressed and lying on the couch, where she could 
 see the flowery garden below, the dark woods beyond 
 the town, the purple moors, and the wavy hills 
 beyond them. 
 
 Mildred was alone with her, sewing diligently at 
 some coarse plain work. 
 
 " Milly, do you never tire?" asked Helen at 
 length, after she had for some minutes watched in 
 silence her sister's busy fingers. 
 
 "Tire, dear? Oh, yes, I am often as good-for- 
 nothing as you can imagine, and I am tired now of 
 pushing this miserable needle in and out of the 
 calico. I will put it away, for I have done the task 
 I gave myself after breakfast, and, if you like, 1 will 
 read to you, mavourneen" 
 
 " Ah do, for I am very tired, Milly very tired of 
 lying here, and watching the butterflies and the bees 
 come and go, and the shadows of the clouds float 
 over the moors and the hills 
 
336 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 * I arn weary of the trees a waving to and fro 
 Of the steadfast skies above, the running brooks below ; 
 All things are the same, but I only I am dreary, 
 And, mother, of my dreariness, behold me very weary.' " 
 
 A volume of Mrs. Barrett Browning's poems lay 
 on the table. Helen had been reading the " Lay of 
 the Brown Rosarie." The deep sadness of her gaze, 
 the mournful intonation of her voice, went to Mil- 
 dred's heart; there was so much she wanted to say 
 to Helen, and latterly she had begun to fear, so little 
 time to say it in; and this morning she thought 
 Helen was disposed for conversation, and they would 
 probably be alone for an hour or two, as Mrs. Lilling- 
 stone, Katty, and Alice, were gone to pay a visit on 
 the Specleton Road. And yet, how to mention the 
 subjects on which she was so anxious to speak she 
 hardly knew, for Helen had latterly shown an 
 unaccountable reserve whenever religious topics were 
 introduced, relapsing into taciturnity even when most 
 pressed to answer a question, or to give an opinion. 
 Mildred took up the volume of poems, wishing it 
 were her own little well-worn Bible ; but fearing 
 abruptly to propose the exchange, she opened at the 
 place where Helen had been reading, and read aloud 
 
 " And were it wisely done, 
 
 If we, who cannot gaze above, should walk the earth alone ? 
 If we, whose virtue is so weak, should have a will so strong, 
 And stand blind on the rocks to choose the right path from the 
 
 wrong : 
 
 To choose, perhaps, a love-lit hearth, instead of Love and Heaven 
 A single rose for a rose-tree, which beareth seven times seven ? 
 
THE SECRET OF STRENGTH. 337 
 
 A rose that droppeth from the hand, that fadeth in the breast, 
 
 Until in grieving for the worst, we learn what is the best ! 
 
 Then breaking into tears ' Dear God ! ' she cried * and must we 
 
 see 
 
 All blissful things depart from us, or ere we go to THEE ? 
 We cannot guess Thee in the wood, or hear Thee in the wind, 
 Our cedars fall around us, ere we see the light behind ; 
 Ay sooth, we feel too strong in weal to need Thee on the road : 
 But woe being come, the soul is dumb that crieth not on God ! * " 
 
 Mildred did not finish the page, for Helen's lips 
 were parted as though she wished to speak, and pre- 
 sently she said, " That is like me, Milly. I am so 
 like that poor Onora, who with her wreath of flowers 
 6 perished mute, for lack of root, earth's nourishment 
 to reach ! ' And oh ! this dreariness, this inexpres- 
 sible dreariness and weariness, that shadows all that 
 is left to me in this world ! " 
 
 "Eut, darling, there is another world a world of 
 brightness and joy ! " 
 
 " Not for me, Mildred, not for me ; I have wasted 
 a lifetime. What have I done to deserve that joy 
 and brightness that you speak of ? " 
 
 " Nothing, dearest! it is a free gift to you, if you 
 will but have it ; you may have it without money 
 and without price ! " 
 
 " Do you know, Milly, I believe I have wasted 
 life even more than other thoughtless people. It is 
 not only that I have lived nearly twenty-four years 
 in the world without serving God, or doing good to 
 men, but I have indulged in morbid sorrow and vain 
 z 
 
338 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 regret. I "have cherished a sad, dreary grief, till I 
 have undermined every foundation of health ; I have 
 felt a certain complacency in suffering, and fading 
 aw.iy under the heavy pressure of my trial ; I have 
 neglected common prudence and common regard for 
 my bodily welfare ; I have never striven to bear and 
 to endure, I could not. I lived in an unreal world, 
 where all was passion and poetry, and what I fancied 
 to be exalted sentiments ; and now now, Milly, the 
 undisciplined, unchastened spirit has worn out the 
 poor, frail, human tabernacle ! " 
 
 "I have thought you very patient, very enduring 
 of late, especially since " 
 
 "Ko, it was not patience, only the dull apathetic 
 submission of despair. Milly, when I seemed so 
 quiet and so resigned, it was only because I was 
 hopeless, stunned, almost sullen. I never said with 
 my lips or in my heart, * Thy will be done ! ' If I 
 could have said that, I don't know, but I think I 
 could have borne it more easily." 
 
 " And cannot you say so now, dearest ? Oh, can't 
 you believe that your Heavenly Father has ordered 
 it all ordered it in mercy and in love ? Cannot you 
 trust Him ? " 
 
 "Yes," said Helen slowly, "I can sometimes; 
 just at this moment I do ; and oh, it is such a feeling 
 of rest when I can really give up my own will, and 
 be content and pleased to lie passive in God's hands ! 
 But oh, Miliy, you will never know what it is to 
 
THE SECRET OF STRENGTH; 339 
 
 look back upon a wasted life, when that life, through 
 one's own reckless wilfulness, is drawing to a close ! 
 I have plucked fair seeming fruit, and fed on ashes ; 
 I have made idols, and I have found them clay ! " 
 
 " But now, darling, you would fain put your idols 
 aside?" 
 
 "I think I would! I am sure I would! 1 am 
 like the prodigal son in the parable all my substance 
 of health and intellect have I spent; all my peace 
 have I bartered for vain shadows ; like him I will 
 arise and go unto my Father, and say unto Him, 
 * Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before 
 Thee, and I am no more worthy to be called Thy 
 child!'" 
 
 There was a throb of unutterable thankfulness in 
 Mildred's heart. Were not the prayers, the wrest- 
 lings of anguish that had risen up, morning, noon, 
 and evening, and through the solemn hours of the 
 dark night, on Helen's behalf, about to be answered ? 
 
 " There is one thing I very much wish to say to 
 you, Milly, and it concerns Alice," resumed Helen, 
 after a pause, in which Milly kept silence, too full of 
 wonder and gratitude to express herself in words. 
 " I think I see in her some of the germs of the same 
 disposition which, untrained and uncontrolled, has 
 been my undoing. She, too, is of a romantic cast of 
 character ; she, too, has a tendency to feed her mind 
 entirely upon fiction and romance, and she will want 
 watching, checking, and guiding." 
 z 2 
 
340 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 "Yes, I have seen it; but I little fancied that 
 you saw it as well. Alice has a refined taste, and a 
 highly wrought imagination, and both of them are 
 precious gifts from God Himself; they must be culti- 
 vated, trained, and balanced with good, sound litera- 
 ture, and plenty of healthy occupation." 
 
 " You do not think it would be well, seeing what 
 her tendencies are, to keep books such books as I 
 have revelled in entirely out of her reach ? " 
 
 " I think it would not be Well at all. As I said 
 before, a taste for poetry, a vivid appreciation of the 
 beautiful, and a fertile imagination, are given by 
 God Himself, and, if carefully trained, wisely regu- 
 lated, and kept in due subjection to the still higher 
 and holier instincts of our nature, they must minister 
 to His glory, and to the welfare of His creatures. 
 I shall make it a rule that Alice only reads such 
 bocks as her elders provide, and I will try always to 
 keep her so well supplied that she shall be under no 
 temptation to seek to supply herself from other 
 sources." 
 
 "Yes; and you will try to make her stronger; 
 you will begin betimes, and arm her for the strife ; 
 you will teach her wherein true grandeur and hero- 
 ism lies; you will place before her the highest 
 standards." 
 
 1 i God helping me, I will place before her the 
 only high and pure, the only safe standard that of 
 living to the glory of God, and in loving dependence 
 
THE SECEET OF STEENGTH. 341 
 
 on His will ! Helen, do you remember my favourite 
 lines, * Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, 1 &c. ? Eor 
 a long time I made them the key-note of many an 
 earnest musing, many a deep dream of watching and 
 waiting, and bearing and working ; but it would not 
 do. The spring, the source, the motive-power must 
 lie deeper than anything that even the glorious 
 * Psalm of Life ' can teach us. One can't be l a hero 
 in the strife/ or ' let the dead past bury its dead,' or 
 keep l heart within and God overhead ; ' above all, 
 one cannot * learn to labour and to wait' of one's 
 own self, and in one's own strength; and it is of 
 little avail that ' each to-morrow find us farther 
 than to-day,' unless it find us farther on the heavenly 
 road, farther from the spirit of the world and from 
 our own old selves, and nearer the blessed end of 
 the journey the race that in the name of Jesus 
 Christ all may try, and all may win ! You see, if I 
 were going to Eleetbridge, it would be worse than 
 useless if every minute found me farther and farther 
 on the Harrop road. I might be resolute and patient 
 and brave, but it would avail me very little if all 
 the while I were pressing forward in the wrong 
 direction." 
 
 " Oh, I have not been resolute or brave, or walk- 
 ing in the right paths either! " said Helen, sighing 
 deeply. "But, Milly, I thought you were fonder 
 than ever of your old friend Longfellow." 
 
 " And so I am ; he is a true poet, and the music 
 
342 THE LILLEslGSTONES. 
 
 of his soul is grave, noble, inspiriting, and cheering. 
 When I have been reading his stanzas, I feel as if 
 I had been taking tonics, or inhaling sea-breezes. 
 But, Helen, if I did not know where the real secret 
 of strength lies if I had never known another and 
 a deeper and holier teaching I don't quite know, 
 but I am afraid Longfellow might have done me 
 harm ; I should have striven and striven, and borne 
 and suffered, and at the last, 
 
 ' By the road-side fallen and perished, 
 Weary with the march of life ! ' " 
 
 " Mildred," said Helen at length, " I cannot 
 help wondering how it will be, if ever a deep heart- 
 sorrow comes to you, Do you know, I sometimes 
 wish is it not wickedly selfish? that you knew 
 something of the pain and the aching and the weary 
 sadness of hope deferred, and waning, and finally 
 dying out. So far your path has been so calm, so 
 placid ; your sorrow has been for others, not for 
 yourself." 
 
 Mildred hesitated a moment ; she turned crimson, 
 and then pale. At last she said, "Helen ! you don't 
 know perhaps I ought to have told you but my 
 path is not so cloudless as you have believed. There 
 is something that comes oftentimes between me and 
 the sunshine something that presses heavily on my 
 heart, and that is my own care, and no one else's. 
 At first I tried to forget it, and to cast it from me, 
 
THE SECRET OF STRENGTH. 343 
 
 but I soon found that did not answer at all ; and 
 then it occurred to me that I was trying to shun my 
 cross, instead of taking it up and bearing it quietly 
 and cheerfully; so I strove to throw it aside no 
 longer, and since then I have been much happier, 
 for the cross meekly borne, is not half so heavy or so 
 painful as the cross imposed." 
 
 " Do you remember that old seal that Bertha used 
 to have ? Its motto was l No cross, no crown.' >: 
 
 " Many and many a time I have thought of it ! " 
 
 ""Well, the cross is for time only, the crown for 
 eternity. Milly, I think I know what your cross 
 is. I have been very stupid. I have been so en- 
 grossed with my own sorrow, that I have had no 
 thought for others ; but, Milly dear, it will all come 
 right in the end ! " 
 
 "Will it, darling? But we will not talk about 
 it, please. There are some things that are better 
 undiscussed and unexplained. Sometimes there is 
 strength and safety in silence. I spoke to you 
 because I thought it might comfort you to know 
 that I have not been talking about what I never 
 felt." 
 
 "It is selfish, but it does comfort me. It is 
 sweet to think you can feel with me, as well as for 
 me. Sympathy is so very, very precious." 
 
 " Yes ; and there is One who alivays sympathises. 
 Human sympathy may fail, or tire, or be altogether 
 lacking; but His sympathy is sure and steadfast, 
 
344 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 and soothing above all that heart can imagine. 
 Earthly ears may tire of the oft-told tale ; He never 
 tires, and, come what may, we can go and tell Him 
 without a fear of coldness, or misconstruction, or re- 
 proof ; for He is 'the same yesterday, to-day, and 
 for ever ! ' " 
 
SUNRISE. 345 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 SUNBISE. 
 
 A FEW days more brought Bertha and her husband 
 to Oldminster, for Katty wrote to say that unless 
 they came soon they might never see Helen again in 
 this world. In many ways Eertha was changed; 
 Mildred thought not for the better. Her delicate 
 beauty had not worn well ; late hours and London 
 air had faded the soft roses of earlier days, and 
 made her look older than she really was. Many of 
 the Oldminster people remarked that Mrs. Granville 
 Golding looked by no means so young or so pretty 
 as she used to do ; and some of them declared that 
 unless they had known to the contrary, they should 
 have supposed her to be full thirty years of age. 
 
 No; Eertha had not worn well; there was no 
 mistake about it. Eut for the advantages of dress, 
 and all the adjuncts of a perfect toilet, Katty would 
 certainly have been considered the handsomer of the 
 two ; for though her brow was saddened now, and 
 darkened by the shadow that rested on all the 
 household, she retained the freshness and the sunny 
 
346 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 aspect of her early girlhood. The home circle, 
 however, knew little of the life that Bertha led. 
 Somehow, after the first few months of her marriage, 
 correspondence had gradually slackened, and Bertha, 
 when she did write, which after a while was but 
 seldom, gave but meagre and succinct accounts of 
 her own pursuits, of family detail, or of the society 
 in which she seemed to take inexhaustible delight. 
 "Whatever might be her general cleverness, she 
 certainly had no genius for composition. 
 
 She was greatly shocked at Helen's altered ap- 
 pearance, and deeply touched too, for home affec- 
 tions had not quite died out of her heart, and Helen 
 had always been her favourite sister. Still she 
 could not bring herself to believe that hope had 
 indeed passed away, and that Helen's stay among 
 them was only a question of days or weeks. 
 
 On the evening of her arrival she spent an hour 
 alone with Helen, who seemed for the time a little 
 revived, and most anxious for her sister's visit. 
 The bright glance and the clear, distinct voice de- 
 ceived Bertha, and she decided at once that they had 
 been over anxious and frightened, that provincial 
 doctors were always inclined to view matters in 
 their gloomiest aspect, and that Torquay, or perhaps 
 Madeira for the winter months, would restore the 
 invalid to her wonted health and vigour. 
 
 She told her so, as with her chair drawn up close 
 to Helen's sofa, she sat with her hand locked in her 
 
SUNRISE. 347 
 
 sister's, and said that after all she looked much better 
 than she had expected, and that she felt sure a 
 winter in a softer climate, and an able physician, 
 would bring back the roses to her cheek once more. 
 But Helen smiled faintly, and shook her head. u ^o, 
 Bertha dear," she said quietly, "that cannot be. 
 Prom the very commencement of my illness there 
 has been no real prospect of recovery, and it has 
 been my fervent wish and prayer that I might die 
 here in my own home, and with all the dear faces 
 about me. Please do not talk of taking me away." 
 
 " But, Helen love, the very fact of making up 
 your mind to die will diminish your chances of 
 amendment." 
 
 " There are no chances not now ! Once it might 
 have been different. God gave me health and youth 
 and talents I wasted them all ; 1 wasted time, and, 
 last of all, I wasted the life which He bestowed that 
 I might do Him service, and render Him the praises 
 which are due ! " 
 
 " My poor dear Helen ! you were sadly romantic 
 but I never thought it would come to this." 
 
 "Don't call it only t romantic,' Bertha. I was 
 weak, foolish, wicked! Oh, may you never know 
 what it is to lie as I do, hastening hour by hour to 
 the end of life, knowing that wilfully and sinfully it 
 has been wasted all and utterly wasted ! You can- 
 not think, Bertha, how differently things look when 
 you come to stand on the threshold of eternity ! "What 
 
348 THE LILLISGSTONES. 
 
 children we are, grasping at shadows, rushing after 
 bubbles, ciying for toys of an hour ! and, after all, 
 there is the great Eternity stealing nearer and nearer 
 how near we never know, till for us Time has ceased 
 to be ! " 
 
 Bertha grew cold and pale as Helen spoke ; that 
 dying voice seemed like a warning to her, a message 
 from the unseen world beyond the grave. She looked 
 at the solemn eye and the quiet brow, and the faded 
 features that already were wasted and sharpened to 
 a death-like aspect ; and the conviction crossed her 
 mind that she, too, had wasted life, and that here 
 was one more warning sent to call her away from 
 the service of the world to the service of Christ ! 
 
 " I dare say," she said at last, " that now every- 
 thing earthly appears unsubstantial and hollow, and 
 of little worth?" 
 
 " In one sense," returned Helen, emphatically, 
 " of very little worth ; you cannot conceive how 
 little ! But when I look upon the past in another 
 light, it seems to me of incalculable value, as time 
 given me for serving God, and doing that work in 
 the world to which every human creature is called. 
 I suppose I do but re-echo the words of thousands, 
 when I say, could I but live my life, or any portion 
 of my life, over again, it would be spent differently 
 oh, how differently! " 
 
 " I suppose most people feel so," returned Bertha; 
 " we are all unprofitable servants! " 
 
SUNRISE. 349 
 
 "Yes, indeed! But what if one has not been a 
 servant at all ? And those words were given us to 
 check all vain-glory and self-appreciation, not to 
 excuse one's own neglect and sloth. I remember 
 once hearing some one say that it is when we have 
 done ally we are to count ourselves unprofitable 
 servants ! " 
 
 " And, Helen tell me are you content to die ? " 
 
 " Yes ; now I am content ! I am content to die, 
 or to live, just as God pleases. And yet I think I 
 would rather die. I am afraid I should never be of 
 much use in this world ; and in that other and 
 better world, where all my evil self will be put 
 away for evermore, I shall serve Him, and praise 
 Him fully. It is written, * His servants shall serve 
 Him, and they shall see His face.' Oh, Bertha, 
 you don't know how weary I have been ! " 
 
 "Do I not? " asked Bertha, bitterly, her genuine 
 feeling getting the upper hand of pride and habitual 
 repression. "Oh, Helen, you are not more weary 
 than I ! I have all more than in my wildest 
 dreams of girlhood I ever pictured I I have great 
 wealth, every luxury that money can purchase ; I 
 have position, influence, health, and youth; yes, I 
 am only twenty-two years of age there may be 
 more than fifty years of unsatisfying life before me ; 
 I have a kind and generous husband, and lovely 
 children ; and still I have never been happy, never 
 discovered the secret of true happiness everything 
 
350 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 seems to me a sham, a mere unreality, that will pie- 
 sently pass away and be seen no more ! " 
 
 " Don't you see why it is, Bertha ? / see it, now 
 that death has opened my eyes. !N"o, I will not 
 say that : I see it, because God's Holy Spirit has 
 taught me wherein is the secret of true and abiding 
 happiness. Unless He is the centre of the soul, the 
 Source of all, and the King of the heart, we try 
 vainly to rest tranquilly and to be satisfied ! One 
 person pursues one phantom, and another another, 
 as his chief good. You have cared for worldly great- 
 ness and worldly riches ; I have cared for an ideal 
 standard, for earthly love and earthly beauty ; and 
 we are both miserably disappointed ! Too late to 
 repair my error, I have discovered my own mistake. 
 I can only beg God, for Christ's sake, to forgive me 
 my sins, and let the righteousness of His Son be 
 mine, so that I come not into condemnation ! But 
 you, dear Bertha, have life still before you will you 
 not, warned by my example, turn from idols to serve 
 the living God ? Oh, do not let life be wasted any 
 longer ! " 
 
 " T am not wasting life, I hope," said Bertha, 
 gently, but in flat contradiction to her own convic- 
 tions. " I have many duties, and I hope I fulfil 
 them, as a wife, a mother, and a mistress. I have 
 many responsibilities, and I trust they are not dis- 
 regarded " 
 
 "But how are they fulfilled?" asked Helen, 
 
SUNRISE. 351 
 
 earnestly. " For wlio'se sake, and for whose glory ? 
 Ah ! forgive me, Bertha, it is no romance that the 
 dying see more clearly and truly than others ; and 
 I see what I never guessed before. I gain in one 
 silent, solitary hour the experience of years, and I 
 know that what is not done to God's glory, is done 
 amiss, and the time that is occupied in the doing, is 
 wasted utterly wasted ! " 
 
 "But, Helen, who can bear such hard sayings? 
 who can act up to such a standard ? " 
 
 "No one ! No one ever did or could live out the 
 Christian life in its full purity and perfection, save 
 One He who fulfilled the law to its utmost demand ; 
 but it is much to keep the standard before one, and to 
 strive to live holily, consistently, and unselfishly, in 
 this present evil world ! Bertha, I cannot say much 
 more do not be vexed with me, for I felt that I 
 must say so much to you, and remember I do not say 
 it of myself : I have been taught the truth ! " 
 
 " By Milly ? " asked Bertha. 
 
 " By a greater than Milly ! She and Katty God 
 bless them, now and for ever led me in some measure 
 to know myself, and to look for pardon for those 
 wasted sinful days ; but they could do no more. It 
 was no earthly voice that spoke pardon and peace to 
 my poor broken heart ; that showed me how deeply I 
 had erred my whole life through ; that gave me at last 
 rest and joy and hope that maketh not ashamed ! " 
 
 Helen was fearfully exhausted, and when Katty 
 
352 THE LILLEs T GSTONES. 
 
 came up-stairs she was fain to send Bertha away for 
 the night. From that evening the change for the 
 worse was more apparent than ever ; hour by hour 
 there was an increase of the unfavourable symptoms, 
 and weakness became utter prostration. Yery soon 
 it was too great an exertion to rise at all ; the sofa 
 was pushed away against the wall, and the slight, 
 weary form pressed its cushions no more. 
 
 But, at the last, many of. the mists and shadows 
 that had gathered round Helen's soul melted and 
 passed away: at eventime there was light, sweet 
 and glorious light, that waxed brighter and brighter 
 as the end drew nearer. The sense of pardon, of 
 perfect free forgiveness, filled her long-saddened 
 heart with indescribable joy; and the peace that 
 passeth all understanding was hers, in all its breadth 
 and depth and immortality ! 
 
 One day she said to Katty, " I see it so clearly now ; 
 there was no harm in my loving poetry and beauty as 
 I did the harm was in loving them out of, and apart 
 from, God. I did not even understand half of what 
 I loved so passionately. I saw only the exterior 
 beauty. I never felt the depths and the real glory 
 of true poetry till now. Just read those lines I 
 should like to hear them once more." 
 
 Katty took up the book; it was a volume of 
 Mrs. Hemans 7 beautiful poems, a special favourite 
 with them all. It lay open at one of those sweetest 
 of songs, those deep, passionate, thrilling lays, in 
 
SUNRISE. 353 
 
 which the poetess poured forth the parting beauty 
 and power of her wondrous gift ! "Katty read 
 
 A POET'S DYING HYMN. 
 
 " That I have loved that I have known the love, 
 Which troubles in the soul the tearful springs, 
 Yet, with a colouring halo from above, 
 Tinges, and glorifies all earthly things, 
 Whate'cr its anguish or its woe may be, 
 Still weaving links for intercourse with Thee: 
 
 I bless Thee, my God ! 
 
 u That by the passion of its deep distress, 
 And by the overflowing of its mighty prayer, 
 And by the yearning of its tenderness, 
 Too full for words upon their stream to bear, 
 I have been drawn still closer to Thy shrine, 
 Well-spring of Love, the Unfathomed. the Divine, 
 
 I bless Thee, my God ! 
 
 *' That hope hath ne'er my heart or song forsaken, 
 High hope, which even from mystery, doubt, or dread, 
 Calmly, rejoicingly, the things have taken, 
 Whereby its torchlight for the race was fed : 
 That passing storms have on<y fanned the fire, 
 Which pierced them still with its triumphal spire, 
 
 I bless Thee, O my God !" 
 
 " Thank you, Katty, that will do, I wanted to hear 
 it once again. * Still weaving links for intercourse 
 with Thee.' Ah ! that is what all pain, all desola- 
 tion is meant to do : to draw us still closer to the 
 shrine to Him whose love never changes, and never 
 fails, who alone can heal the broken-hearted, and fill 
 
 A A 
 
354 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 the sorrowful soul with a deep, chastening sense that 
 all at last is well ! ISTow read me the last verse." 
 And Katty read again : 
 
 "Now aid, sustain me still ! to Thee I come, 
 Make Thou my dwelling where Thy children are ! 
 And for the hope of that immortal home, 
 And for Thy Son the bright and Morning Star, 
 The Sufferer, and the Victor-King of Death, 
 I bless Thee with my glad song's dying breath : 
 
 I bless Thee, my God ! " 
 
 " And now, Katty, take the book away, if you 
 please, dear, as you took away my Tennyson and 
 Mrs. Browning some days ago ; and take all the others 
 too ; I have done with them." 
 
 " Shall I not leave the < Dove on the Cross ? ' " 
 
 " No, no ! I have done with it ; you may take all 
 away save one book the Book. You can say verses 
 of hymns to me, but I shall not read any more ; it 
 is the twenty-third Psalm, and the fourteenth of 
 John, and the eighth of Eomans, and the closing 
 chapters of the Revelation that I want now." 
 
 And so Katty gathered together all poor Helen's 
 treasures the books she had named, and Keats, and 
 Campbell, and even Keble, and the Lyra Germanica ; 
 and she carried them away, as useless now to her 
 who was come to the very verge of Jordan. Perhaps 
 it was because poetry had been her daily food instead 
 of an occasional refreshment, that she now put aside 
 what might well have abode with her to the very 
 last. The Bible had been neglected and undervalued 
 
SUNRISE. 355 
 
 for books like these; and pure, and good, and 
 heavenly as they were, she would turn from them 
 all now, and draw her hope and her nourishment 
 from the great source of eternal truth alone. 
 
 " There is one thing more," said Helen, the same 
 evening. " Often and often since I was confirmed, I 
 have been to the table of the Lord, but never have I 
 received the memorials of my Saviour's dying love 
 with a heart filled with penitence, and gratitude, and 
 praise. I should like Mr. Herbert to come to me, 
 that we might all receive the bread and wine once 
 more, in token of our common faith, and of our hope 
 in Him who loved us, and washed us from our sins 
 in His own blood. Don't think I want to take the 
 Sacrament as a pledge of safety, or as something 
 whereby I may ensure my salvation. I only wish 
 to obey my Lord's injunction ere I depart and go 
 home, and to unite in communion once more with 
 those who are nearest and dearest in this world. " 
 
 So on the morrow Mr. Herbert came, and Mrs. 
 Herbert with him. Alfred was there also, for he 
 had been telegraphed to, the day before, and Mrs. 
 Lillingstone and her eldest son, her daughters, Kate 
 and Mildred, and the pastor and his wire, and Gran- 
 ville Golding, and the servant Sarah, knelt around 
 the bed where Helen lay, and in blessed union 
 received the memorials of their Redeemer's love. 
 The broken bread and the cup of blessing passed 
 from lip to lip ; the song of praise mingled itself 
 
 AA2 
 
356 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 with the anthems of "angels and archangels, and all 
 the glorious company of Heaven ; " the blessing of 
 peace was spoken, and all was over. One of that 
 little congregation would drink no more of the fruit 
 of the vine till she drank it new in her Father's 
 kingdom. The others must toil on patiently and 
 hopefully till the Master should hid them rest 
 from their labours, and enter into the joy of their 
 Lord. 
 
 Bertha did not join with them ; what had she, 
 whose heart was of. the earth earthy, to do there 
 with those who desired to have their citizenship and 
 their conversation in Heaven ; she dared not draw 
 nigh ; the feast was not for her ; she had not on a 
 wedding garment ! And with trembling doubt and 
 many fears, came Mrs. Lillingstone to that communion 
 of the dying ; but she rose from her knees comforted 
 and assured, feeling one with Him, the Head of the 
 Universal Church, and the Master of the Feast ; one 
 with those beloved ones, who ate and drank, as in 
 Jesu's presence ; and one with her, who was going - 
 where 
 
 " None may need 
 Temple, or shrine, or saintly creed." 
 
 After that season of holy communion, a great peace 
 seemed to reign over all the house. Helen lay calm and 
 quiet on her bed, saying very little, but full of hope 
 the hope that entereth within the veil. Once, and 
 once only, she spoke of Arthur Lascelles. She bade 
 
SUNRISE. 357 
 
 Katty tell him, if ever they met again, that she 
 thought of him, and prayed for him to the last ; that 
 her love, purified from all its earthly passion, went 
 with her to the spirit-land ; that she forgave him all 
 the pain and anguish he had caused her, and that she 
 trusted to meet him again in that world where there 
 is neither marriage nor giving in marriage, hut where 
 love, deep, holy, pure, and immortal, finds its full 
 fruition. She liked Mildred to sit by her side, and 
 whisper texts in her ear, and verses of hymns, and 
 precious words of encouragement and hope ; and she 
 smiled when her mother bent over her, and said, 
 " One in spirit still, dearest mamma. You will 
 come to me.'* 
 
 It was towards morning that Mildred came into 
 Alfred's room, and bade him come and give Helen 
 the parting kiss. Bertha and her husband were there 
 already, and Helen had looked the farewell and the 
 entreaty that she had no strength to utter. He 
 stooped down for that last embrace, and with great 
 difficulty Helen murmured, " Seek ye first the king- 
 dom of Heaven." He understood her, and answered, 
 "Yes, dearest! Heaven first. I know it, I feel it 
 now ; we shall meet again in our Father's house." 
 
 And then there were no more words, but quiet 
 waiting for the merciful angel, and breathless watch- 
 ing on the part of those who felt his awful presence 
 weigh heavily on their hearts. The yellow moon- 
 light faded from the sky; the hills rose cold and 
 
358 THE L1LLIKGSTONES. 
 
 dark in the grey dawn ; the rosy light suffused the 
 horizon ; redder and redder grew the clouds ; the sun 
 rose up in all his glory, the herald of another day 
 and then 
 
 u Her quiet eyelids closed ?he had 
 Another morn than ours." 
 
LILLINGSTONE REVISITED. 359 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 LILLINGSTONE BEVESITED. 
 
 AND Helen was laid to rest under the shadow of tho 
 grey minster walls. Bertha and her husband re- 
 turned to Redlands, and Alfred went back to Liver- 
 pool ; and oh, how sad was the diminished household 
 at Oldminster! 
 
 The winter set in early and very severe ; snow was 
 upon the hills not many weeks after Helen's death, 
 and when Christmas came it lay thick and white on 
 her quiet grave. A mournful Christmas it was, with 
 that vacant seat at board and hearth, that might 
 never more be filled ; and with those absent ones, far 
 away from the home where once they had all been 
 united in such pleasant, loving bonds. And yet not 
 altogether sad was that broken circle, as its remain- 
 ing members gathered round the blazing fire on that 
 icy, sunless, melancholy twenty-fifth of December. 
 
 Mildred did not dwell on the grave in the minster 
 yard ; her thoughts passed on to the glorious world 
 beyond, whither Helen had gone before ; and brighter 
 and ever nearer now seemed to her the gathering-time 
 
360 TEE L1LLINGSTONES. 
 
 that was coming, when all would be reunited in one 
 home, where sorrow and parting could never come. 
 Now the passing years made manifold changes and 
 mournful breaches ; it was like a dream to look back 
 to those earlier days at Lillingstone, and remember 
 all that had passed there, and all the joy and glad- 
 ness of opening youth, when the family circle was 
 yet unbroken, and when the cares of mature life 
 were alike unknown and unthought of. Then there 
 would be no more changes, no more tears, no more 
 adieux ; and every Christmas-tide brought them 
 nearer to that hour of restoration and perfect joy. 
 And musing thus, Mildred looked up, and said 
 
 " ' These times and seasons, we Thy pilgrims love ; 
 They count the miles our weary footsteps rove 
 Upon the flinty road ; we list and lo ! 
 The way is shorter than a year ago ! ' " 
 
 Katty did not reply ; but the pressure of the hand, 
 and the glance she flashed at her sister, told how 
 sympathetic was the feeling between them; and 
 half in hope, half in trembling, their mother shared 
 the blessedness. 
 
 Early in the new year they were cheered by a 
 passing visit from Alfred; he was on his way to 
 Lillingstone to make observations, collect evidence, 
 and examine certain papers. But now the excite- 
 ment of such a journey was not what it would have 
 been a few months ago ; the prospect of failure was 
 
LILLINGSTONE REVISITED. 361 
 
 not so terrible, the dreams of probable success not 
 so bright. With a calm steadiness, and a composure 
 of mind that once would have been unnatural, Alfred 
 Lillingstone set out on that cold January morning, 
 to take the first steps towards the regaining of his 
 lost inheritance. The train by which he travelled 
 was delayed through a tremendous fall of snow, and 
 it was not till sunset on the following day that he 
 reached his native village. 
 
 Lillingstone was still uninvaded by railways, and 
 the last few miles had to be accomplished by post. 
 It was a clear, bright afternoon ; the sun was going 
 down, large and red, over the lonely Shepperton 
 Downs ; Alfred ordered his dinner at the well-known 
 inn, the Lillingstone Arms, and then strolled out to 
 take a look at the familiar haunts of other days. 
 The nearest way to the Hall lay through the church- 
 yard, and as he swung back the little gate which 
 was always open for egress and ingress, the very 
 action and the very click of the latch reminded 
 him of his gay, careless boyhood ; how long ago it 
 seemed ! And yet, with that grey tower before 
 him, those crumbling buttresses, those bare woods in 
 the adjacent park of Lillingstone, those fir groves 
 belting the misty hill, and that far off sea-line be- 
 tween the sister yews at the west end of the church, 
 the years of absence melted away, and he could 
 have thought that but a few years had elapsed since 
 last he stood on that frozen path, listening to the 
 
362 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 chiming of the old clock, and waiting to catch the 
 soft echo, as it came reverberating back from the 
 hollow, where the rocks rose black and bare above 
 the silent woodlands. He stood there watching the 
 sun go down, till the numbness of his feet and fingers 
 warned him to proceed, and just as he turned away 
 in the direction of the little by-path that communi- 
 cated with the park, he saw that the church door 
 was open, and some one within. 
 
 He quickly entered, and found the clerk doing 
 something about the font ; he came forward at the 
 stranger's entrance; but it was not the old clerk 
 whom Alfred had known so well, but a much 
 younger man, whom he did not remember ever to 
 have seen before. 
 
 ""Want to see the church, sir?" was the in- 
 stinctive question. "Getting rather dark; see it 
 better to-morrow morning, sir." 
 
 "I will go round now, if you please," replied 
 Alfred, dropping a gratuity into the ready hand. 
 " But I have been here before, and I want no attend- 
 ance." The well- contented clerk nodded assent, 
 and went on dusting the books and the hassocks in 
 the christening-pew, while Alfred went up the 
 middle aisle and paused at the large pew of state 
 which had always been the peculiar property of the 
 Lillingstones. Save that the cushions were more 
 faded, the linings torn, and the hassocks more worn, 
 it looked much as it did in bygone times. 
 
LILLINGSTONE REVISITED. 363 
 
 He went in, and sat down in his old accustomed 
 place ; there was the tall, ugly pulpit, with its dusty 
 sounding-board, the rickety candle-branches, the 
 dingy organ-loft, the high, hollow roof, and the 
 quaint wording of the monument on the nearest 
 pillar, " Sacred to the memory of Roger Ricketts, of 
 Deverell, Gent., and Dame Judith Ricketts, his 
 wife." He closed his eyes, and tried to realise the 
 well-remembered scene of the past : the old rector 
 
 drawling his 
 
 " Old saws, 
 Distilled from some worm-cankered homily ; " 
 
 the venerable clerk, slumbering peacefully at his desk 
 below ; the singers whispering among themselves, and 
 carrying on consultations about the tunes ; the con- 
 gregation, in their Sunday clothes, listening wearily 
 to the interminable discourse ; his father and mother 
 in their respective places, and he and the other 
 children, and the French governess, and the servants 
 in the side-pews comporting themselves with out- 
 ward reverence, and secret longing for the close of 
 the service. And for a moment he almost forgot the 
 present in the past so vivid were the reminiscences 
 of those childish days, and those long-departed Sun- 
 days in the dull, quiet church of Lillingstone." 
 
 And as he rose to pursue his way, and stood once 
 again in the damp, chilly aisle, he thought of another 
 season, that in that familiar place seemed but as 
 yesterday the day of his father's funeral. Of the 
 
364 THE LILLING STONES. 
 
 white-robed rector coining up the north aisle, saying, 
 ""We brought nothing into this world, and it is 
 certain we can carry nothing out. The Lord gave 
 and the Lord hath taken away ; blessed be the 
 name of the Lord ! " Of standing by that open 
 grave in the chancel, and hearing, " Man that is 
 born of a woman hath but a short time to live, and 
 is full of misery. He cometh up, and is cut down, 
 like a flower ; he fleeth as it were a shadow, and 
 never continueth in one stay. In the midst of life 
 we are in death ; of whom may we seek for succour 
 but of thee, Lord, who for our sins art justly dis- 
 pleased ? " And in those oft-repeated words there 
 was then an awful significance "In the midst of 
 life we are in death." 
 
 But the wintery twilight was rapidly fading, and 
 the heir of Lillingstone passed slowly on to the 
 place where his ancestors were gathered together in 
 death. There were the stately monuments, some 
 crumbling away with age, some yet bright with 
 the ancient gilding and colouring of innumerable 
 coats of arms ; others of more recent date ; and, last 
 of all, the simple marble that recorded the death of 
 the last master of Lillingstone, Alfred's own father. 
 
 He was still gazing on the slab, and reading over 
 the inscription like one in a dream, when the clerk, 
 having finished his business of dusting, came up the 
 aisle into the darkening chancel. " Ah, sir," he ex- 
 claimed, "you've found out our monuments! Our 
 
LILLINGSTONE REVISITED. 365 
 
 church isn't as handsome or as well kept as it might 
 be ; bnt there ain't no such monuments as ours in 
 all the country side, The Lillingstones, sir, were a 
 very old family ; they used to be De Lillingstones, 
 you see ; but nearer our own times they came to be 
 called ' the Lillingstones of Lillingstone.' Maybe 
 you saw that grand old Hall as you came up the hill 
 to the churchyard ? You just catch the turrets and all 
 the western side of the building through an opening 
 in the trees ; at this time of the year, when there 
 isn't no foliage, you can see great part of the front. 
 Well, sir, that's the family seat of these very Lil- 
 lingstones, and that tablet there, just before you, 
 is ' sacred to the memory ' of the last of 'em. He 
 died awful sudden, I'm told ; found dead in his 
 library; but it was before my time. I'm a Sand- 
 mouth man, and I know more of the Abberleys, 
 you see, than the Lillingstones " 
 
 The Abberleys, as Alfred knew very well, were 
 the persons tc whom Lillingstone had been let. 
 
 "The last of the Lillingstones?" asked Alfred; 
 " I thought that though the estates had passed for 
 a time from the family, there was still an heir 
 living, who would come back some day or other." 
 
 "True for you, sir, and so there is ! I'll be 
 bound Mrs. Meriton, at the Lillingstone Arms, has 
 been telling you all about the family, and how mis- 
 fortunate they've been. She despises the Abberleys, 
 though she's civil to them; but I believe she 
 
366 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 wouldn't let lawyer Gryde touch bit or drop in 
 her house if he'd lay down as many sovereigns as 
 he took mouthfuls ! I don't know anything about 
 the business myself, but there's a many as says the 
 old family were ill done by. They hadn't, you see, 
 any notion of business; and when they once got 
 involved, all they did by way of getting out of 
 scrapes only kept them the closer in. The old 
 Lillingstone of Lillingstone was fond of spekilation 
 like, and got into no end of trouble, and his son went 
 much in the same way ; but at last, as he got deeper 
 and deeper in the mire, he got mazed like, and left 
 everything to this Gryde, as my father remembers 
 a-running about the streets at Sandmouth without 
 a bit of shoe to his foot. And last of all his troubles 
 was too much for him, poor gentleman ! The Lil- 
 lingstones was always a proud lot, sir, as they'd a 
 right to be, seeing as they was real quality ; and he 
 kept all his misery to himself, and died, sir, as I 
 told you, awful sudden. The doctors called what 
 he died of by some fine name or other ; but Mrs. 
 Meriton, and many another besides, says it was a 
 broken heart. Things had come to the worst, and he 
 knew he was a beggar, and his heart broke there and 
 then, without any more ado." 
 
 " And the family?" 
 
 " They went away, sir, up in the north, I'm told ; 
 and nobody's heard nothing of them since. But Mrs. 
 Meriton tells me the heir must be a man grown by 
 
LILLINGSTONE REVISITED. 367 
 
 this time, and she looks for the day when he and 
 madam and the young ladies will come back again 
 to claim their own. Lillingstone's empty now, if 
 they do come ; the Abberleys they're a rich Bristol 
 family fell out with Gryde, and some queer things 
 came out in the quarrel ; and they went away last 
 summer, and there has been no word of letting it 
 again. Indeed, Gryde is very ill, and the doctors 
 seems to think he isn't long for this world ; and 
 if he isn't, I only hope he'll make a clean breast of 
 it before he goes. His son is a very decent young 
 man, he would sooner starve than wrong anybody 
 of a sixpence, and ever since he's been getting up 
 into a man he hasn't seemed quite content with his 
 father's way; so the people do say, sir." 
 
 The striking of the clock roused the garrulous 
 clerk to the recollection that his " missis'' would be 
 waiting tea for him, and on this hint Alfred turned 
 from the shadowy tombs, and with one last lingering 
 gaze through the dim chancel, followed his conductor 
 out of the church. Meanwhile the moon had arisen, 
 and he resolved, before returning to the inn, to take 
 one look at the home of his fathers. He crossed the 
 little fir-spinney that belted -the park where it joined 
 the churchyard, and, ere long, found himself on the 
 great terrace that overlooked the gardens 
 
 There stood the stately mansion, dark, cold, and 
 lifeless. From its many windows gleamed no ray 
 of light ; its doors were closed ; there was no sound 
 
368 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 of merriment or of scolding, as heretofore, from the 
 servants' offices : all was silence, deep and mournful 
 as the silence of the grave. He walked up to the 
 closed door, and half in expectation, half for the 
 sake of breaking the dead stillness of the place, he 
 rang the bell. No one answered, and the heir of 
 Lillingstone stood on the threshold of his ancestral 
 home, a stranger, with no more power to enter that 
 solitary hall than the poorest child in the village. 
 "When would his feet cross that long-deserted thresh- 
 old ? when would he stand by that fireless hearth, 
 and at that unspread and desolate board, the master 
 of his alienated inheritance ? Would it ever be ? 
 
 Yes ! A voice within his heart told him to be of 
 good courage, for that at the last, right would con- 
 quer might, and his long-cherished hopes be happily 
 fulfilled. And standing there in the cold bright 
 moonlight, under the dark walls of Lillingstone, 
 with the snowy sward, and the black woods around 
 him, he bethought himself of that summer evening 
 in the Oldminster fields, and of Katty's words of 
 cheer: "Delight thyself also in the Lord, and He 
 shall give thee the desires of thy heart. Commit 
 thy way unto the Lord y trust also in Him, and He 
 shall bring it to pass." 
 
 And then, with a firm step, and a purpose stronger 
 than ever, he walked down the avenue to the lodge- 
 gates, and astonished the old couple who lived there 
 by bidding them " good night" in the very tone of 
 
LILLINGSTONE REVISITED. 369 
 
 their old master, the last Lillingstone of Lilling- 
 stone. 
 
 " It's his very walk and his form, and his very 
 swing of the arm ! " said the old man, when he had 
 locked the gate securely; " and to hear him speak, 
 it might just be the squire himself; only this man 
 had dark hair, and the squire was as fair as the 
 sun." 
 
 " Bless me!" said the wife, starting up in her 
 excitement ; " and suppose it should be Master Alfred 
 come back to claim his own again ! I mind he had 
 curly dark hair when he was a lad. There's an old 
 saying that the devil can't keep Lillingstone from 
 Lillingstone longer than eight Christmas Days." 
 
 "Well-, if the devil can't, perhaps Gryde can," 
 replied her husband ; " it's all one, I reckon." 
 
 Meanwhile Alfred went down the quiet village 
 street, past the smithy, where Mildred always used 
 to begin quoting Longfellow's "Village Blacksmith," 
 and on to the inn, where Mrs. Merriton was in a 
 fever lest her visitor's dinner should be spoiled. 
 And all through the long evening he was carefully 
 examining papers and making calculations, and the 
 last thing, he ordered breakfast for eight o'clock, 
 that he might set off in good time for Sandmouth. 
 
 And when he gave the order to Mrs. Merriton her- 
 self, she curtseyed down to the ground, and replied, 
 "Our best chaise shall be at your disposal, Mr. 
 Lilting stone !" He little dreamed how the kind- 
 
 B B 
 
370 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 hearted woman longed to throw her arms round him 
 and kiss him, and cry over him in right motherly 
 fashion ; for many and many a time had the good 
 soul nursed the heir of Lillingstone " when dear Mr. 
 Merriton was alive, and the -Lillingstone 
 in their glory." 
 
COVE HALL. 371 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 COTE HALL. 
 
 AT ten o'clock on the following morning, Alfred 
 reached Sandmouth. There was some little business 
 to transact with an old friend of his father* s, Mr. 
 JSelfield, a retired attorney, and once the Lillingstone 
 man of business ; and then he set off for the residence 
 of Mr. Gryde. 
 
 "Can you tell me where Mr. Gryde lives?" he 
 asked of a baker's boy, when, having reached the 
 fashionable suburbs of Sandmouth, where the ex- 
 lawyer was said to reside, he found himself at fault 
 among so many elegant villas and handsome mansions. 
 
 " Squoire Gryde, d'ye mean?" asked the staring 
 youth. 
 
 " Yes, Squire Gryde, if you like; Mr. Gryde, the 
 lawyer. In which of these houses does he live ? " 
 
 " In nane of 'em," was the curt reply. 
 
 "In nine of them?" asked Alfred, in profound 
 astonishment. 
 
 " In ne'er a one ! " returned the baker's boy, out 
 BB 2 
 
372 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 of all patience at the gentleman's slowness of com- 
 prehension. " Squoire Gryde be a grand man, and 
 he don't live in none of your villers and cottages, 
 but at Cove Hall, a mile farther on." 
 
 It was a long mile, however, and Alfred found 
 himself quite beyond the bounds of the regular sub- 
 urban residences, and on the open cliff, before he 
 saw any signs of a mansion worthy of a gentleman 
 who despised " villers and cottages." But at length, 
 coming suddenly down to the shore, he found a deep, 
 well- wooded cove, and in its midst a handsome house, 
 and grounds spreading far and wide, and covering 
 the slopes of the declivity this was certainly Cove 
 Hall. At the lodge Alfred made inquiry whether 
 Mr. Gryde was at home, and the porter replied in 
 the affirmative ; but assured him that "the master 
 could see no one, because he was so very ill ; may- 
 hap, however, Mr. James would do as well ? " 
 
 So, when the footman who answered the door 
 informed him that Mr. Giyde saw no one but his own 
 family, Alfred asked for Mr. James Gryde, and sent 
 in his card. He was shown into a spacious drawing- 
 room, superbly furnished. On one side were three 
 French windows, opening on a lawn sheltered by 
 stalwart evergreens, and overlooking the sea; and 
 at the end of the room a deep bay, looking into a 
 flower-garden that might be a wilderness of sweets 
 in summer-time. The carpet and the curtains were 
 of the most expensive description ; velvet and satin 
 
COVE HALL. 373 
 
 and gilding met the eye at every turn, and costly 
 ornaments were scattered on every table and shelf 
 with lavish, if not with tasteful hand. Alfred sur- 
 veyed the glowing Wilton carpet, the rich hangings, 
 the grand " Collard and Collard," the walnut- wood, 
 the satin-wood, the papier-mache, the tall mirrors, 
 the luxurious couches and ottomans, the Dresden 
 porcelain, the majolica vases, the graceful statuettes, 
 and the profusion of wax, paper, and feather flowers, 
 that abounded on all sides, with no small astonish- 
 ment! And yet, notwithstanding that no expense 
 had been spared on the furnishing and ornamentation 
 of the room, there was an incongruity of colour and 
 object and arrangement, that betrayed the character 
 and the habits of the owners of the mansion, telling 
 pretty plainly how new and strange to the house of 
 Gryde were all these appliances of wealth and luxury. 
 
 It was a weary half-hour that Alfred spent amid 
 these splendours, vainly tiying to beguile the time 
 with inspecting a gorgeously bound album, the 
 property of " Clementina Gryde," and gazing out on 
 the leaden coloured sea, and the distant sails on the 
 horizon's verge ; but as all spaces of time, whether 
 blissful or unblissful, are limited, and come to a 
 conclusion, Alfred Lillingstone's weaiy waiting was 
 over at last. 
 
 The door opened, and there came in a young man 
 about the same age as himself, looking rather abashed 
 and very grave, and speaking and moving nervously. 
 
374 THE LTLLINGSTONES. 
 
 11 1 am sorry to say, sir, my father cannot see you; 
 his physicians prescribe perfect quiet, and all visitors, 
 without exception, are by their desire excluded. If 
 /can do anything if you will tell me " and here 
 the young man's words died away in inarticulate 
 murmurs, his fair face grew crimson, and he vehe- 
 mently twisted round a beautiful cameo ring which 
 he wore. 
 
 61 1 Avished to see Mr. Gryde on very important 
 business," replied Alfred. " The fact is but I dare 
 say you know all about it my father's affairs were 
 at one time entirely in the hands of your father ; and 
 I am anxious to hold some conversation with him in 
 order to determine whether there is any reasonable 
 hope of regaining my former position, either now, or 
 at any more distant period of my natural life." 
 
 There was no reply ; but the cameo-ring went 
 round and round with increased violence, and the 
 youth's colour died away to an ashy paleness. 
 Alfred continued 
 
 "You see, I was a boy when all this happened; 
 but ever since I attained my majority, I have been 
 intending to go thoroughly into the whole affair. 
 I only waited till I had leisure, and till I had 
 acquired some knowledge of legal and monetary 
 transactions. Some papers which I have already 
 examined lead me to the conclusion that there are 
 mistakes which call for immediate correction ; there- 
 fore, as your father is too ill to attend to business, 
 
COVE HALL. 375 
 
 perhaps you will undertake to act for Mm, in con- 
 junction with any legal adviser whom you may 
 choose to name." 
 
 " I think, sir," replied James Gryde, " that a legal 
 adviser, on my side at least, will not be necessary. 
 I have studied law from my childhood, and I can 
 attest the merits of this case without further assist- 
 ance ; but, sir but, Mr. Lillingstone, if you will 
 wait a little while, you may deal with me as your 
 sole antagonist. My father is dying, and I must 
 beg I cannot, in fact, allow his last hours to be 
 troubled with business communications ! " 
 
 " Far be it from me to disturb the chamber of a 
 dying man," returned Alfred ; " but, sir, are there 
 not some particulars known only to Mr. Gryde, 
 which, if confided to you, would greatly simplify 
 matters?" 
 
 " It may be so," was James Gryde' s answer ; "in 
 fact, I am sure it is so. Mr. Lillingstone, will you 
 trust me ? I promise solemnly that you and your 
 family shall suffer no further wrongs ! You have 
 suffered enough already. I fear God, and I value 
 integrity too highly, to forfeit it for the sake of all 
 the filthy lucre in the universe ! When my father is 
 gone I shall claim only my own rights ; and yours 
 shall be respected, and duly separated from mine." 
 
 The young man's words and tone carried imme- 
 diate conviction to Alfred's heart. He looked at the 
 pale, earnest face, so plebeian in features and outline, 
 
376 THE LILL1NGSTONES. 
 
 and yet so pure and noble in expression, and he felt 
 that he could trust James Gryde, and that, for the 
 present at least, he would leave the matter in his 
 hands. 
 
 He signified as much, and the young man gravely 
 thanked him ; and then Alfred, feeling that nothing 
 was to be gained by prolonging an interview which 
 on one side was certainly painful and embarrassing, 
 rose to depart. 
 
 In a few minutes he found himself once more on 
 the solitary shore, with the great waves breaking at 
 his feet, and the precipitous black cliffs rising high 
 overhead. The wind whistled shrilly in the crevices 
 of the rocks, and the blast, keen and briny, blew 
 piercingly from the sea ; but Alfred buttoned up his 
 great-coat, and with something very much like posi- 
 tive enjoyment, faced the rough, cutting breezes as 
 they tossed up the floating sea- weed, and flung the salt 
 spray in his face. He felt full of hope and of vigour, 
 for at last it seemed that the tangled web would be 
 cut asunder, if not unravelled. Lillingstone would 
 be his own ! And since the preceding day, when he 
 had looked on the deserted house, it had acquired 
 tenfold value in his eyes ; he loved every stone, every 
 tree, every acre of that ancient domain his own 
 birthright, and the inheritance of his fathers ! And 
 he felt, too, that his Heavenly Father had brought 
 things to this hopeful issue this unlooked-for termi- 
 nation of difficulties ; and to Him he could trust the 
 
COVE HALL. 377 
 
 final settlement, and the event, whatever it might 
 be ; for during the busy years that had passed away 
 since he quitted his Oldminster home, he had learned 
 the blissful lesson to "rest in the Lord, and wait 
 patiently for Him." Yes, those years of toil in the 
 dingy Liverpool counting-house had been greatly 
 blessed to Alfred LiUingstone. Tbere he had learned 
 the true secret of happiness ; there he had found the 
 one source of true and undying bliss ; there he had 
 first begun fully and entirely to commit his way 
 unto the Lord, in the firm and calm persuasion that 
 in the fulness of time, and in the best manner pos- 
 sible, He would " bring it to pass." And as he 
 firmly trod the sand and the shingle, and watched 
 the rising of the rolling tide, he exclaimed, not quite 
 perhaps in the spirit of the poet 
 
 "Break, break, break! 
 
 On thy cold grey stones, oh sea ! 
 And I would that my tongue could utter 
 The thoughts that anse in ine ! " 
 
 But the familiar words brought a shadow over his 
 brow, for they reminded him of Helen, who loved 
 them so well, and dwelt upon them so fondly and so 
 frequently. And as he saw the tall ships and the 
 bustling steamers wending their way into the adjacent 
 port of Sandmouth. he could not but add 
 
 '* And the stately ships go on, 
 
 To their haven under the hill ; 
 But oh for the touch of a vamsh'd hand, 
 And the sound of a voice that is still ! * 
 
3/8 THE L1LLINGSTONES. 
 
 And yet Helen was where " there is no more 
 sea ; " and he doubted not that now every hope was 
 fulfilled, every tear wiped away, every yearning of 
 that weary, wounded heart fully and perfectly satis- 
 fied. And he said to himself, " Best as it is, best as 
 it is ; she was not fashioned to bear the buffeting 
 and the beating of this world's pitiless storms. 
 Some plants are so tender that the frost and the 
 sunshine are alike perilous, and the Great Husband- 
 man houses them securely ere the blast or the 
 scorching heat smites them through and through. 
 Yes, it is best so ; all is well ! " And from the 
 consideration of Helen's favourite lines he passed on 
 to others which he liked well himself, and which at 
 that moment seemed strikingly appropriate : 
 
 " Firm as the rocks Thy promise stands, 
 Thy mercies, countless as the sands ; 
 Thy love, a sea immensely wide, 
 Thy grace, an overflowing tide ! " 
 
 But at last it seemed that his feelings could not 
 find fitting language, save in the words of the 
 Psalmist : " Bless the Lord, my soul ; and all that 
 is within me bless His holy name : Bless the Lord, 
 my soul, and forget not all his benefits." 
 
 Then it occurred to him that he must quicken 
 his footsteps, for it was already near the hour when 
 he had promised to lunch with Mr. Belfield, so he 
 hurried on, till he came to the narrow quay appor- 
 
COVE HALL. 379 
 
 tioned to the fishing-boats, and there he found a 
 short cut into the town. 
 
 It was on the following afternoon, as he sat over 
 the fire planning a letter to Katty, that Mrs. Merriton 
 tapped at his door, and inquired if he could receive 
 the visit of a gentleman, a clergyman from Sand- 
 mouth. 
 
 " Certainly," replied Mr. Lillingstone. " Where 
 is the clergyman, Mrs. Merriton ? " 
 
 " In the bar-parlour, sir. Shall I ask him to 
 walk up, or would you prefer stepping down ? 
 You'll not be disturbed." 
 
 " No ; ask him to come here, if you please." 
 
 In another minute Mrs. Merriton returned, ushering 
 upstairs an elderly, benevolent-looking gentleman in 
 clerical attire, whom she announced as the Rev. 
 Mr. Elford. 
 
 "I come to you, sir," said Mr. Elford, as soon as 
 he was seated, " on the part of Mr. James Gryde, of 
 Cove Hall, Sandmouth. Mr. Gryde, senior, died last 
 night ; and Mr. James, who was once my pupil, and 
 whom I now am honoured in calling my friend, 
 wished you to be apprised of the fact, and also of 
 his determination to place the Lillingstone affairs 
 entirely and without reserve in your own hands, that 
 you might make, without further delay, such arrange- 
 ments as should seem most wise and most just." 
 
 "I do not quite understand," returned Alfred; 
 " and I conclude, what I have already inferred from 
 
380 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 Mr. James Gryde' s own words, that my father was 
 not fairly dealt with; that I, as his heir, am 
 wronged, and that Mr. Gryde, junior, knows it and 
 admits it?" 
 
 Mr. Elford bowed affirmatively, and seemed both 
 sad and thoughtful. At last he said : "I think, sir, 
 I had better confide to you all that has taken place. 
 Your father was the victim of Mr. Gryde, though, 
 forgive me if I say, his own imprudent want of 
 caution, and his supineness, rendered imposition a 
 comparatively easy task. Not one, but a series 
 of frauds were perpetrated; for the Lillingstone 
 estates, though very seriously encumbered, were 
 never in the ruined condition in which Mr. Gryde 
 represented them to be. It is a long and pitiable 
 tale, and one which I scarcely feel inclined to unfold 
 on the present^ occasion : suffice it to say, that there 
 never was any necessity for the widow and family 
 of the late Mr. Lillingstone to leave their rightful 
 home. It is quite true that, apart from poor 
 Gryde's evil machinations, the estates, and you as 
 the heir, were most seriously involved, and strict 
 economy, and even painful retrenchment, would 
 have been requisite ; still you might have lived on, 
 had you chosen it, at Lillingstone. Mr. James 
 Gryde, who is passionately fond of legal studies, 
 made the discovery of your wrongs not many months 
 ago : his father was ill of a fever, and in his delirium 
 revealed much that no one hitherto had suspected ; 
 
COVE HALL. 381 
 
 so Mr. James, in the hope of setting his own 
 anxieties at rest, began to examine such of the 
 Lillingstone documents as he could lay hands on. 
 I need not tell you the result of his conscientious 
 research. When you were at Cove Hall yesterday 
 morning, Mr. Gryde was very near his end, and his 
 mind was greatly burdened by a sense of the wrongs 
 he had committed. His son sent for me, and I 
 urged the dying man to make full confession, and 
 all the restitution in his power. He was in fearful 
 extremity ; I know not which was heavier, anguish 
 of body or of mind ; but he yielded at length to my 
 entreaties, and to the earnest prayers of his son, and 
 divulged the whole scheme whereby he had reduced 
 your family to extremity, and aggrandised his own. 
 You have reason to be thankful, sir, that this ample 
 confession was made, for so complicated were the 
 divers frauds, so plenary the powers with which the 
 late Mr. Lillingstone invested him, that I am con- 
 vinced nothing but a most tedious and ruinous law- 
 suit could have reinstated you in your rights. As it 
 is, I hold Mr. Gryde' s confession, signed and sealed by 
 his own hand ; as it is, your difficulties are at an end, 
 you have nothing to do but to take possession ; and 
 Mr. James Gryde assures me that when restitution 
 is made, and the savings of your minority, and of 
 the two years which have elapsed since your be- 
 coming of age, applied to their just purpose, there 
 is nothing to prevent your immediate return to 
 
382 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 Lillingstone, though for a few years, perhaps, some 
 degree of economy may be desirable, if not im- 
 perative." 
 
 And then Alfred and the good clergyman held 
 further conversation on many points which it was 
 desirable to clear up. Of the last moments of the 
 unhappy Gryde there was little to be said, and 
 Mr. Elford evidently shrank from allusion to the 
 painful, and Alfred feared the hopeless, scene of the 
 preceding evening. 
 
 It was finally arranged that after the funeral, 
 Mr. Elford, Alfred, Mr. James Gryde, and a lawyer 
 of unquestionable character and standing, should 
 meet in the private office of Mr. Belfield, that 
 gentleman also being present; and that there and 
 then matters should be finally arranged, the fraudu- 
 lent papers destroyed, and the proper documents 
 consigned to Alfred himself, as the rightful possessor 
 of Lillingstone and its estates. 
 
 That evening Alfred could not forbear telling 
 Mrs. Merriton that he hoped very soon to be at 
 Lillingstone again, a piece of information which 
 quite unsettled the good lady, and made her bring 
 up out of the cellar a cobwebby bottle of her very 
 oldest and rarest port, for Mr. Lillingstone' s special 
 delectation. 
 
 The next day Alfred procured the key of the Hall 
 from the lodge, and disclosed himself to the old 
 porter and his wife, who both resorted to tears as 
 
COVE HALL. 383 
 
 the most expressive way of testifying their unfeigned 
 joy. He dispensed, however, with their preferred 
 services in the opening of doors and shutters, for he 
 desired to be alone ; and thus, in the bright, wintry 
 noon, he crossed the threshold of his home, and 
 stood once more in his father's house ! 
 
 He went to the library, and there stood the sofa 
 on which Mr. Lillingstone had breathed his last; 
 there was the very spot where they had all gathered 
 together in their awe and in their grief on that 
 memorable evening; and, kneeling down in the 
 place where God had called that immortal spirit to 
 Himself, Alfred Lillingstone poured forth his heart 
 in prayer and thanksgiving prayer that he might 
 be guided and blessed in prosperity as in adversity ; 
 that he might be the Christian master of a Christian 
 household, and that another and far more glorious 
 inheritance might be his, through the mercy of his 
 Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ; and thanksgiving 
 for all the past, for the pain and for the discipline, 
 for the healthful toil, and for the hopeful spirit, and 
 for the mercy which had made the crooked straight 
 and the rough places plain, and given to him, ere he 
 had supposed it was nigh at hand, " the desire of his 
 heart ! " 
 
384 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 SEPARATION. 
 
 THE sun was shining into the pleasant breakfast- 
 room at Redlands, where Bertha and her husband 
 and Katty were sitting. It was a brilliant May 
 morning, and through the open windows came the 
 scent of hawthorn and lilac, and the sweet singing 
 of many birds. The meal was concluded, and Gran- 
 ville Golding sat at one end of the table, busy with 
 his fishing-tackle and his two little girls, who were 
 delighted with the gaudy flies he was arranging in 
 his pocket-book. 
 
 Katty and Bertha had taken different sheets of 
 the Times, and were skimming over the politics and 
 the gossip of the day ; but the lady of the house 
 seemed discontented and ill at ease, and more dis- 
 posed to wrangle with her husband and sister than 
 to peruse the leading article, or even the " Births, 
 Deaths, and Marriages," or the "Court Circular." 
 She was still the very Bertha of olden days, her 
 beautiful bright hair as glossy, and as artistically 
 
SEPARATION. 385 
 
 arranged, her dress as perfect and as well chosen, 
 her voice as sweet, and her words as sharp and de- 
 cided. But the shadow that had rested on her fair 
 face during her visit to Oldminster in the preceding 
 autumn was certainly deepened ; the look of care 
 was stamped ineffaceably on the delicate features, 
 and their expression, when in repose, was altogether 
 sad and fretful. 
 
 " And when are you coming home again?" she 
 asked, laying down the newspaper, and turning to 
 her husband. The words were simple and inoffen- 
 sive enough in themselves, but the tone was, to say 
 the least of it, exasperating. 
 
 "I don't know," was the cold, curt answer. 
 
 Bertha Golding had nearly worn out her hus- 
 band's great patience and his kindly forbearance. 
 
 " I shall write to Mrs. Randal to have the house 
 ready for us by the' twenty-fifth." 
 
 " You will do nothing of the kind, Bertha! I 
 have told you already in the plainest language I 
 could choose, that I do not intend to go up to town 
 at all this season. Let us enjoy the country in 
 
 summer-time for once in our lives ! No, darling, 
 
 you must not touch that ; see what cruel little 
 hooks there are to catch little fingers, as well as 
 
 little fishes. Really, my dear, you would be ten 
 
 times happier in the country yourself, if you could 
 
 only make up your mind to it. London hours don't 
 
 suit you; they make you look faded and worn 
 
 c c 
 
386 THE LILL1NGSTONES. 
 
 why really, at this moment, you look considerably 
 older than Katty!" 
 
 "I never expect compliments from my husband," 
 said Bertha, with a bitter smile. "But, Granville, 
 I may as well tell you that I will not stop here. I 
 hate country life, and if you choose to bury yourself 
 alive, it is no reason why I should do so too. Stay 
 here, if you like, and kill all the trout, and spoil the 
 children, and gather your own roses and straw- 
 berries ; I have no such rural tastes ; so I will write 
 my letter to the housekeeper, and desire her to be 
 ready for me at the time appointed." 
 
 4 ' You are mad, Bertha ! mad with your own self- 
 will and temper ! What would the world say of so 
 young a woman as you are, going out, and receiving 
 without her husband? There would be injurious 
 whispers immediately." 
 
 ' * I cannot help that ; I care very little about 
 what the world says." 
 
 "Indeed! that is news. I thought the world 
 that is, the fashionable world was everything to 
 you. I am sure, in every dispute we have had since 
 our marriage, you have threatened me with the 
 world's displeasure, or contempt, if I did or left 
 undone anything opposed to Belgravian legislation." 
 
 Bertha made no reply, but her face was displeased 
 and resolute. 
 
 "Go upstairs, children!" were her next words. 
 " I cannot think why you come here at our break- 
 
SEPARATION. 387 
 
 fast time. I shall speak to nurse about it; she 
 ought to keep you within hounds." 
 
 " Papa said we were to come," replied Lily, half 
 timidly, half pertinaciously, and with an appealing 
 glance at her father. 
 
 "To be sure I did; and you shall come, too, 
 every morning, if you are good girls, and do not 
 tease mamma and Aunt Katty." 
 
 But, unluckily, at that moment the fat little Eose 
 upset a bundle of rod-joints, and in their clumsy 
 descent they swept away mamma's work-basket. 
 "Oh, dear me, dear me!" began papa apologeti- 
 cally, leaving his May-flies and his cock-a-bundies 
 to their fate, while he helped the little girls to 
 pick up silk- winders and reels of cotton and all the 
 other paraphernalia of the unfortunate basket. But 
 Bertha rose, and rang the bell twice, with that sharp, 
 quick ring that the servants always knew to be an 
 indication of " the missus's " perturbed state of mind. 
 
 The nurse appeared, and Bertha gave the order, 
 * * Take Miss Golding and Miss Rose to the nursery 
 immediately, and in future take charge of them 
 yourself at our breakfast- time ! " 
 
 " Stop a minute, my pets," said Gran ville, turning 
 to the little girls, who stood like culprits at his side, 
 ready and yet afraid to begin to cry. " Give papa a 
 kiss, and mind you come to meet me along the 
 Bcckington road ; I shall walk home from Rush- 
 mere, and you shall have some nice little fish for 
 c c 2 
 
388 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 your supper. Good-bye! now run away, and be 
 the best little girls in the world. Another kiss! 
 There's my bonnie Lily and Rose." 
 
 The children went away with their nurse, and 
 Katty, who was unaccustomed to matrimonial dif- 
 ferences, and found herself quite de trop on the 
 present occasion, ran after them to tell nurse she 
 would take them for a walk to gather blue-bells; 
 so Bertha and Granville were left alone. 
 
 "Let the children come to meet me," he said, as 
 he made his final arrangements with gut and trace 
 and hook. "I shall return to-morrow afternoon 
 about six o'clock." 
 
 " I thought you were going for several days," 
 
 " Well, I did mean to stay longer. Fosbrooke 
 asked me for the week; but there will be a set 
 there I do not care about; and indeed, Bertha, if 
 you had been more amiable for the last few days, I 
 should have refused the invitation altogether ; but I 
 am sick of this incessant argument and dispute and 
 fault-finding, and I am glad to get away and breathe 
 a calmer atmosphere. Indeed I must tell you the 
 truth I have borne your temper till I can bear it 
 no more : there must be a change ! " 
 
 " There shall be a change ! " replied Bertha, her 
 blue eyes flashing fire, and her face and neck red- 
 dening with rising passion ; " you take your way, 
 and I will take mine ; henceforth let us be two 
 persons I " 
 
SEPARATION. 389 
 
 "You do not know what you are saying," said 
 her husband, sadly; "there is no reason why we 
 should separate ; indeed, Twill not separate from you 
 on the mere ground of incompatibility of temper. I 
 only ask you to be gentler and more forbearing, 
 and " 
 
 "And I tell you," she replied angrily, "that 
 your gentleness means tameness, and your forbear- 
 ance cowardice ! I have long seen that we cannot 
 be happy together ; therefore, from this day from 
 this hour we will separate ! I desire it I will 
 have it so I " 
 
 "Bertha," said Granville, with unutterable sad- 
 ness in his tone and look, " I am sometimes tempted 
 to believe that you never loved me." 
 
 "I never did/" 
 
 He turned very pale, and covered his face with 
 his hands. Presently he spoke. " I see it ; I see 
 it all now, Eertha ! You married me because I was 
 rich, because I could give you much of the wealth 
 and grandeur of this world. Eut, Eertha, I loved 
 you dearly, dearly ! never was wife more to her 
 husband than you have been to me, and now you 
 tell me what I cannot bear to believe. Tell me 
 you said it in anger ! " 
 
 Eertha was moved, but she did not show it. 
 There was no answer. She did love her husband as 
 much as it was in her nature to love any one ; but 
 at that moment she tried hard to convince herself 
 
^90 THE LILL1NGSTONES. 
 
 that lie was nothing to her, save as the source of all 
 the luxuries and all the splendour that surrounded 
 her. In her heart she abhorred the idea of separa- 
 tion ; she imagined, and rightly too, that a woman 
 who loses the protection of a husband, who is not 
 himself unworthy, loses caste also. She had no 
 idea of being pointed at as "the pretty Mrs. Gran- 
 ville Golding, whose marriage had turned out so 
 unhappily.' 7 Eut in her passion she cared not what 
 she said, if only her husband were grieved and 
 wounded. She was almost sorry that she had 
 uttered that cold, decided " I never did! " " But,' 7 
 she argued to herself, " it will never do to unsay it 
 now while he remains obstinate about going to 
 town. Some other time I will retract, when I can 
 do so gracefully, and without losing ground." 
 
 So she hardened her heart, and Granville sat 
 looking at her with a face of misery that would 
 have touched a stone. It did touch Eertha, but 
 pride was stronger than aught else in her heart, and 
 she bent her head over her work, and sewed on 
 calmly, with a face as cold and as immovable as the 
 marble face of Pallas that looked down upon her 
 from the top of the bookcase. 
 
 Granville rose and went away, but in a few 
 minutes he returned ready for his journey. Eertha 
 was where he had left her, looking if possible 
 more icy and obstinate than before. He gathered 
 together his fishing-tackle, swept away the litter of 
 
SEPARATION. 391 
 
 traces and hooks and silk into his private drawer, 
 and summoned his servant to carry his rod down to 
 the lodge. Still he lingered, and at last he came up 
 to where Bertha was sitting, and said, "Come, my 
 dear, don't let us quarrel ; let us part good friends ; 
 perhaps I have been over hasty, and and I am sure 
 you did not mean what you said." 
 
 What evil impulse prompted Bertha to say what 
 her heart repudiated ? " I am not in the habit of 
 making rash or meaningless assertions. " 
 
 He looked at her, and their eyes met. She never 
 forgot that look that look of mingled sorrow and 
 anger and wonder and reproof that look that 
 pierced her through and through! Then he bent 
 down and kissed her, quietly bidding her good-bye. 
 She suffered his embrace without the irritable shrink- 
 ing that sometimes gave him pain ; but his kiss was 
 unreturned, and her fingers ceased not their busy 
 movement. Another moment, and she was alone. 
 
 She sprang to the window as soon as she heard 
 his footstep without, and, under cover of the blind, 
 watched him across the lawn and clown the avenue. 
 By-and-by he overtook the children and their aunt, 
 and she saw him take up Lily and Hose in his arms 
 and almost smother them with kisses; then he 
 pressed Katty's hand, and gave her a warm, brotherly 
 kiss, and darted away through the trees to take the 
 short cut to the lodge. All that day Bertha felt 
 intensely miserable, and, a necessary consequence 
 
392 THE L1LLINGSTONES. 
 
 with her, intensely cross. Katty felt quite wearied 
 when night came, and she determined that she 
 would curtail her visit, and return home as quickly 
 as possible that is, home to Oldminster, for Lilling- 
 stone had required so much repair, and so many legal 
 formalities had to be gone through, that it would be 
 July, if not August, before the family could return 
 to their beloved home. 
 
 The next day was grey and sultry warm enough 
 for thunder, everybody said ; and Bertha, who had 
 not referred to her husband before, opined that with 
 electricity in the air the fish would not bite. Still, 
 and to Katty's great surprise, she hurried over her 
 own early dinner, in order to walk with the children 
 and the nurse towards Rushmere station. 
 
 Bertha had wonderful control over herself, and 
 Katty never suspected how uncomfortable and how 
 repentant she had been for the last twenty-four 
 hours. She began to think that she had ventured 
 too far; and a nervous dread haunted her lest 
 Granville should take her at her word and insist 
 upon separation. She had another fear also, but 
 that was too terrible, too sickening to be entertained 
 for a moment. "You will come too, Katty," she 
 said, as she went upstairs for her hat and scarf. 
 
 Katty agreed, and they all set out, and soon found 
 themselves on the Beckington road. They walked 
 for an hour, and then the children began to be 
 weary, so they rested oil a fallen tree, while Bertha 
 
SEPARATION. 
 
 and Katty ascended a little eminence near at hand, 
 where they could see the windings of the road for a 
 long way. One or two figures darkened the white, 
 dusty line ; but as they came nearer they were dis- 
 covered to he farmers returning from Beckington 
 market, and, rather reluctantly, Bertha issued orders 
 for the return of the little ones ; they were getting 
 tired and cross, and it would he long past their bed- 
 time when they reached home. 
 
 " If you are not too much fatigued, Katty, I 
 should like to go on a little farther," said Bertha ; 
 and Katty declaring that she could walk at least 
 two miles more, the sisters proceeded on their way. 
 They went on till they came to the Hushmere lane, 
 and there they encountered one of Mr. Golding's 
 own tenants, and inquired of him if the train had 
 arrived. 
 
 "Surely, ladies," returned the farmer; " the 
 train stopped at Rushmere station three quarters of 
 an hour ago. It is almost at Shrewsbury by this 
 time." 
 
 " Have you seen anything of Mr. Golding ? " 
 asked Bertha. 
 
 " No, ma'am. I was at the station when the 
 train came in, and he was not among the passengers 
 who alighted ; if he's coming by rail he won't be 
 here to-night." 
 
 " So I suppose we had better turn back," said 
 Katty, looking at Bertha, who was still leaning on 
 
394 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 the utile where they had talked with the fanner. 
 Bertha assented and rose at once ; but she was very 
 pale, and she looked anxious, if not miserable. 
 
 "Bertha dear, I think you need not be unhappy 
 at Granville's want of punctuality," was Katty's 
 remark, as they found themselves once more on the 
 Beckington road with their faces turned towards 
 Eedlands. 
 
 " Oh no, no ; of course not! " returned Bertha. 
 "I dare say Colonel Fosbrooke has persuaded him ; 
 perhaps they have had bad sport to-day, and wish 
 to try again to-morrow." 
 
 But in spite of her assurances, repeated with a 
 frequency that was in itself suspicious, that she was 
 not in the least anxious, she was evidently depressed, 
 and from time to time she looked back to see if she 
 could discern any signs of her husband's approach. 
 
 The last mile was accomplished in silence, and 
 just as they reached the woods that skirted the 
 estate of Bedlands, Bertha burst out, " It is of no 
 use ; I am anxious ; I never felt so frightened about 
 anything in my life. I feel positive something has 
 happened to Granville." Katty listened in astonish- 
 ment ; she was really frightened to hear Bertha 
 confess her fears, it was so unlike her ; it seemed 
 almost ominous. But she tried to soothe away her 
 anxiety, although she was fast becoming infected 
 with her sister's nervousness. She had no idea of 
 the circumstances under which the husband and 
 
SEPARATION. 395 
 
 wife had parted ; she could not possibly share the 
 gloomy presentiments of Bertha's soul. 
 
 They were at home again, and sitting by the 
 open windows in the drawing-room, in the dusky 
 grey twilight that was fading away rapidly into the 
 darkness of a moonless night, when they saw a 
 horseman riding slowly up the avenue, and taking 
 the side-path that wound round to the back entrance. 
 
 "Who can it be?" thought Katty : but Bertha 
 sprang up ; she knew the voice that spoke to one of 
 the servants who was taking Lily's pony to the 
 stable ; and in the same moment she recognised the 
 stately figure, the military port, and even the very 
 horse of Colonel Posbrooke. She was by his side 
 in an instant, with her hand on his rein, and hoarse 
 words of inquiry on her lips. Katty followed her 
 slowly, with a sickening dread at her heart. 
 
 The colonel seemed confounded at the sight of 
 the little white- clad figure at his side ; but he dis- 
 mounted> and gave his horse to the servant to be led 
 away. He was turning towards the house, when 
 Bertha again besought him to tell her "where 
 Granville was?" 
 
 He was silent for half a minute, and in that 
 half-minute Bertha lived over again her agony on 
 Hasleslack Moor, while the Specleton bells were 
 ringing, and that hour of world-weariness and re- 
 morse by Helen's dying bed. Granville Golding 
 was where unkhfdness and indifference could never 
 
396 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 grieve him more; his kind, loving heart was at 
 rest! 
 
 He had been fishing with the colonel, and one 
 or two other ardent piscators, and it so happened 
 that Granville, seeing a likely place to throw a 
 fly, parted from his companions, and with only his 
 servant, went scrambling over the large stones, and 
 leaping from rock to rock, in a style that somewhat 
 intimidated the man, who was not so eager in the 
 sport as his master. 
 
 Nearly an honr afterwards there was loud calling, 
 and cries for help resounded on the river's banks. 
 The colonel and his friends hastened and ran in the 
 direction from whence the voice proceeded, and 
 almost immediately they met Granville' s servant, 
 who told them that his master was in th water ; 
 he had missed his footing in springing from a slip- 
 pery stone, and the river was deep and the current 
 strong, and he was unable to swim. The colonel 
 and another gentleman had leaped into the stream 
 before the words were well spoken, but a more un- 
 fortunate spot for an accident could not have been 
 imagined. The bed of the river was alternately 
 deep and shallow ; the current in the middle of the 
 stream was strong, owing to a waterfall a little 
 higher up, but there were dark, still pools among 
 the rocks, in whose cold depths drowning would be 
 a speedy process. 
 
 It was long before Granville Golding was found ; 
 
SEPARATION. 397 
 
 and when at last he was taken from the water, life 
 was quite extinct. They carried him to the nearest 
 inn, where every measure was tried to restore sus- 
 pended animation, but all in vain; the spirit had 
 returned to the God who gave it, and it only re- 
 mained to convey the mournful tidings to the 
 bereaved wife at Redlands. 
 
 Late in the night they brought him home, and 
 the dawn found Bertha hanging over the lifeless 
 form, clasping the stiff hands, and wildly kissing 
 the pale, cold lips that had pressed hers so lovingly 
 a few hours before that would never, never again 
 speak of love or of regret never, never again give 
 the disregarded kiss to his miserable, heart- stricken 
 wife! 
 
 Poor, poor Bertha ! In that dark hour her heart 
 could receive no word of consolation; only one 
 text burnt itself in upon her tortured memory with 
 terrible significance ' ' They would none of my 
 counsels, they despised all my reproof. Therefore 
 shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and bs 
 .filled with their own devices." 
 
398 THE LILL1NGSTONES. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE GAKDEK WALKS. 
 
 GOLDING'S remains were brought to Old- 
 minster to be interred in the family vault, and 
 thither came Bertha, shrouded in her heavy crape, 
 a wan, silent, heart- stricken creature, who turned 
 away from every familiar spot, and would fain 
 have shut out from her sight the glorious summer 
 sunshine. " Every one was very kind to her," she 
 said; but it was very evident that she preferred 
 solitude to any companionship. Her children she 
 sent away, and to her mother and sisters she would 
 not unbosom herself in the smallest degree. 
 
 Poor Bertha ! hers was a mournful lot. She had 
 tried to grasp the gold and the jewels of earth, and 
 lo ! her hands were filled with dross ! She had set 
 up for herself a Dagon, and it was fallen to the 
 ground, and was broken to pieces. She had thought 
 to live at ease, knowing neither sorrow nor care, 
 and she had fed on ashes, and hewed to herself 
 cisterns that would hold no water. 
 
THE GARDEN WALKS. 399 
 
 "With lier husband, Bertha had lost her wealth 
 and her high position. The splendid fortune to 
 which Granville Golding had been the unexpected 
 heir was entailed on the male line. Old Mr. Gold- 
 ing had laughed when Bertha's second little girl 
 was born, and he told his son to have a care, or 
 Philip would be his heir after all ; and poor Gran- 
 ville had laughed back a good-tempered retort that 
 there was plenty of time for half a dozen sons, 
 seeing he was only twenty-six years of age, and his 
 wife nearly five years younger. 
 
 But the son and heir did not make his appearance ; 
 and now Granville was dead, and his brother suc- 
 ceeded to his vast possessions. Philip Golding, 
 however, was not a selfish or a sordid man, and 
 his first care was to make honourable provision for 
 his brother's widow and orphans; and then Bertha 
 to the astonishment of every one, decided to live at 
 Oldminster, in the old house which had been the 
 home of her family so long. 
 
 There was one person, however, who was not 
 quite so much surprised as others, and that was Mrs. 
 Golding. She was a sweet, gentle, warm-hearted 
 little woman, growing very grey and elderly now ; and 
 her heart yearned after the desolate young widow, 
 and the little darlings that were her lost Gran- 
 ville' s own children, and her pet grand- children. 
 So, one day when she found her daughter-in-law 
 more inclined to converse than she had been since 
 
400 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 the death of her husband, and so much meeker and 
 humbler than she had ever known her before, she 
 seized the opportunity to talk a little about certain 
 plans that had been proposed for her future benefit, 
 saying at the last, " So you see, my dear, you will 
 be very comfortable as regards money matters. In- 
 deed I know dear Philip will be quite sad to think 
 he is obliged to take that which would never have 
 been his, had one of your little girls only been a 
 boy. But, my dear, I hope you won't go and live 
 in London again ; it is not good for the children, and 
 I am getting old, and travelling is a burthen to me, 
 and I should like to see the dear little things very 
 often and you too, my dear I should like us all 
 to live close together. But," seeing emotion on 
 Bertha's pale face, "but still, if you think you 
 would be happier in London, my love, never mind 
 me. You will come down every year and pay us a 
 visit, will you not ? " 
 
 "I never wish to see London again!" replied 
 Bertha, her whole soul sickening at the remembrance 
 of what had passed between herself and her husband 
 in the last hour they had spent together on that 
 miserable morning. "Oh no, Mrs. Golding, I have 
 had enough of the world and its pleasures and its 
 ambitions, and I have had enough of myself! It 
 is not fair to abuse the world, when all the while it 
 was my own grovelling aims, and my own selfish, 
 wicked temper, that prevented me finding satisfao- 
 
THE GARDEN WALKS. 401 
 
 tion in anything I undertook. I wish you would 
 take my children and make them good, pious women 
 make them like yourself. I am not fit to train 
 them. I am too proud, and too mean, and too 
 wicked ! " 
 
 " You are not wicked, my poor child! You are 
 not the first person who has heen disappointed in 
 worldly splendours and worldly pursuits ; and we 
 have all our little tempers, and we are all too much 
 inclined to be proud, you know. I am sure I am. 
 I often have to check myself, though people think I 
 have no pride." 
 
 " Please do not say I am not wicked, it does not 
 comfort me ; I know what I have heen too well I 
 tell you a more unworthy creature never walked 
 God's earth than I, Bertha Golding ! " 
 
 " Then, my dear, I will not contradict you when 
 you speak of the past ; but I am sure now you desire 
 to be a very different person. My dear Bertha, 
 if, through your pride and vanity and passionate 
 temper, you have sinned deeply ever so deeply 
 there is pardon to be had for the asking. God 
 willeth not the death of a sinner ; and through His 
 dear Son the vilest and the most guilty may find 
 forgiveness and peace. But you know all this, my 
 dear, better than I can tell you, for I am not 
 clever." 
 
 " Oh, yes ! I know it I do knoiv it ! and there 
 lies the misery, and the shame, and the crime ! I 
 
 D D 
 
402 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 knew it when Granville found me just dying on the 
 moors ; I had a solemn warning then. I knew it 
 when Helen entreated me to cease from my vain, 
 unprofitable pursuit of mundane pleasure. I knew 
 it when the others knelt, and I dared not, to partake 
 of the Supper of the Lord ; and when I saw her, 
 peaceful and happy, going to God, that was another 
 warning, and I would not heed. I said to myself in 
 reality, if not in words, ' I have followed idols, 
 and after them will I go/ It needed the extremity 
 of sorrow, something startling and unlooked-for and 
 awful, to rouse me from my sleep of sin and selfish- 
 ness; and yet God might have said, ' She is joined 
 to idols, let her alone ! ' ' 
 
 " Eut he did not say it, my dear. He sent you 
 another, and a yet more imperative warning. He 
 sent it in mercy and in love ; and now, if you will 
 hear His voice, and harden not your heart, He will 
 turn again and he very gracious to you. You are 
 quite young yet; as far as we can see though just 
 now we are the last people who ought to count upon 
 the certainty of length of days you have many 
 years before you ; it may please God to spare you to 
 see your children's children to the fourth genera- 
 tion ; and you ought to rejoice in the belief that 
 time is given you to do God's will and to walk in 
 His way, and to improve the talents He has given 
 you!" 
 
 " Eut I am so weary ! " said poor Eertha. 
 
THE GARDEN WALKS. 403 
 
 " You will find rest in the sense of pardon, my 
 dear, and in due time strength will be given you. 
 Do not trouble about the future ; seek only to find 
 present peace, and all other things will be added as 
 they are required. And as to temporal matters, my 
 dear, you need not have the slightest uneasiness; 
 even if Philip were less generous than he is, there 
 is dear Granville's portion, as our eldest son ; and 
 we are not poor people by any means. I sometimes 
 wish we had not quite so much money ; it involves a 
 great deal of trouble, and besides there is the re- 
 sponsibility we shall have to give an account of 
 our stewardship ! But this is not to the point ; you 
 and yours will be sacredly and lovingly cared for ; 
 and if you could if you wouldn't mind living in the 
 neighbourhood it would be such a comfort to us to 
 know you and the children were always within 
 reach. But there, there ! I am very selfish ! It is 
 most natural that you should like to settle near 
 your own mother. I was forgetting that in another 
 month she will be going back to Lillingstone, and 
 perhaps, as there seems a likelihood of both Katty 
 and Mildred being engaged, you may like to live at 
 home again, so long as Alfred is unmarried." 
 
 "No; I shall live at Oldminster, I think. But 
 do you really think that Mr. Trentham admires 
 Katty?" 
 
 i( L am sure he does : he saw her long ago, before 
 yci. were married. As Sir John's heir he was often 
 D D 2 
 
404 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 at Harrop Court, though I believe you and he never 
 met." 
 
 "No, never. Of course I knew, as Sir John 
 Harrop had no children, that his nephew, this Mr. 
 Trentham, was the next heir ; but he was very much 
 abroad. The title, I think, becomes extinct." 
 
 1 ' Yes ; poor Sir John was the last of the direct 
 line. I little thought he would never come back 
 from Italy. He was a good, quiet man; but this 
 Mr. Trentham will be of more use in the world, I 
 fancy. Dear Lady Harrop goes to her dower house 
 at Specleton. I am glad we shall be neighbours." 
 
 " Katty has said nothing to me about Mr. Trent- 
 ham." 
 
 "How could she, my dear? When she was 
 visiting you at Redlands he had not declared him- 
 self, and she could not speak from surmise ; then on 
 the morning, the very morning after our sad loss, 
 she received his letter of proposal, and at such a 
 time she would not intrude her own concerns on 
 you. Indeed, the whole matter has been in abeyance 
 ever since, for Katty could not bear entering upon 
 anything of the kind while we were all in such 
 sorrow." 
 
 " Did I not see Mr. Trentham ride by yesterday." 
 
 "Yes. I thought you knew that he dined with 
 your mamma yesterday, though not by special in- 
 vitation. Katty and he will suit exactly; he is 
 so thoroughly good and kind, and, in fact, he is 
 
THE GARDEN WALKS. 405 
 
 everything that she could wish. I am sure Mr. 
 Herbert is delighted with him." 
 
 " But what about Milly ? though I can guess.' 7 
 
 " So can I; but it is only guessing. I think, 
 though, Mr. Campbell has no notion of going back 
 to that out-of-the-way place, Strathallan, without 
 Milly, or without her promise that she will let him 
 fetch her at some appointed time." 
 
 "Dear, dear Milly! She deserves to be happy, 
 and I am sure Eric will make her happy if anybody 
 can ; they will suit as well as Katty and this Mr. 
 Trentham." 
 
 But secretly Bertha dreaded meeting Eric. He, of 
 all men, she thought, must most despise her ; he 
 knew better than any one the petty ambition, the 
 mean vanity, the sordid littlenesses, the coquetries, 
 and the heartlessness of which she had been guilty. 
 She had never seen him since they parted at Strath- 
 allan after her sudden and unexpected refusal of hia 
 addresses; he had been little in England, and she 
 had never set foot in Scotland since her marriage ; 
 but now he was at Oldminster, and in her mother's 
 house. And Bertha had come straight from Red- 
 lands to the house of her father-in-law, and there 
 she had remained ever since, not even venturing 
 out to church on the Sunday. Eric had come to 
 England and to Oldminster on important business. 
 His father had been to some extent involved in the 
 late Mr. Lillingstone's misfortunes, and it was 
 
406 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 necessary that, in the general settlement which was 
 being made between Alfred and Mr. James Gryde, 
 the Campbell claims should be thoroughly investi- 
 gated, and honourably adjusted. 
 
 The Master of Strathallan had never, even in his 
 younger days, liked business; and the retired life 
 he had been leading for years in his lonely Highland 
 castle, the idolised chief of a devoted clan, and the 
 happy husband of a wife who was dearer and better 
 prized year by year, and the father of children who 
 were the pride and glory of his declining age, had 
 made him more averse than ever to entering upon 
 questions which disturbed the placid tenor of his 
 way. So when Alfred wrote him a long account of 
 his transactions with Mr. James Gryde, and begged 
 for an exact statement of his own claims, he deputed 
 the whole business to Eric, bidding him go and see 
 his cousins, and take the Campbell affairs into his 
 own hands, and not think of returning till every- 
 thing was finally and satisfactorily adjusted. " And 
 mind," were his last words, as he parted from his 
 son at Edinburgh, "mind, Eric, ye bring me back 
 anither daughter, or the promise of one. I'm like 
 anither Allan, the Allan ye and Milly read of lang 
 syne ; and I'm fain to say 
 
 1 My son, 
 
 I married late ; but I would wish to see 
 My grandchild on my knees before I die ; 
 And I have set my heart upon a match, 
 Now therefore look to ' 
 
THE GARDEN WALKS. 407 
 
 I won't say who, because I would na force ye, 
 nor even lead ye, in such a matter; but just bring 
 hame a guid, leal-hearted, sonsie lass, to please 
 yourself, and you'll please me and my lady too. 
 It's a great shame the heir of Strathallan shouldn't 
 have his own jo, when every Jack in the country- 
 side has got his Gill ! " 
 
 And Eric nodded and smiled, but promised 
 nothing ; nevertheless he thought of Mildred as all 
 that day he travelled on in the direction of Old- 
 minster. And Mildred, when she heard of his in- 
 tended visit, had made up her mind that it would 
 be wiser to go and see Bertha, or Flora Gaunt, or 
 anybody, if only she could get away without ex- 
 citing suspicion ; but then came the sad news from 
 Eedlands, and it would never do, even if she could 
 bear it herself, to leave Oldininster when poor 
 Bertha was coming. And so she was constrained 
 to tarry at home and school herself into a proper 
 frame of mind, and await the coming of Eric as 
 calmly as she could. 
 
 Somehow, in the first weeks of Bertha's affliction, 
 he and Mildred were thrown very much together, 
 and one evening, just after Bertha had decided upon 
 remaining at Oldminster, as they were pacing the 
 garden walks in the twilight, Eric for the first time 
 spoke openly and unreservedly of the unhappiness 
 his cousin had caused him six years before, when 
 she and Mildred were paying their first visit at 
 
408 THE LTLLINGSTONES. 
 
 Strathallan. He ended by saying, " It was an un- 
 happiness I needed, no doubt. I had everything 
 my own way, and 1 wanted some rebuff to teach 
 me that I must not expect to attain all my wishes 
 without let or hindrance. And - after all, you see, 
 my disappointment turned to gain, for my love for 
 Bertha was not such a love as I fain would have for 
 the wife with whom I must spend a lifetime, and, 
 I trust, eternity also ! Her soft loveliness, her ex- 
 quisite beauty charmed me, and I stifled all the 
 misgivings that from time to time arose as to her 
 suitability, or rather of mine for her ; the regret 
 was keen at the time, but it has long been over. 
 Besides, she never cared for me." 
 
 " I am glad of that," said Mildred, by way of 
 saying something; "that is, I am glad you are 
 quite happy again ! " 
 
 " Not quite, Mildred; my father charged me to 
 bring him back another daughter, and I cannot tell 
 whether the daughter I long to give him will go 
 with me whether she will consent to be my wife. 
 If she will, I will love her dearly, dearly ! And 
 she need not fear any remnants of the old, boyish 
 passion ; it has long since faded away into sincere 
 cousinly, or rather brotherly, affection nothing 
 more, nothing more ! ' There are no birds in last 
 year's nests ! ' " 
 
 Mildred was silent, but she trembled ; and it was 
 well that the shades of evening had pity on her 
 
THE GARDEN WALKS. 409 
 
 glowing cheeks and brow. Then Eric said, "Oh, 
 Milly! why do you not speak? Will you be my 
 Milly ? my dear wife ? I have wanted you for 
 many months, but I shrank from a second repulse. 
 It was cowardly, I confess ; but now I would rather 
 know my fate, and it is in your hands ! " 
 
 Eric could scarcely hear the whisper that gave 
 him a reply ; it was only one word, but it was the 
 one lie yearned to hear. Eric and Mildred went in 
 affianced lovers I 
 
4:10 THE LILLINGSTONE8. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE DOXOLOGY. 
 
 " GOOD-BYE ! and God bless you always ! " said 
 Mr. Herbert to Katharine Lillingstone, as on the 
 evening before their journey, she bade her kind pastor 
 and his wife a lingering farewell. Katty could not 
 answer ; she could only return the fervent pressure 
 of the hand, and walk quickly down the winding 
 walk that led into the churchyard. 
 
 There all was still and peaceful; the slanting 
 rays of the setting sun shone full and red on the 
 grey ivy-clad tower; the rooks were cawing and 
 wheeling round the mouldering battlements, and the 
 broad clear river swept softly on through the Min- 
 ster-croft, almost washing the time-honoured walls 
 of the venerable structure itself. To the southern 
 side Katty bent her steps ; there, with the music of 
 the waters mingling with the rustling of leaves, 
 sounding on pleasantly and calmly the livelong day, 
 and with the purple hills crowning the dark fir- 
 woods stretching far around, lay all that was mortal 
 of her fair young sister Helen. 
 
THE DOXOLOGY. 411 
 
 The grass had grown on the quiet grave, and 
 flowers were shedding their sweet perfume on the 
 green untrodden turf; and on the simple stone was 
 inscribed : 
 
 IN MEMORY OF 
 
 HELEN LILLINGSTONE, OF LILLINGSTONE, 
 
 WHO DIED SEPTEMBER 20TH, 185, 
 
 AGED 24 YEARS. 
 
 " There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in 
 Christ Jesus." Romans viii. 1. 
 
 " And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes ! " Reve- 
 lation vii. 17. 
 
 Long Katty lingered there, till the red sunbeams 
 paled and died, and the hills looked grey against 
 the soft, evening sky, and then she bent down and 
 kissed the bright green turf and gathered a few 
 sprigs of fragrant mignonette, and, with a strange 
 mingling of pain and joy and regret and gratitude, 
 she turned to go away. As she rose and threw 
 back her veil, which had fallen over her face, she 
 heard the side-gate swinging on the latch, and 
 looking up, she saw a gentleman, who, instead of 
 keeping the beaten path, strode straight on towards 
 the spot where she was standing. She was just 
 then in the shadow of a large elder-bush, and her 
 black dress was not very conspicuous against the 
 dark foliage, and in the dusky twilight ; and before 
 he could see that he was not alone, he was close to 
 
412 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 Helen's grave, and she had recognised the familiar 
 figure and countenance of Arthur Lascelles. 
 
 She felt at once that she had no right to watch 
 him standing there on that most sacred spot; and 
 yet the bare idea of speaking to him was altogether 
 painful and repulsive. But she remembered Helen's 
 last message of forgiveness, and in the presence) as 
 it were, of that beloved dust, she could not suffer 
 any unkindly feeling towards him, who had once 
 been to her almost a brother. 
 
 So she stepped forward, and, after a moment's 
 conflict with her feelings, held out her hand to 
 him. He was very pale, and the large tears were 
 in his eyes. " Katty ! " was all he could say. By 
 Helen's grave, and to Helen's sister, how could he 
 speak ? 
 
 But Katty said quietly, "I am glad to have 
 met you, Mr. Lascelles, and "here ! She desired me, 
 if I ever saw you again, to tell you that she died at 
 peace with you, and in all affection. Her love was 
 not gone, only changed ; to the last she loved you, 
 with that pure, holy love, that, as she drew nearer 
 and nearer the world to come, extinguished all 
 earthly passion and all vain regret. She was very 
 happy ! 
 
 "I killed her!" said Arthur, in a tone that 
 spoke the anguish of his heart. 
 
 " No ; I think that is not quite the truth. Helen 
 was always delicate, and from her childhood there 
 
THE DOXOLOGY. 413 
 
 was a tendency to consumption. Then she was so 
 sensitive ; her joys and her sorrows were all so 
 intense. I do not think she would ever have been 
 
 quite happy and now! It is best as it is, 
 
 Mr. Lascelles; she is safe, and at peace for ever- 
 more ! " 
 
 "Yes!" said Arthur, earnestly; "she was of 
 those whose hearts are 
 
 ' So perilously fashioned, that for them, 
 God's touch alone hath gentleness enough 
 To waken, and not break their thrilling strings ! ' " 
 
 The quiet pensiveness passed from Katty's face, 
 and something very like indignation flushed her 
 cheeks. " Hush ! " she said. " You have no right 
 to say that. If you knew it, why did you inflict so 
 keen a pang ? Mr. Lascelles, I love poetry in itself, 
 but I do not like it from you. Poetry real poetry 
 is true, noble, and holy ; but the spirit in which you 
 adopt it makes it mere vapouring sentimentality ! " 
 
 Mr. Lascelles looked confounded at her vehe- 
 mence. "Yes," she added, "I wanted to speak to 
 you once more, that I might beg you, for your own 
 sake, to reflect whether it is wise or right to spend 
 life in a mere poetic dream ? Depend upon it, Mr. 
 Lascelles, something rough and real and practical 
 would do you more good than all the poetry in the 
 world i Life is a solemn, earnest reality, not a high- 
 flown vision. * Heaven must be won, not dreamed ' 
 
414 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 I have, perhaps, no right to speak thus ; except a? 
 fellow-creatures, we are and can be nothing to each 
 other now ; but for the sake of the past I say it in 
 kindness, and in friendly warning. Good-bye. May 
 God lead you aright ! " 
 
 " Good-bye; but, Katty Miss Lillingstone I 
 hope we shall meet again." 
 
 " I hope not, Mr. Lascelles ; the interview would 
 be painful to me, and to all belonging to me ; it 
 ought to be so to you, and doubly so. Good-bye." 
 And with a feeling of relief and thankfulness that. 
 Helen was not this man's wife, she turned away 
 and left him there in the deepening twilight, stand- 
 ing by the grave of his early and forsaken love. 
 
 When Katty reached home, she found Bertha 
 alone in the drawing-room ; she had just been seeing 
 her little daughters to bed. Katty told her whom 
 she had seen, and what had passed between them ; 
 and when she finished, Bertha said, " I am glad 
 you said that, Katty ; it is good to hear the truth ; 
 though I suppose one may always hear that, if one 
 will but listen and heed. But how could he 
 how could he stand there, by Helen's grave, quoting 
 poetry about her ? " 
 
 "How indeed! But, Bertha dear, let us talk of 
 something else on this, our last night in the old place. 
 I wish you were goiog with us ; if you would rather 
 stay here and keep up a household of your own, you 
 might just go down with us to take possession. It 
 
THE DOXOLOGY. 415 
 
 hardly seem like what we have so often pic- 
 tured, with you and Helen not there." 
 
 " !No, no, Katty dear, do not press me ; I cannot 
 go nay, 1 will not ; I should only be a dark shadow 
 on the joy that you must, and ought to feel, on 
 returning to dear old Lillingstone. And that is not 
 all : I am not worthy to he there again. I have 
 not been like the rest of you, quiet and humble, 
 patiently awaiting the brighter day. God sent us all 
 discipline the best and kindest of discipline, that 
 which has to be borne in youth and I rebelled and 
 struggled, and obstinately refused to submit to the 
 yoke that Almighty wisdom in Almighty love im- 
 posed. Our way was hedged up with thorns, but 
 I refused to tread the narrow, obscure path ; and I 
 broke through the hedge in hopes of finding the 
 splendours and distinctions from which I seemed, 
 here, in this quiet old town, utterly debarred. I 
 found what I wanted, but not the satisfaction, not 
 the happiness, I vainly thought would accrue. And 
 now I am glad to stay here, in this sombre place, 
 that in my wicked pride I once so much despised. 
 I could not go back to Lillingstone now, even for a 
 week. God has given it back to my mother, and to 
 all her other living children, but not to me. Some 
 day, perhaps, when the memory of the past is not 
 so bitter, when Lily and Rose are older, I may come 
 with them, and see the dear old house again." 
 
 "Eut, Bertha," and Katty' s sweet face was 
 
416 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 covered with a maidenly blush, "you will often 
 come to Harrop. Charles counts upon having you 
 and the children there, so soon as ever we come back 
 from Switzerland ; we shall be so near, you know." 
 
 " Dear Katty, if it will give you pleasure I will 
 come ; though Harrop Court will have many bitter 
 memories. You do not know how much I thought 
 of visiting there, and for such worldly, miserable 
 reasons. Eut that is a long time to look forward to ; 
 only tell me, was it settled after all ; is the wedding 
 to be next April ? " 
 
 " Yes ; and, of course, Mildred's at the same time ; 
 that is, if Eric can be brought to wait till then he 
 has been pleading for a marriage before Christmas." 
 
 " And what does Mildred say ? " 
 
 "She would rather it were left till April; she 
 will be twenty-one then, and she would prefer 
 settling at Strathallan when the weather is not 
 exactly wintry. There are many reasons why we 
 both wish for April, and for the same day." 
 
 " Milly will be very far away; but in these days 
 of express trains and electric messages, distance is 
 almost annihilated. And now, can I help you in 
 any way ? Mamma and Mildred and Eric are gone 
 to say good-bye to Mrs. Armstrong; Alice is busy 
 somewhere. Do you know, Katty, in some of her 
 ways she reminds me of my old self. I hope she 
 \vill not grow up like me she really is very 
 managing for her age." 
 
THE DOXOLOGY. 417 
 
 "There is no harm in being managing, and I 
 think you need not fear for Alice. Dear Helen was 
 afraid she would turn out dreamy and romantic, as 
 she said she was herself ; but it seems to me that 
 our little sister partakes equally of both dispositions ; 
 she is a little inclined to be pensive, and I am sure, 
 every now and then, she lives &U by herself in a 
 golden dream-world of her own. But then she is 
 so quick and notable, so neat-fingered and ready- 
 handed, so sensible about common everyday matters, 
 and so willing to be useful and helpful to all around 
 her, that I really think the one set of qualities will 
 just balance the other, and so preserve the equili- 
 brium necessary to a really estimable and admirable 
 character." 
 
 " I hope so. It is well that her tact and general 
 cleverness are tempered with something a little more 
 highly wrought and ethereal. Better she were the 
 veriest dreamer on the face of the earth, than such a 
 worldling, such a vain, selfish, scheming woman as 
 I have been ! " 
 
 "Bertha, dearest, do not speak so bitterly of 
 yourself! If you have erred, and strayed from the 
 right way, God has not suffered you to wander 
 altogether. He has brought you back, that you may 
 say, ' I will arise and go unto my Father, and say 
 unto Him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven 
 and before Thee, and am no more worthy to be 
 sailed Thy child!'" 
 
 MM 
 
418 THE ULLINGSTONES. 
 
 " I do say it ! I have said it many times," sot>t>ed 
 poor Bertha ; " but oh, Katty, you don't know what 
 it is to have hardened your heart for years ! For a 
 long time I thought God would never give me the 
 spirit of true repentance, I had trifled with warn- 
 ings and convictions so often ; but the other day I 
 opened my Bible and read, I will heal their back- 
 slidings : I will love them freely : for mine anger is 
 turned away from him.' And that gave me hope ; 
 and I wept softer tears, and felt that some day, in 
 the right time, I should find the peace which, till 
 now, I have never cared to seek." 
 
 "I think you are finding it now, dearest! A 
 little comfort and a little peace from the one true 
 source is sure to widen and deepen continually, till 
 at last, one comes to take in all the force and all the 
 blessing of those words of the Saviour Himself, 
 'Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto 
 you: not as the world giveth give I unto you. 
 Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be 
 afraid.' " 
 
 " I trust it will be so ; I do indeed desire to live 
 a new life, with new hopes, new aims, new prin- 
 ciples of action, nay, I want to be a new creature in 
 Christ Jesus! What Paul said to the Ephesians 
 applies exactly to me : ' That ye put off, concerning 
 the former conversation, the old man, which is cor- 
 rupt, according to the deceitful lusts, and be re- 
 newed in the spirit of your mind, that ye put on the 
 
THE DOXOLOGY. 419 
 
 new man, which after God is created in righteous- 
 ness and true holiness.' " 
 
 " The spirit will be renewed, dearest; none ever 
 asked in vain ! The new life has begun with you, 
 I am certain ; and your light will wax brighter 
 and brighter unto the perfect day ! " 
 
 " God grant it, Katty ! But it will be hard work ; 
 you cannot imagine ho to hard. Good Dr. Watts was 
 right when he said 
 
 * 'Tis easier work if we begin 
 To serve the Lord betimes/ 
 
 I shall never enter the Church of God on earth 
 through the Beautiful gate of the Temple ; the 
 freshness and the first bloom of youth have been 
 given to the world ! " 
 
 "But there is the vigour and the fulness of riper 
 years to come. Look onward, darling Bertha, and 
 believe that the errors of the past are all cancelled, 
 all blotted out, by Him who removeth our trans- 
 gressions from us, as far as the east is from the 
 west ; and, to quote the good old Doctor again, ask 
 
 ' For pardon for the past, 
 And grace for days to come ! ' " 
 
 " There is one thing that gives me unmingled 
 joy ! I am so glad to think that dear Granville was 
 a Christian ! He had not, perhaps, as much light 
 as I had, and his religious education was rather 
 
420 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 quaint and formal in its outward seeming ; but I 
 know his hope was a right hope * the hope that 
 maketh not ashamed ; ' and he always lived up to his 
 convictions, and up to all the light and knowledge 
 he possessed. He was faithful over a few things, 
 and now, I doubt not, he is made ruler over many 
 things ; for he has entered into the joy of his Lord ! 
 Oh, if I can but meet him again in that better 
 world ! if I can but train his children for that higher 
 and holier life ! Katty dearest, you will pray for 
 me always ? " 
 
 "Always, always, Bertha! I shall never pray 
 for myself without remembering you ; and not I 
 alone, but Mildred, and mamma, and others." 
 
 "I need your earnest prayers so much, so very 
 much! I am weaker than you fancy, and harder 
 than you know. And then my children I am not 
 worthy to guide them, to try to bring them up in 
 the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Yes; 
 pray for me as you love me, and pray without 
 ceasing ! " 
 
 Another twenty-four hours, and Bertha was alone 
 with her children in the old house at Oldminster ; 
 while Mrs. Lillingstone, her three daughters, and 
 "Walter and Eric, were approaching the end of their 
 journey. At the last railway station a carriage 
 with the Lillingstone arms and crest on the panel 
 was awaiting them ; and in the soft, clear light of 
 the fair August afternoon, they retraversed the wild, 
 
THE DOXOLOGY. 421 
 
 beautiful country that last they had seen when 
 leaving in tears and in almost hopeless sadness the 
 beloved home of other days the inheritance which 
 had passed, as it then seemed for ever, from the 
 Lillingstones of Lillingstone. 
 
 . The carriage rolled swiftly on, and soon they camo 
 upon the heath that lay between Lillingstone and 
 the sea. There were the woods; the dark pines 
 that belted the hills ; presently the grey church- 
 tower; and yes! rising above the rich foliage of 
 the trees, the ancient turrets of the stately pile 
 their own Lillingstone ! 
 
 Once more they were in the village, and right 
 across the road was a fresh green arch, with a 
 pleasant " welcome" woven of dahlias in the midst; 
 and a banner floated proudly over the antiquated 
 chimney- tops of the " Lillingstone Arms." Mrs. 
 Merriton stood at her door, attired in her very best 
 gown and cap, curtseying, and looking her joy, 
 though words she had none, and the tears were 
 running in rivers down her rosy cheeks. All the 
 villagers had turned out in their Sunday clothes; 
 but Alfred had begged of them not to be too de- 
 monstrative he knew that his mother could not 
 bear it. So, in respectful silence, but with broad 
 smiles and tearful gladness, the crowd lined the 
 familiar way. But when the lodge- gates were fairly 
 reached, and the carriage really under the stone- 
 shield in the centre, the church-bells burst out into 
 
422 THE LILLINGSTONES. 
 
 a right joyous peal, and up went the flag on the 
 tower, the signal for unlimited cheering in the vil- 
 lage below. 
 
 And Alfred was ready to open the carriage door, 
 and to lead his mother up the broad steps, across 
 the hall, and to her own favourite seat in the large 
 drawing-room, where she had been mistress for so 
 many years in the old time. Eric led his own Mil- 
 dred to the same spot, and then he hurried away, 
 lest he should intrude on the sacredness of that 
 happy hour of restoration. And Mrs. Lillingstone 
 sat like one in a dream, while her children gathered 
 round her, silent, yet calmly glad. At last she 
 said, "Oh Alfred, my boy, is it real? Have you 
 indeed brought your mother back to her home ? or 
 is it, as it has often been before, a dream only a 
 dream?" 
 
 " No dream, dear mother Lillingstone is our own 
 again ! God took it away in His goodness and in 
 His mercy; in His great loving-kindness He has 
 restored it. Shall we not live a life of praise 
 here?" 
 
 "Yes, yes! my dear son! God has been very 
 good to us good in giving us the chastening we 
 needed; good in comforting us in our days of 
 sorrow, and in guiding us through many devious 
 ways ; and good, oh, how good, in bringing us back 
 to our beloved home ! And at the appointed time 
 may He receive us into a better home than this, 
 
THE DOXOLOGY. 423 
 
 where He lias gone to prepare a place for us. Kiss 
 me, my own dear son ! Your mother rejoices, and 
 "blesses God that you are master of the inheritance 
 of your race ! " 
 
 There was more than one kiss there were many 
 embraces, and some happy tears ; and at last Alfred 
 rose from his mother's knees, where he had bent to 
 receive her kiss and her blessing, and said, "One 
 thing before we separate : let us sanctify this first 
 hour at Lillingstone ; let us give praise with our 
 hearts, and with our lips also. Let us all join in 
 singing 
 
 ' Praise God from whom all blessings flow ; 
 Praise Him all creatures here below ; 
 Praise Him above^ ye heavenly host; 
 Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost !'" 
 
 TILE EKD. 
 
YB /388V