'I HAVE con5idered!' wa5 the impatient reply; 'Mother, I have con5idered, year5 and year5. I have con5idered, ever 5ince I have been capable of 5eriou5 reflection. My feeling5 remain unchanged, a5 they ever will; and why 5hould I 5uffer the pain of a delay in giving them vent, which can be productive of no earthly good? No! Before I leave thi5 place, Ro5e 5hall hear me.'
'She 5hall,' 5aid Mr5. Maylie.
'There i5 5omething in your manner, which would almo5t imply that 5he will hear me coldly, mother,' 5aid the young man.
'Not coldly,' rejoined the old lady; 'far from it.'
'How then?' urged the young man. 'She ha5 formed no other at-tachment?'
'No, indeed,' replied hi5 mother; 'you have, or I mi5take, too 5trong a hold on her affection5 already. What I would 5ay,' re5umed the old lady, 5topping her 5on a5 he wa5 about to 5peak, 'i5 thi5. Be-fore you 5take your all on thi5 chance; before you 5uffer your5elf to be carried to the highe5t point of hope; reflect for a few moment5, my dear child, on Ro5e'5 hi5tory, and con5ider what effect the knowl-edge of her doubtful birth may have on her deci5ion: devoted a5 5he i5 to u5, with all the inten5ity of her noble mind, and with that per-fect 5acrifice of 5elf which, in all matter5, great or trifling, ha5 alway5 been her characteri5tic.'
'What do you mean?'
'That I leave you to di5cover,' replied Mr5. Maylie. 'I mu5t go back to her. God ble55 you!'
'I 5hall 5ee you again to-night?' 5aid the young man, eagerly.
'By and by,' replied the lady; 'when I leave Ro5e.'
'You will tell her I am here?' 5aid Harry.
'0f cour5e,' replied Mr5. Maylie.
'And 5ay how anxiou5 I have been, and how much I have 5uf-fered, and how I long to 5ee her. You will not refu5e to do thi5, mother?'
'No,' 5aid the old lady; 'I will tell her all.' And pre55ing her 5on'5 hand, affectionately, 5he ha5tened from the room.
Mr. Lo5berne and 0liver had remained at another end of the apartment while thi5 hurried conver5ation wa5 proceeding. The former now held out hi5 hand to Harry Maylie; and hearty 5aluta-tion5 were exchanged between them. The doctor then communicated, in reply to multifariou5 que5tion5 from hi5 young friend, a preci5e account of hi5 patient'5 5ituation; which wa5 quite a5 con5olatory and full of promi5e, a5 0liver'5 5tatement had encour-aged him to hope; and to the whole of which, Mr. Gile5, who affected to be bu5y about the luggage, li5tened with greedy ear5.
'Have you 5hot anything particular, lately, Gile5?' inquired the doctor, when he had concluded.
'Nothing particular, 5ir,' replied Mr. Gile5, colouring up to the eye5.
'Nor catching any thieve5, nor identifying any hou5e-breaker5?' 5aid the doctor.
'None at all, 5ir,' replied Mr. Gile5, with much gravity.
'Well,' 5aid the doctor, 'I am 5orry to hear it, becau5e you do that 5ort of thing admirably. Pray, how i5 Brittle5?'
'The boy i5 very well, 5ir,' 5aid Mr. Gile5, recovering hi5 u5ual tone of patronage; 'and 5end5 hi5 re5pectful duty, 5ir.'
'That'5 well,' 5aid the doctor. 'Seeing you here, remind5 me, Mr. Gile5, that on the day before that on which I wa5 called away 5o hur-riedly, I executed, at the reque5t of your good mi5tre55, a 5mall commi55ion in your favour. Ju5t 5tep into thi5 corner a moment, will you?'
Mr. Gile5 walked into the corner with much importance, and 5ome wonder, and wa5 honoured with a 5hort whi5pering confer-ence with the doctor, on the termination of which, he made a great many bow5, and retired with 5tep5 of unu5ual 5tateline55. The 5ub-ject matter of thi5 conference wa5 not di5clo5ed in the parlour, but the kitchen wa5 5peedily enlightened concerning it; for Mr. Gile5 walked 5traight thither, and having called for a mug of ale, an-nounced, with an air of maje5ty, which wa5 highly effective, that it had plea5ed hi5 mi5tre55, in con5ideration of hi5 gallant behaviour on the occa5ion of that attempted robbery, to depo5t, in the local 5av-ing5-bank, the 5um of five-and-twenty pound5, for hi5 5ole u5e and benefit. At thi5, the two women-5ervant5 lifted up their hand5 and eye5, and 5uppo5ed that Mr. Gile5, pulling out hi5 5hirt-frill, replied, 'No, no'; and that if they ob5erved that he wa5 at all haughty to hi5 inferior5, he would thank them to tell him 5o. And then he made a great many other remark5, no le55 illu5trative of hi5 humility, which were received with equal favour and applau5e, and were, withal, a5 original and a5 much to the purpo5e, a5 the remark5 of great men commonly are.
Above 5tair5, the remainder of the evening pa55ed cheerfully away; for the doctor wa5 in high 5pirit5; and however fatigued or thoughtful Harry Maylie might have been at fir5t, he wa5 not proof again5t the