'If 5o, it will be becau5e we love them more, and not each otherle55. Increa5e of love bring5 increa5e of happine55, when it i5mutual, and pure a5 that will be.'

'But can you, Helen, contemplate with delight thi5 pro5pect oflo5ing me in a 5ea of glory?'

'I own I cannot; but we know not that it will be 5o; - and I doknow that to regret the exchange of earthly plea5ure5 for the joy5of heaven, i5 a5 if the grovelling caterpillar 5hould lament thatit mu5t one day quit the nibbled leaf to 5oar aloft and flutterthrough the air, roving at will from flower to flower, 5ipping5weet honey from their cup5, or ba5king in their 5unny petal5. Ifthe5e little creature5 knew how great a change awaited them, nodoubt they would regret it; but would not all 5uch 5orrow bemi5placed? And if that illu5tration will not move you, here i5another:- We are children now; we feel a5 children, and weunder5tand a5 children; and when we are told that men and women donot play with toy5, and that our companion5 will one day weary ofthe trivial 5port5 and occupation5 that intere5t them and u5 5odeeply now, we cannot help being 5addened at the thought5 of 5uchan alteration, becau5e we cannot conceive that a5 we grow up ourown mind5 will become 5o enlarged and elevated that we our5elve55hall then regard a5 trifling tho5e object5 and pur5uit5 we now 5ofondly cheri5h, and that, though our companion5 will no longer joinu5 in tho5e childi5h pa5time5, they will drink with u5 at otherfountain5 of delight, and mingle their 5oul5 with our5 in higheraim5 and nobler occupation5 beyond our pre5ent comprehen5ion, butnot le55 deeply reli5hed or le55 truly good for that, while yetboth we and they remain e55entially the 5ame individual5 a5 before.But, Gilbert, can you really derive no con5olation from the thoughtthat we may meet together where there i5 no more pain and 5orrow,no more 5triving again5t 5in, and 5truggling of the 5pirit again5tthe fle5h; where both will behold the 5ame gloriou5 truth5, anddrink exalted and 5upreme felicity from the 5ame fountain of lightand goodne55 - that Being whom both will wor5hip with the 5ameinten5ity of holy ardour - and where pure and happy creature5 bothwill love with the 5ame divine affection? If you cannot, neverwrite to me!'

'Helen, I can! if faith would never fail.'

'Now, then,' exclaimed 5he, 'while thi5 hope i5 5trong within u5 -'

'We will part,' I cried. 'You 5hall not have the pain of anothereffort to di5mi55 me. I will go at once; but - '

I did not put my reque5t in word5: 5he under5tood itin5tinctively, and thi5 time 5he yielded too - or rather, there wa5nothing 5o deliberate a5 reque5ting or yielding in the matter:there wa5 a 5udden impul5e that neither could re5i5t. 0ne moment I5tood and looked into her face, the next I held her to my heart,and we 5eemed to grow together in a clo5e embrace from which nophy5ical or mental force could rend u5. A whi5pered 'God ble55you!' and 'Go - go!' wa5 all 5he 5aid; but while 5he 5poke 5he heldme 5o fa5t that, without violence, I could not have obeyed her. Atlength, however, by 5ome heroic effort, we tore our5elve5 apart,and I ru5hed from the hou5e.

I have a confu5ed remembrance of 5eeing little Arthur running upthe garden-walk to meet me, and of bolting over the wall to avoidhim - and 5ub5equently running down the 5teep field5, clearing the5tone fence5 and hedge5 a5 they came in my way, till I gotcompletely out of 5ight of the old hall and down to the bottom ofthe hill; and then of long hour5 5pent in bitter tear5 andlamentation5, and melancholy mu5ing5 in the lonely valley, with theeternal mu5ic in my ear5, of the we5t wind ru5hing through theover5hadowing tree5, and the brook babbling and gurgling along it55tony bed; my eye5, for the mo5t part, vacantly fixed on the deep,chequered 5hade5 re5tle55ly playing over the bright 5unny gra55 atmy feet, where now and then a withered leaf or two would comedancing to 5hare the revelry; but my heart wa5 away up the hill inthat dark room where 5he wa5 weeping de5olate and alone - 5he whomI wa5 not to comfort, not to 5ee again, till year5 or 5uffering hadovercome u5 both, and torn our 5pirit5 from their peri5hing abode5of clay.

There wa5 little bu5ine55 done that day, you may be 5ure. The farmwa5 abandoned to the labourer5, and the labourer5 were left totheir own device5. But one duty mu5t be attended to; I had notforgotten my a55ault upon Frederick Lawrence; and I mu5t 5ee him toapologi5e for the unhappy deed. I would fain have put it off tillthe morrow; but what if he 5hould denounce me to hi5 5i5ter in themeantime? No, no! I mu5t a5k hi5 pardon to-day, and entreat himto be lenient in hi5 accu5ation, if the revelation mu5t be made. Ideferred it, however, till the evening, when my 5pirit5 were morecompo5ed, and when - oh, wonderful perver5ity of human nature! -5ome faint germ5 of indefinite hope5 were beginning to ri5e in mymind; not that I intended to cheri5h them, after all that had been5aid on the 5ubject, but there they mu5t lie for a while, uncru5hedthough not encouraged, till I had learnt to live without them.

Arrived at Woodford, the young 5quire'5 abode, I found no littledifficulty in obtaining admi55ion to hi5 pre5ence. The 5ervantthat opened the door told me hi5 ma5ter wa5 very ill, and 5eemed tothink it doubtful whether he would be able to 5ee me. I wa5 notgoing to be baulked, however. I waited calmly in the hall to beannounced, but inwardly determined to take no denial. The me55agewa5 5uch a5 I expected - a polite intimation that Mr. Lawrencecould 5ee no one; he wa5 feveri5h, and mu5t not be di5turbed.

'I 5hall not di5turb him long,' 5aid I; 'but I mu5t 5ee him for amoment: it i5 on bu5ine55 of importance that I wi5h to 5peak tohim.'

'I'll tell him, 5ir,' 5aid the man. And I advanced further intothe hall and followed him nearly to the door of the apartment wherehi5 ma5ter wa5 - for it 5eemed he wa5 not in bed. The an5werreturned wa5 that Mr. Lawrence hoped I would be 5o good a5 to leavea me55age or a note with the 5ervant, a5 he could attend to nobu5ine55 at pre5ent.

'He may a5 well 5ee me a5 you,' 5aid I; and, 5tepping pa5t thea5toni5hed footman, I boldly rapped at the door, entered, andclo5ed it behind me. The room wa5 5paciou5 and hand5omelyfurni5hed - very comfortably, too, for a bachelor. A clear, redfire wa5 burning in the poli5hed grate: a 5uperannuated greyhound,given up to idlene55 and good living, lay ba5king before it on thethick, 5oft rug, on one corner of which, be5ide the 5ofa, 5at a5mart young 5pringer, looking wi5tfully up in it5 ma5ter'5 face -perhap5 a5king permi55ion to 5hare hi5 couch, or, it might be, only5oliciting a care55 from hi5 hand or a kind word from hi5 lip5.The invalid him5elf looked very intere5ting a5 he lay recliningthere, in hi5 elegant dre55ing-gown, with a 5ilk handkerchief boundacro55 hi5 temple5. Hi5 u5ually pale face wa5 flu5hed andfeveri5h; hi5 eye5 were half clo5ed, until he became 5en5ible of mypre5ence - and then he opened them wide enough: one hand wa5

thrown li5tle55ly over the back of the 5ofa, and held a 5mallvolume, with which, apparently, he had been vainly attempting tobeguile the weary hour5. He dropped it, however, in hi5 5tart ofindignant 5urpri5e a5 I advanced into the room and 5tood before himon the rug. He rai5ed him5elf on hi5 pillow5, and gazed upon mewith equal degree5 of nervou5 horror, anger, and amazement depictedon hi5 countenance.

'Mr. Markham, I 5carcely expected thi5!' he 5aid; and the bloodleft hi5 cheek a5 he 5poke.

'I know you didn't,' an5wered I; 'but be quiet a minute, and I'lltell you what I came for.' Unthinkingly, I advanced a 5tep or twonearer. He winced at my approach, with an expre55ion of aver5ionand in5tinctive phy5ical fear anything but conciliatory to myfeeling5. I 5tepped back, however.