MODERN FLIRTATIONS ,  A NOVEL :  BY CATHERINE SINCLAIR ,  AUTHOR OF " BEATRICE .  "  STRINGER + TOWNSEND , NEW YORK  PREFACE .  It was the rule of a celebrated equestrian , which might be adapted to authors as well as to horsemen , that every one should ride as if he expected to be thrown , and drive as if he expected to be upset .  Impunity in publishing , far from rendering an author presumptuous , should tend rather to increase his timidity , the danger being greater always of venturing too much , than of hazarding too little ; and the more cause any writer has to feel grateful for the lenient judgment of an enlightened public , the more circumspect should he become , not to trespass by an obtrusive reappearance on that notice which has already perhaps been , as in respect to the author herself , beyond all expectation favorable .  An old proverb declares that " a goose-quill is more powerful than a lion 'sclaw , " and authors have been called " keepers of the public conscience ; " but no influence is perhaps so extensive as that exercised by what is termed " light reading , " which has now in a great measure superseded public places and theatrical entertainments , affording a popular resource with which the busiest men relax their hard-working minds , and the idlest occupy their idleness .  It becomes a deep responsibility , therefore , of which the author trusts she has ever felt duly sensible , to claim the leisure hours of so many , while it is her first desire that whatever be the defect of these pages , no actual evil may be intermingled , and the cause of sound religion and morality supported , for her feelings are best expressed in the words of the poet , " If I one soul improve , I have not liv 'din vain . "  " If I one soul improve , I have not liv 'din vain .  "  Novel-reading , formerly considered the lowest resource of intellectual vacuity , has been lately promoted to a new place in the literary world , since men of the brightest genius as well as of the highest attainments in learning and philosophy , allow their pens occasionally to wander in the attractive regions of fiction ; therefore works of imagination , no longer merely a clandestine amusement to frivolous minds , are now avowedly read and enjoyed , to beguile an idle hour , or to cheer a gloomy one , by men of science , of wisdom , and of piety .  Such is the general encouragement given now to works of fancy , that , as the literary existence of authors depends on attracting readers , there will scarcely be encouragement enough soon to induce historians and biographers to dip the pen of veracity into the ink of retrospection , while it is perhaps to be lamented that when so large a proportion of the public attention is occupied by novelists , their works being certain of instant circulation , for a very short period and for no more , few authors afford themselves time to aspire at the highest grade of imaginary composition .  When such volumes are really true to nature , they convey very important truths in a form more popular than a dry sententious volume of moral precepts , and perhaps history itself can scarcely afford so graphic a portrait of human life as many of those fictitious volumes , written under the inspiration of genius , which portray in vivid coloring , the thoughts and motives by which men are internally influenced .  The Life of Cleopatra , or the Memoirs of Agrippina , can afford scarcely so much direction to young ladies respecting their views of life and manners in the present day , as might be conveyed by a judiciously-drawn portrait of that world as it is , on the stage of which they are about to be personally introduced ; and a large proportion of those elaborate volumes dignified with the name of history , can only be considered in the main fictitious , because , while biographers would confidently state the private opinions , secret intentions , and real characters of illustrious men who lived and acted several hundred years ago , they cannot justly estimate the actual dispositions and motives of their own most intimate friends , nor confidently point out what circumstances have influenced the greatest events in their own day .  If two authors , entertaining opposite political sentiments , were to write the history of last year , every fact recorded , and every individual mentioned must inevitably be represented , or misrepresented , according to the writer 'sown private feelings , while each would believe he was writing unadulterated truth .  Thus poetry and fiction , when true to the principles of human life , exhibit the mind and soul of man visibly to the senses ; and history , which has been called " the Newgate Calendar of Kings and Emperors , " supplies the facts of human existence , and may be considered a portrait of men 'spersons and external actions .  In writing a story of domestic life , it is singular to reflect how commonly men are remembered by their eccentricities , and loved for their very faults , while the most difficult task in fiction is , to describe amiable persons so as to render them at all interesting and not utterly insipid .  Probably it may be for this reason that modern writers too frequently , instead of describing the principles which ennoble human nature , and the sentiments which embellish life , have painted in vivid coloring , all that is low , mean , and vicious in society , introducing their readers into scenes , the reality of which would be shunned with abhorrence , and flinging over vice such a mantle of genius as converts the deformities of society into subjects of interest — unfortunately even of sympathy .  Were authors obliged hereafter , to live with the characters they create , how few would desire to share with them in such a world !  Even where the intention is to represent an attractive character , it seldom appears as one which could be an agreeable acquisition to any family circle ; and in works of sentiment or feeling , nothing is less successfully pictured than a generous and refined attachment , fitted to survive every trial or vicissitude of existence , between those who are to love each other for ever .  Few stories could be written , if lovers in a romance acted with the slightest degree of confidence or esteem ; but such narratives are generally founded on a teazing succession of narrow-minded suspicions , and unwarrantable concealments on the part of heroes and heroines , who condemn each other unheard , and go through volumes of heart-breaking alienation , enough to terminate life itself , rather than ask the most simple explanation , while the reader cannot but feel a certain conviction in closing the last page , that an engagement begun with cavilling jealousies and painful recriminations , can never become productive of lasting peace .  The mothers and daughters in fashionable society have of late been so harshly stigmatized by the press , that it seems as if some authors had taken up a porcupine 'squill dipped in gall , to ridicule their conduct and motives , while not a pen has yet been drawn from the scabbard , nor a drop of ink spilled in their justification ; but the weight of censure might become greatly lightened by being more equitably divided among all who are entitled to carry a share , and in these volumes an endeavor is made to rectify the balance more justly , though with what success remains to be discovered by the author herself , as not a single friend ever sees her pages , or puts on the spectacles of criticism till after they are printed .  The only peculiarity to which she makes any pretension , in once more presuming to publish , is , that avoiding all caricature , all improbability , and all personality , she has introduced a few individuals acting and thinking in the ordinary routine of every-day life , while her highest ambition is to represent in natural colors , the conduct and feelings of men elevated and ennobled by the influence of Christianity .  When Dr. Johnson remarked once that it required a clever person to talk nonsense well , Boswell replied , " Yes , sir !  If you were to represent little fishes speaking , you would make them talk like great whales ; " and on a similar plan , authors describing society , instead of sketching the good-humoured chit-chat and lively persiflage with which the business and amusements of fashionable life are carried on , too frequently fill up their dialogues with set speeches , moral essays , and long quotations , such as never are extemporized in any drawing-room , where too energetic a stroke given to the shuttlecock of conversation makes it instantly fall to the ground .  The flagrant impossibilities by which a carelessly-written narrative is carried on , destroys often at once the illusion .  Persons are described , who may be overheard speaking aloud their most secret thoughts when supposing themselves alone , soliloquizing audibly in the streets , journalizing a history of their own crimes , becoming permanent guests in houses to which they have no introduction , preserving the noblest sentiments amidst the most degraded habits , and dying enlightened Christians when they have lived as dissolute infidels .  A celebrated mathematician threw aside a novel once in disgust , saying that " it proved nothing ; " but in these pages the author has endeavoured to prove much .  Amidst the bustle and business , the joys and sorrows of life , she has attempted to illustrate how truly " wisdom 'sways are of pleasantness , and all her paths are peace , " — how superior is the Christian standard of principle to the mere worldly code of honour or expediency , and how much of the happiness intended for man by his Creator is ruined and forfeited by the perversity of his own will , in neglecting the good of others , and in vainly grasping , like a spoiled child , at more than is intended for his share .  While thus writing a fiction , which may perhaps be denominated a large religious tract in high life , the author humbly submits her pages to the judgment of others , and cannot conclude in the words of a more universally venerated , or of a more generally popular fictitious author than the excellent Bunyan :  " Thus I set pen to paper with delight ,  And quickly had my thought--in black and white ;  For having now my method by the end ,  Still as I pulled it came , and so I penned  It down , until at last it came to be ,  For length and breadth , the bigness which you see .  "  CHAPTER I .  The newspapers have recently adopted a strange habit of sometimes unexpectedly seizing an individual 'sname , long since retired from public notice , and gibbetting it up before the world 'seye , when least anticipated , by volunteering a paragraph to announce , that some aged lord , or ex-minister , whom no one has remembered to think of for half a century or more , is residing on his estates , and enjoying , the editor is happy to understand , astonishing health , considering his advanced years .  In observance of this custom , an exclamation of irritability and astonishment , too violent to be worthy of record , was elicited one day , from a dignified and very distinguished-looking old gentleman , with a venerable head , such as Titian might have painted , and a high lofty forehead bearing the traces of deep thought and feeling , when , after having seated himself on his favorite arm chair at the United Service Club in Edinburgh , his eye rested with a look of kindling amazement on these few lines , in large consequential-looking type , on a leading column of the Courant .  June 1829. " We are happy to inform our readers that the brave and noble veteran , once a distinguished hero in many a well-fought fight , Sir Arthur Dunbar , G.C.B. , is yet alive , reposing on his well-earned laurels , at a retired mansion in the marine village of Portobello .  Though frequently and most severely wounded in battle , besides being deprived of an arm in Lord Rodney 'sengagement during the year '82 , the Admiral 'shealth continues unimpaired and his cheerfulness invariable , at the advanced age of 70. "  " Pshaw !  stuff and nonsense !  Some enemy is resolved to make a laughing-stock of me in my old age !  " exclaimed he , angrily pointing out the paragraph to his gay young relative , Louis De Crespigny , who was familiarly leaning over the high back of his chair ; and then crumpling up the offending Courant with an obvious wish that it might be consumed in the flames — " I hope this is only the work of some wretched penny-a-liner ; but if I even suspected that my conceited , good-looking scoundrel of a nephew had a hand in the jest , I would cut him off with a shilling , — or rather without one , for I could scarcely raise so much as a shilling to leave him , and he knows that .  This is most thoroughly ridiculous !  I , who have been dead , buried , and forgotten for years , to be made as conspicuous here , as a hair-dresser 'swig-block !  The editor shall be prosecuted , — horse-whipped , — or — or made as absurd as he has made me !  "  " Why really , Admiral , I wish he had as much good to say of us all , and then the sooner he paragraphs about me the better !  — ' We are happy to inform our readers that the agreeable and fascinating Cornet De Crespigny , of the 15th Light Hussars , now in his eighteenth year , is still alive !  ' — the public likes to know the exact age of distinguished men , such as you and I , Admiral !  "  " The public is an ass !  " replied Sir Arthur , breaking into a smile ; " and perhaps I am another , to mind what is said at all , but that rascal of an editor has made me ten years older than I am ; besides which , though a grey-haired Admiral of sixty-four is not probably much addicted to blushing , he really has put my modest merit out of countenance .  I would rather pay the newspapers any day for overlooking than for praising me .  We ought to live or die for our country ; but now , when I am no longer needed , let me stay in peace on the shelf , like , " added he , giving a comic smile at his empty sleeve , " like a cracked tea-cup with the handle off !  "  " But , Sir Arthur !  " replied the young Cornet warmly , " you who never turned your back on friend or foe , are not very likely to remain quietly on the shelf , as long as every man who lives must respect you , and every man who dies continues to appoint you , as my father did , his executor , the trustee of his estates , and the guardian of his children , asking you to lend them a hand , as you have done to me in all the difficulties of life .  "  " I have but one hand to lend , and that is much at your service , in whatever way it can be useful !  the other , though absent without leave , has been my own best friend , as the loss of that arm was the luckiest hit in the world .  It obtained me a step at the time , and the pension has supported me ever since .  What with my nephew 'sfrantic extravagance , and my two young nieces being but indifferently provided for , I often wish , like every body else , for a larger income .  Poor girls !  " added Sir Arthur , knitting his bushy eye-brows into a portentous frown , which gave to his venerable countenance a look of noble and manly sorrow .  " No one can blame them !  but it was little short of insanity in my brother to leave such young children under the sole guardianship of a heartless spendthrift like your friend and my nephew Sir Patrick , who would sell his soul for sixpence .  "  " Yes !  and squander it the next minute , " added young De Crespigny , laughing .  " I saw Pat produce a £ 20 note yesterday at Tait 'sauction-room , and a buzz of wonder ran all through the circle of his friends .  Such a sight had not been seen in his pocket for many a day , and he threatened to put it up to auction , saying , he was sure we would all give double the value for it , as a rarity , considering the quarter from which it came .  He really seems to pique himself on his poverty , and has the art of doing what another man would be cut for , with so much grace and apparent unconsciousness , that his friends really forget to disapprove .  "  " I never forget !  " replied the Admiral , slowly rising and adjusting his spectacles .  " I am even told the incorrigible rascal has mortgaged the legacy he pretends to expect from me !  He would do anything short of a highway robbery for money , and has done some things that seem to a man of honor quite as bad .  But , " added Sir Arthur , growing more and more angry , " as long as he can give his friends a good bottle of claret , they ask no questions !  Patrick Dunbar has caused me the only feeling of shame I ever had occasion for , and yet to see that proud snuff-the-moon look of his , you would suppose the world scarcely big enough to hold him !  With his chin in the air , as I saw him yesterday , he will certainly knock his forehead some day against the sky !  "  " You cannot wonder , Sir Arthur , that Dunbar is in immense favor with himself , when he is so admired , and almost idolized in society .  He certainly has the handsomest countenance in Scotland ; — as my uncle Doncaster says , Pat is a portrait of Vandyke in his best style .  With that grand , chivalrous , Chevalier-Bayard look , he is the best rider who ever sat on horseback !  I could not but laugh when he mounted yesterday for a ride along Princes Street , and turned to me , with his lively , victorious laugh , saying , ' Now I am going to give the ladies a treat !  ' "  " The insufferable coxcomb !  " said Sir Arthur , relaxing into an irresistible smile of indulgent affection .  " From the day he first came staggering into this world to astonish us all , he has thought himself the finest sight between this and Whitehall !  "  " Of course he does !  Pat is asked for so many locks of his hair , by various young ladies , that his valet keeps a wig to supply them ; and he might almost pay his debts with the countless collection he has received of sentimental rings , displaying forgotten forget-me-nots , in turquoises and gold !  Who , on the wide earth , except yourself , Sir Arthur , would ever dream of finding fault with our gay , dashing , high-spirited friend , Dunbar , the life of society , the model of dress , equipage , and good living .  Why !  the very instant he opens his lips , all dulness vanishes like a spectre !  I wish the whole world were peopled with such men ; but he promises to shoot himself as soon as he sees his own equal .  He staked his reputation one day that he would !  "  " His reputation !  !  the sooner he parts with it the better !  Let Patrick Dunbar exchange his own with the first man he meets in the street , and he will gain by the bargain .  "  " Pardon me there , Sir Arthur , your nephew is universally allowed to be the best fellow upon earth !  "  " Very probably !  ' the best fellow upon earth 'generally means a selfish , extravagant , scatter-brained roue ; but I must be off !  There is a cold , sharp , cutting wind , blowing in at the back of my neck , which makes me feel like Charles the First when the axe fell .  If you have any influence , De Crespigny , with my scape-grace of a nephew — all nephews are scape-graces , as far as my experience goes — try to make him more like yourself , and I shall be grateful , with all my heart .  "  " Like me !  !  !  " said the young Cornet , turning away with a smile ; but it was a smile of bitterness , almost amounting to remorse , while he hastily grasped a newspaper , and flung himself into a seat .  " No !  no !  Sir Arthur , he is not quite so bad as that .  Dunbar has his faults ; he wears them upon his sleeve , and attempts no disguise ; but there are many worse men in the world , who are held up as examples by those who know no better .  Whenever I reform myself , you may depend upon my lecturing our friend , but not till then .  We must both sow all our wild oats first .  "  " Yes !  and endure the fruit of them afterwards , " replied Sir Arthur , with a look of anxious kindness at his young relative .  " That is the only crop where to sow is more agreeable than to reap !  But I waste words !  Young men will be young men , and I might as well ask this east wind not to blow , or try to turn the sea from its course , as attempt to stop the mad career of that scatter-brained madcap !  It would matter less if he only fell himself hereafter , like a pebble in the stream ; but the fatal eddy extends in a wide circle , which must reach the interests of those helpless young girls , my nieces ; and I cannot but grieve over the consequences which may , and must befall them , after I go to that rest which is in the grave , and to that hope which is beyond it .  "  " Never trouble your head about that which shall occur then , Sir Arthur !  ' Too much care once made an old man grey .  ' My motto is , ' apres moi le deluge !  ' This little world of ours got on wonderfully well before we came into it , and will do astonishingly well again , after we make our exit , " said young De Crespigny , with a strange medley in his tone , of melancholy thought , and contemptuous derision .  " Pat tells me that both my young cousins promise to turn out a perfect blaze of beauty , with long shining ringlets that they almost tread upon in walking , teeth that would make the fortune of a dentist , and complexions that Rowland 'skalydor could not improve .  Ten years hence , I shall propose to one or both of them myself , if that will give you satisfaction .  "  " Perfect !  but as marrying two sisters at once is not quite customary , let your intentions be limited to Agnes .  She is several years the eldest ; and I like the good old patriarchal rule of marrying by seniority ; besides which , she is quite a little flirt already , though scarcely yet in her teens .  She will be a young lady , entirely suited for the ordinary marrying and giving in marriage of every-day life ; but little Marion is the very light of my eyes , and I must match her by a very high standard indeed .  It will be a dark day for me , if ever I am obliged to part with her at all ; and being now only in her sixth year , I may , without selfishness , hope to keep her beside me for my few remaining days .  I must begin match-making for Agnes , however , directly , and your offer shall be duly considered .  A future peer , with countless thousands in expectancy , and not particularly ill-looking , does not fall in our way every morning .  "  " So all the young ladies seem to think !  " replied the young Cornet , in his most conceited tone .  " Girls dislike nothing so much as to marry on a competence ; there is a great deal of romance in marrying on nothing , and a great deal of comfort in marrying on wealth ; but a mere vulgar competence has neither romance nor reality .  Now I can offer both !  First , actual starvation on a Cornet 'spay ; and then , with my uncle 'sleave , the pumpkin will turn to a carriage , and the mice into horses ; but in the meantime , Sir Arthur , Pat tells me you keep a capital chop-house at Portobello , so pray invite me to drop in some day at six , to begin my siege of your pretty niece .  I must come and see , before I can conquer , " added Mr. De Crespigny , in a tone of peculiar conceit , with which he always spoke either to ladies or of them .  " Probably next week I may find my way to this terra incognita of yours .  Is it across the Queensferry , or where ?  "  " My good friend !  you are not so pre-eminently ignorant of geography as you would appear ; for did I not see you honoring that dullest of all dull places , the little obscure village of Portobello , with your august presence , only yesterday .  I nearly spitted you on the point of my umbrella , you hurried so rapidly past , evidently wishing to escape from that girl in a cloak , who seemed to beset your footsteps !  "  " Impossible !  !  !  " exclaimed young De Crespigny , coloring violently , and starting from his seat .  " Could it be in the nature of things that I should cut you !  "  " True enough !  I might have said , like Lady Towercliffe to Prince Meimkoff , ' vous m'avez coupe .  ' "  " Indeed !  " continued the cornet , trying to conceal his countenance .  " I wish you had cut my throat in return !  "  " If it is to be done , I would rather somebody else did !  Why , De Crespigny !  you will set the house on fire with that violent poker exercise !  Your own face is on fire already !  Have more regard for your complexion !  Ah !  now it is pale enough !  Are you ill ?  My dear fellow !  what is the matter ?  "  " Nothing !  I am merely looking at the beautiful sunset !  "  " What !  does the sun set in the east to-night ?  " asked Sir Arthur , jestingly ; " that is worth looking at !  "  " I am annoyed with a spasm of toothache !  " said De Crespigny , putting a handkerchief to his face , which nearly covered it ; and then suddenly throwing open the window , he looked far out , as if in search of his groom .  He leaned forward so long , however , that Sir Arthur kindly but vehemently remonstrated on the danger of exposing himself , while in so much pain , to the cold air ; enumerated a whole host of remedies for decayed teeth ; suggested the great comfort and convenience of having the offender extracted by Hutchins , and ended by hoping his young friend would still have a tooth left for his proposed dinner at Portobello .  " Depend upon me for that , " replied Mr. De Crespigny , with forced vivacity .  " I shall ferret you out next week .  I have little doubt your pasture is excellent in that quarter , and there is no one from whom I would be half so happy to receive a soup ticket .  "  " Keep your flattery for the ladies , where it will always be acceptable , and where I hear you are already an experienced practitioner in the arts of captivation .  As for my dinner , I consider it an imposition to ask any friend , and not give him the best my cook and cellar can furnish ; and you may expect whenever you do come , to find a notice over my door , ' hot joints every day !  ' "  " But it was the society of your house , and not the dinner , to which my agreeable anticipations were directed ; and there , you know , I cannot be disappointed !  as somebody wisely said , when shown a tempting bill of fare , ' show me a bill of the company !  ' "  " That reminds me to say , you must not expect my pretty niece to be at my little bathing machine of a house !  It would not be fair to inveigle you under such false pretences ; but I promise you an old man 'swelcome , and the best that my cottage can produce ; aged as this newspaper makes me I enjoy every inch of life , and hope you , at the same age , will do the same .  I may almost apply to my little villa that favourite saying in Spain ,  ' My home , my home ! though thou'rt but small , Thou art to me th 'Escurial . ' "  With a cordial shake of the hand , and a smile of cheerful benignity , Sir Arthur withdrew , and as his firm and stately step receded , Mr. De Crespigny watched him with a look of respectful interest , which ended in his turning away after the admiral had disappeared , and heaving a deep sigh , while a cloud of care darkened on his forehead , and a look of angry vexation shaded his previously animated eyes .  Day after day passed on , subsequent to the preceding conversation , during which Sir Arthur frequently postponed his chop , to what he considered an atrociously late hour , in hopes of his promised guest appearing .  Once the admiral felt positively convinced that he had seen him enter a Portobello omnibus at four o'clock , but still he appeared not .  Week after week elapsed , and still Sir Arthur ate his dinner alone , in long-surviving expectation that either his own not very dutiful nephew , or young De Crespigny , would " cast up ; " but at last these hopes and wishes were ended by his hearing that Sir Patrick 'sembarrassments had caused him to leave Edinburgh by moonlight , and that , soon after , Mr. De Crespigny as suddenly departed , no one knew why , when , or wherefore .  CHAPTER II .  The two most dashing , bold , and mischievous boys at Eton during their day , had formerly been Sir Patrick Dunbar and Louis De Crespigny , who astonished the weak minds of masters and pupils , by the strange and startling invention displayed in their exploits , as well as by the ingenuity with which both got safely out of every threatening predicament , and the sly humor or cunning with which they frequently shifted the disgrace , or even the punishment , of their offences , on others who deserved it less , or perhaps not at all .  Invariably at the head of every mad exploit , or at the bottom of every secret design , how they could possibly have escaped being expelled was a frequent topic of subsequent wonder among their contemporaries in the classes ; but their delight was to run as near the wind as possible , and still to display their skilful pilotage by baffling justice , and evading the utmost rigor of the law , while always ready rather to do harm than to do nothing .  When very young , the two enterprising friends , both since gazetted into the 15th Light Huzzars , had shown an early predilection for military life , by frequently escaping to the neighbouring barracks , assisted by a ladder of rope on which they descended every night from the windows .  A gay , joyous reception invariably awaited these lively boys at the mess-table , where they sung many a jovial song , and cracked many a merry jest over their claret , till , after some hours spent in rapturous festivity , they stole silently back within bounds , and were re-admitted at the window , by their respective fags , who had received orders , under pain of death , to keep awake and answer their signals for the ladder by instantly lowering it .  The spirits of both these young companions were more like the effect of intoxication , than mere sober enjoyment ; and , on one occasion , they set the table in a roar , by having a rivalship which would best imitate the gradual progress of becoming tipsy , though drinking nothing but cold water ; in which exhibition they showed so much talent for mimicry , taking off the surrounding officers before their faces , and making so many home-thrusts and personal remarks , that the scene was never afterwards forgotten in the regiment .  On another occasion Sir Patrick caused himself to be placed in a coffin , stolen from the undertakers , and was carried through the barracks by his companions , who made paper trumpets with which they played the dead march in Saul , while all the sentries saluted as they passed .  Such juvenile exploits in the dawn of life were now the subject of many a laughing reminiscence , and had been followed by others on a more extended scale and of more matured enterprise , at Mr. Brownlow 's, a private tutor , where the two young men afterwards distinguished themselves in a way not easily to be forgotten , causing their better disciplined companions to wonder , though in very few instances to admire .  In the favorite aristocratic achievements of driving stage-coaches , breaking lamps , wringing off knockers , assaulting watchmen , with other fistic and pugilistic exploits , they were nearly unrivalled ; and occasionally their genius had soared into an extraordinary display of dexterity , in transposing the signs suspended over shops , and in filching silk handkerchiefs from the pockets of their friends , merely as amateurs , but still the deed was done , and the laugh raised literally at the expense of the sufferer , as the plunder was retained to be a future trophy of success .  Each successive stage of their youth , in short , supplied an inexhaustible fund of standing jests and lively anecdotes , the wit of which mainly consisted in their mischief , while they betrayed an utter recklessness about the opinions or the feelings of others , till at length the patience of their unfortunate private tutor was so completely exhausted that he gave them a secret hint to withdraw , which they accordingly lost no time in preparing to do , but not till they had enjoyed a very characteristic revenge .  When Mr. Brownlow had taken a party of friends with him one evening to the theatre , Sir Patrick suddenly discharged from the gallery the whole contents of a prodigious bag of flour , which powdered all the heads , faces , and coats , in the pit , perfectly white , and caused an uproar of anger and of irresistible laughter throughout the house ; and the same evening Louis De Crespigny , as a farewell frolic , abstracted a stuffed bear from the neighbouring hair-dresser 's, and having equipped it in the costume of Mr. Brownlow , hung it from the lamp-post , where a panic-struck crowd was speedily assembled by the alarming report that the reverend gentleman had committed suicide .  A strict investigation took place respecting the authors of these unpardonable tricks , but , though suspicion fell at once upon the real culprits , and the circumstantial evidence against them seemed irresistibly strong , Sir Patrick argued his own cause with so much skill and vivacity , while De Crespigny looked so innocently unconscious of the whole affair , that , with a silent frown from the master , of stern reproof and suspicion , they were , not honorably acquitted , but allowed to return home without any public mark of censure or disgrace ; and soon after both joined their regiment at Dublin .  De Crespigny and Sir Patrick had but one companion whom they acknowledged as their equal at Eton , in all the spirit , enterprise , and vivacity of their characters , but who was , in a thousand other respects their superior , for seldom , indeed , has there been known , in one so young , a character of as much intensity , or which displayed a combination so singular , of superb talents , rare judgment , sound principle , deep piety , and energetic feeling , as in Richard Granville , an object of admiration to all , and of envy to many ; though jealously lost half of its bitterness in association with one so eloquent and single-hearted in conversation , so courteously amiable and conciliatory in manner , and with so fine a principle of tact , ready as far as possible to enhance the pleasures , to palliate the faults , and to share the sorrows of all his companions .  Cultivated in all that could adorn the heart as well as the head , in whatever was amiable , high-spirited and generous , Richard Granville had but to follow the impulse of natural feeling as well as of principle , and he out-did the very wishes of his friends , while no one excelled him in all the manly exercises suited to his early years .  His countenance was illuminated with an expression of intellectual energy , at times almost sublime , while there was a living grace and amiability in his manner irresistibly attractive .  Brave , liberal , and resolute , he entered with eagerness into all the offensive recreations of his companions , and no one excelled him in riding , fencing , and cricket , while he was the best shot in his own country ; but he firmly declined ever to squander his time or money on any game of chance , cards , billiards , or gambling in any form .  While Sir Patrick 'sbetting-book was from the first a model of skill , in hedging bets , and all the manœuvres of jockey-ology , young Granville said all that eloquence and affection could dictate , to point out how dangerous and dishonorable was the course on which he seemed about to enter , but in vain , for Sir Patrick finished the discussion by offering to bet him £ 5 he would not be ruined in less than ten years .  " I have a fortune and constitution which will last me till thirty , " said the young baronet ; " and I do not wish to live a day longer .  "  " It is easy , " said Prince Eugene , " to be modest when one is successful ; but it is difficult not to be envied .  " While the very presence of young Granville in the room , with his riotous young associates , seemed as if it held up a glass to their mind 'seye , testifying the folly and evil of their course , yet Richard Granville abhorred display , while Sir Patrick and De Crespigny frequently declared he was " too clever and too good for them ; " and unavoidable circumstances afterwards combined to estrange the young men still more .  A law-suit had been going on almost since the period of their birth , conducted in an amicable way by their guardians , in which the interests of all three were so deeply concerned , and the case so exceedingly complicated , that years passed on , during which the youths had all grown to manhood , and the case remained still undecided ; while the one-sided view which was given to Dunbar and De Crespigny on the subject caused in them an angry feeling of hostility and rancour against their amiable and high-minded young relative , who was so enthusiastically desirous to enter the English church , and devote himself to those sacred duties , that he scarcely wished a favorable decree , which would prevent the necessity for his pursuing a profession at all .  A Scotch law-suit may be compared to a game at battle-dore between the tribunals of England and Scotland , while the gaping client sees the shuttle-cock for ever flying over his head , higher and higher out of reach , and sent backwards and forwards with ceaseless diligence , but no apparent progress ; or it is like a kitten playing with a ball of worsted , which is allowed to come often apparently within her grasp , and is then , when she least expects , twitched away farther than before .  The Granville case had been decided by the Court of Session , against the two cousins , Dunbar and Crespigny , but being appealed to the House of Lords , was recommended for consideration , re-argued , re-considered , and nearly reversed , while replies and duplies , remits and re-revisals , commissions of inquiry , and new cases , followed each other in ceaseless succession , and many of the lawyers who were young men when the case began , grew grey in the service , while it yet remained in suspense .  A grand-uncle of Sir Patrick 'shad fifty years before , bought an estate of £ 12 , 000 a-year from the Marquis of Doncaster , to whom young De Crespigny was now heir presumptive ; but Mr. Dunbar having , it was conjectured , entertained some suspicion that the title deeds were not perfectly valid , as an entail had been discovered afterwards , by which it was generally thought that the land must be restored to the original owner , he hastily and most unfairly sold the property to the late Mr. Granville for £ 350 , 000 , and dying intestate , after having lost nearly the whole sum in a mining speculation , it could not be proved whether Sir Patrick 'sfather had acted as an executor for the deceased or not , so as to render himself responsible for his debts , and liable to refund the sum paid by Mr. Granville .  Thus , whether the entail held good , and carried the estate back to Lord Doncaster , or whether it had been legally broken , so as to entitle the Granville family to keep it , or whether , if it were refunded , the price could be claimed from the heirs of Mr. Dunbar , still continued a mystery never apparently to be solved .  For many generations past , the ancient Marquisate of Doncaster had been inherited by a succession of only sons , all strict Papists , who had each in his turn been reckoned by the next heirs exceedingly sickly and unpromising , but still the wonder grew , for not one had ever died , till he left a substitute in regular rotation , to supply the vacancy which he created himself ; and a long train of minorities in the family had caused the accumulation of wealth and property to be enormous , when the present proprietor succeeded fifty years before our story commences .  Nothing could exceed his own astonishment at the unembarrassed magnificence of the fortune , of which he most unexpectedly found himself in possession , as his father had been in the habit of concealing the amount of his own income , and allowing his heir rather less than nothing , saying , that as he himself had never had anything to eat till he had no teeth to eat with , he was resolved that his successor should be similarly treated .  In pursuance of this plan , the old nobleman even on his death-bed , had actually expired with a practical joke on his lips .  He sent for his son , gravely told him that with debts , mortgages , and settlements , the very encumbered estate he was about to inherit would scarcely pay its own expenses , and recommended him to live in future with the most penurious economy .  When the will was opened , finding to his unutterable joy , that he had merely been played upon by the old humorist , who , in reality left him £ 40 , 000 per annum clear , so great was Lord Doncaster 'ssurprise , that he declared his good fortune at the time to be " almost incredible ; " and it might have been supposed , that he never afterwards completely believed it , as his personal expenses were always in a style more suited to the old Lord 'sthreat than his performance , and he became a fresh instance of what may be so often remarked , that the most extravagant heirs in expectancy become the most avaricious in possession .  There was one singular peculiarity in the settlements of Lord Doncaster 'sfamily , that so long as he had no son , or if his son at twenty-one declared himself a Protestant , he had the power of selling or bequeathing the estates according to his own pleasure or caprice ; and the ancestor who had inserted this clause in his deed of entail , made his intention evident , that the succession should go to the Roman Catholic Church , rather than to a Protestant heir ; but the present peer had taken advantage , on so large a scale , of his own childless privilege , to sell the family estates , that his two deceased sisters , Lady Charlotte De Crespigny , and Lady Caroline Smytheson , used secretly to complain , that little would be left for their children , if he persevered in turning every acre into gold ; yet no one ever could guess how the large sums were squandered or melted away , which the old Marquis was continually raising , unless they went , as was strongly suspected , in the form of " secret service money , " among the priests by whom he was surrounded .  Nobody had a better right to be eccentric than Lord Doncaster !  — old , rich , unmarried , and originally educated at home , — a misfortune sufficient in itself to engender so many peculiarities , as to render a man unfit for society ever afterwards .  The aged peer was shy , proud , and arbitrary beyond all conception , avaricious about trifles , yet lavish to excess on great occasions , suspicious of all men 'smotives and intentions , and yet confiding to the last extreme of weakness , in the Abbe Mordaunt , his confessor , despising all men , and yet anxious beyond measure for the world 'sgood opinion , addicted to the very worst female society , when he might have enjoyed the best , hating company , and yet sometimes plunging into it , when and where he was least expected , jealous to excess of his next heir , Louis De Crespigny , whom he enslaved to his caprices , as if even his existence were to be given or withheld at his option , yet sometimes whimsically cordial in his manner to him , though ready to take fire in an instant if his condescension led the lively youth into the slightest approach towards confidence or familiarity .  Mr. Howard Smytheson , the wealthy brother-in-law of Lord Doncaster , having purchased most of the De Crespigny estates , as acre after acre , farm after farm , and house after house , came successively into the market , bequeathed them on his decease to an only daughter then an infant , and it became a favorite day-dream with the old peer , that his nephew and niece should be educated for each other , while to this end he tried his utmost power of conciliation with the maiden sister of Mr. Howard Smytheson , to whose care the young heiress had been consigned , hoping that thus all the amputated limbs of his vast property might yet be reunited in their pristine magnitude , to which very desirable end he thenceforth directed his whole conversations with young De Crespigny , to whom he more than hinted that , unless their will were the same about this marriage , his own will after death would be found very different from what his nephew probably anticipated and wished .  The private vices of Lord Doncaster had been so very private , that though much was suspected , little could be known ; yet , while he had few visible or personal expenses , and no imaginable outlet for his fortune , he invariably spent all his income , and considerably more , being one of those personages occasionally seen who excite the wonder and speculation of relations and neighbours , by unaccountably frittering away fortunes of almost royal splendor , without any appearance of royal luxury or royal liberality .  Wearied of the world , in which he had nothing more to desire , and of himself , as he had nothing to think of or to do , — bored in short with the want of a want , Lord Doncaster 'slife was indeed a mere heartless pageant of mean ostentation and fretful pride , sternly insulated in a state of solitary old-bachelor despotism , and absorbed in himself to a degree which no ordinary mind could conceive or comprehend .  Encumbered with so many unoccupied hours , it was a subject of as much wonder how he disposed of his superfluous time , as of his superfluous fortune ; but he settled that question , by remarking one day to his nephew , that " the great business of life is , to shuffle through the day anyhow till dinner time .  " Like all parsimonious men , Lord Doncaster could not endure to hear any one else reckoned affluent , and Louis De Crespigny knew that a certain receipt for irritating him was , to over-estimate everybody 'sincome , consequently he amused himself occasionally by audibly giving out Lord Towercliffe 'sfortune to be £ 15 , 000 a-year , and estimating his friend Sir Patrick Dunbar 'srent-roll at a clear sum of £ 20 , 000 per annum , while he slyly watched his uncle 'srising choler , and patiently heard , for the fiftieth time , an elaborate explanation , that it was impossible , and a sober calculation which reduced both the offending parties almost to beggary .  In the month of August , as regularly as time revolved , Lord Doncaster delighted to read in the newspapers , his own pompous advertisement , the only original composition he was ever known to attempt , in which he prohibited poachers and strangers from shooting on his moors in Argyleshire , Mid-Lothian , Yorkshire , Galloway , Cromarty , and Caithness , but except the annual appearance of this spirited manifesto , no public evidence ever came forth of that extraordinary wealth which property so extensive must be supposed to produce .  No charitable donations bore witness to Lord Doncaster 'sliberality — no country objects were encouraged by his public spirit — and the monuments daily arising in memory of departed merit , made a vain appeal for his pecuniary tribute of respect and regret , for Lord Doncaster neither respected nor regretted any man .  It was an often-repeated axiom of Lord Doncaster 's, that every man cheats or is cheated ; but in one instance , and one only , his Lordship had shown apparently some kind feeling , or rather perhaps he might be said to have exhibited a capricious freak of benevolence , though the result had been such as to afford him an excuse ever afterwards for not again attempting a single act of gratuitous liberality .  The nearest relative to his ancient family , after Louis De Crespigny and Miss Howard , was Mrs. Anstruther , a distant cousin , who , after making a low and almost disgraceful marriage , had suddenly died , it was believed by her own hands , thus consigning her two young children to helpless , and apparently hopeless poverty , till at length they were very unwillingly invited , or rather permitted to become residents in an almost menial capacity at Beaujolie Castle , in Yorkshire , where , as they could neither be drowned like kittens , nor shot like puppy-dogs , the Marquis caused them to be treated like the " whipping boys " in Charles the First 'stime — sometimes employed as playmates to amuse his nephew and niece during their holiday visits to his residence , but more frequently treated in a sort of mongrel way between dependents and slaves by the heartless and tyrannical old peer , who considered them as mere poachers on the preserve of his family honors , having forced their way into existence by some untoward accident , and become absolute blots in the creation , liable to be suspected , and even accused to their faces of every low and vicious propensity , in consequence of which , from an early age , he destroyed their self-respect , and irritated their evil passions by the most rash and unfounded aspersions — theft , swindling , lying , and gluttony , were among the principal counts in his Lordship 'sindictment , when he sometimes vented a paroxysm of ill-humor on these his unhappy dependents ; and many a time the tears of Mary Anstruther , and the flashing eye of her brother Ernest , bore witness to the anger and grief with which they listened to his bitter and often unmerited upbraidings .  At times , however , Lord Doncaster found it convenient for his own private purposes to patronize the Anstruthers , and threatened , in the hearing of all his young relatives , that if Louis De Crespigny 'sconduct did not in all respects satisfy him , an heir more subservient to his wishes might be found , and though the culprit must be his nephew , he need not be his successor , while the glance of his eye towards Ernest aroused hopes , wishes , and even expectations of the wildest extravagance , which were then confirmed for a time by his being promoted to temporary attention and consideration , not only displayed ostentatiously by their capricious patron , but extending to the increased respect and observance of the servants , the thermometer of whose obedience rose and fell according as the sunshine of Lord Doncaster 'sfavor shone upon his young relative or not ; yet brief as these periods of increased importance had always been , they made an indelible impression on the young and ambitious minds of those usually neglected children .  " The child becomes a boy , the boy a youth , and then the game of life begins in earnest .  "  Without education or principle , and with no friend on the wide earth to confide in or to consult , the two young Anstruthers , like weeds that will yet flourish though trampled upon , grew up vigorous in body , and enthusiastically as well as devotedly attached to each other , with a depth and power of affection which appeared , before long , the only redeeming quality in characters wherein strong passions and weak principles promised little , and threatened much , to all with whom they might hereafter become associated .  The resemblance between them was as remarkable as their attachment , both having dark Italian-looking countenances , of remarkable symmetry , with a singularly excitable and determined expression in their large lustrous eyes , while it was remarkable that neither could by possibility look any one steadily in the face .  There was a wild , almost feverish brilliancy in the eye of Ernest , expressive of a fiery impetuosity , amounting at times almost to an appearance of insanity , when , after being obliged to crouch and flatter for his bread before Lord Doncaster , he would retire with Mary , and give loose to all the angry torrent of his long-suppressed emotions .  The sister 'sheart cowered sometimes before the flood of invectives and imprecations with which he relieved his heart by speaking of his wrongs , while he seemed to cherish a gnawing belief that fortune herself had shown him a most unaccountable and undeserved enmity , which he was resolved , by fair or by foul means , to subvert .  " I shall yet rise above all the accidents of fortune !  It shall be done , I care not how , Mary , " said he sternly .  " We must not be over-particular on that score , for , as the proverb says , ' a cat in mittens will never catch mice !  ' "  Bold , fearless , and ready , with a keen appetite for danger , a fearless ambition , consummate cunning , and an insatiable thirst for adventure , it seemed sometimes as if he would put his mind into a pugilistic attitude , and buffet his way forward to pre-eminence in spite of all the malice of fortune and of mankind .  With a temper vindictive , harsh , and deadly , his blood mounted like mercury in a thermometer at the very thought of success , and often when he spoke to his sister in the lowest whisper of their future prospects , she would start and look hastily round as if in terror , lest the wild dreams of his undisciplined mind might be overheard and resented , for he nourished a feverish hope , which he called a presentiment , but which amounted almost to a monomania , that the splendid residence in which they were now only tolerated on sufferance , " as reptile dependents , " would one day become his own .  If every man living might remove at pleasure all those who stand inconveniently in his way , political economists would have nothing to fear from a too rapidly increasing population , and the day-dreams of Ernest , which gained strength and consistency every hour , were prolific in both deaths and marriages .  He carefully collected in the Peerage all the instances there recorded , in which distant relations had succeeded through a long mortality of twenty or five-and-twenty intermediate heirs , — he remembered that neither Louis nor Caroline had yet endured the measles , — he thought their Shetland ponies very dangerous , and , in short , if their days had been measured by him , the measure would have been short indeed .  His personal vanity was excessive , and amidst his wild schemes of aggrandisement , the first and foremost had lately been to marry his lively , frolicsome , little cousin , and occasional playmate , Caroline Howard Smytheson , in whose infant manner , heedless and good-humored as she was , he flattered himself there might be traced an evident appearance of preference , while he could not but also remark , that before any of the young party had attained the age of maturity , and Caroline was yet a mere infant .  Louis De Crespigny had already begun to exercise his genius for flirtation in the society of his humble cousin Mary Anstruther , — humble only in circumstances , but possessing that pride without principle , which goes before a fall .  Time had ripened the faults of the two young Anstruthers , and perfected also their extraordinary beauty of person , when , after Ernest had attained the age of nineteen , a whim as sudden , and apparently as unaccountable as their adoption , caused Lord Doncaster , or rather the Abbe Mordaunt , unexpectedly to announce that they were dismissed from the house .  Various rumours were circulated among the servants to account for this harsh and hasty decision , but nothing could be discovered for certain .  Ernest was reported to have expressed himself with the greatest rancour and contempt respecting a report in circulation , that Lord Doncaster intended to marry the Abbe Mordaunt 'sbeautiful niece , then on a visit at Kilmarnock Abbey , near Edinburgh .  The Abbe was said to have missed some valuable jewels belonging to his niece Laura , who accused both the Anstruthers of having been seen in her room , — a large sum of money , it was hinted , had mysteriously disappeared — some people said that Ernest had been discovered at a late hour of the night attempting to enter the sleeping apartment of Lord Doncaster , without being able to give any satisfactory account of his intentions , and others declared that Louis De Crespigny 'sassiduities to Mary Anstruther had recently become rather too obvious , while surmises arose against her character ; but whatever might be the cause , they were both hastily transferred on a few hours 'notice from the splendors of Kilmarnock Abbey , to a small obscure lodging at Portobello .  As Ernest was about to leave that house which had so long been his home , with Mary sobbing in uncontrollable grief on his arm , anger and despair were fearfully stamped on their young faces , when the Abbe Mordaunt advancing silently , placed a small sum of money in their hands , which the young man furiously dashed upon the ground , and trampled upon , saying in accents of strong and almost terrifying vehemence , while his countenance exhibited a dark insidious expression of almost maniacal fury , " I would not be human if I did not hate your niece and you !  — my curse shall rest on both till I am revenged !  Take back your paltry gold , I shall build up my own fortune , or perish in the ruins !  I shall live by my own hands , or — by own hands I shall die !  "  From that day forward the names of Mary and Ernest Anstruther never passed the lips of Lord Doncaster or the Abbe , who ordered the servants also to abstain from ever mentioning them , which only piqued the curiosity of the second table into greater activity than ever ; but though many vague conjectures , dark suspicions , and absurd rumours , were promulgated throughout the establishment , nothing certain could be ascertained , except that they returned no more to Kilmarnock Abbey , and that a final extinguisher had been placed on all their prospects and hopes from Lord Doncaster .  About this time Mrs. Bridget Smytheson sent Miss Howard , then only six years old , to school , and seemed so little anxious to encourage an intimacy between the young heiress and Louis De Crespigny , whom she had long disliked , that Lord Doncaster , piqued and indignant , angrily reminded her of his sister Lady Caroline 'sdying injunction , to which she had promised implicit attention , that if the cousins , after they were grown up , could be ascertained to have to have a disinterested preference for each other , every opportunity should be given them to become attached and engaged .  " Certainly , Lord Doncaster ; and I shall fulfil my pledge , " replied the over-dressed , and rather under-bred aunt , in her usual tone of fantastic affectation ; " but these boy-and-girl intimacies are not the most likely to produce that romantic love with which young people ought to begin their married lives ; and besides , how could their preference be disinterested , where the brilliant prospects of both are continually descanted on as motives to their union .  No !  I have a considerable spice of romance in my composition ; and when they do meet again , it shall be under very different circumstances .  "  " What a creature to have the charge of any girl !  " thought Lord Doncaster , as he returned from handing her , with every appearance of profound respect , into her pony-carriage .  " There is another woman half so insane out of bedlam ; and that mad-cap child herself is as wild as a horse with the reins broke .  The greatest annoyance on earth is , to have a rich and vulgar upstart among on 'snear connections .  "  CHAPTER III .  The life of Louis De Crespigny , from the hour he entered the army , was one continued steeple-chase after pleasure and amusement , in whatever form they could be courted , or at whatever expense they could be enjoyed .  At a very early age , he was already a veteran in the world and its ways ; for he stood " alone in his glory , " the most admired , courted , and idolized of mankind , a perfect adept in all the arts of rendering himself agreeable in society , and possessing many pleasant qualities , but none that were valuable .  During a gay career of dissipation and frivolity , he had entered with successive eagerness on a thousand flirtations , though he always forgot to marry in the end , while his heart , like a phœnix , was frequently consumed , yet never destroyed , and always ready at the service of any young lady , with youth , beauty , and accomplishments enough to excite his temporary interest .  Being of opinion , that , though not yet a peer , he ought speedily to be one , young De Crespigny openly avowed the impossibility of marrying while Lord Doncaster survived , and jocularly remarked , that it would be a pity prematurely to cut off the hopes of his hundred and one Scotch cousins , who lived , like Ernest Anstruther , on the hope , that if his neck were broken at Melton , his succession might yet be " cut up " amongst them ; and to the friendly inquiries of his many relatives , he frequently replied with a condoling look , that he and his uncle were both " hopelessly well .  "  Lord Doncaster was not even yet , by any means , so great a Methusalemite in age , nor so weighed down by infirmities , as his lively nephew chose among the mothers and daughters of his intimate acquaintance to represent ; and some ladies whom young De Crespigny had piqued or affronted , were actually ill-natured enough to hint , that Lord Doncaster was still almost young and almost handsome !  They had even been so malicious as to insinuate , that his Lordship might possibly have a genius for marrying his house-keeper , almost the only respectable female who ever crossed his threshold ; but Mrs. Fireland 'svery mature age , and very antiquated dress , shewed how completely she must have given up that point ; and even her desire to please him in her own department , became every hour so increasingly difficult , and was attended with failures and disappointments so unforeseen and unaccountable , that the good woman often shook her head ominously , in alluding to his Lordship 'snumerous whims , saying , in a confidential under tone , which seemed to mean more than met the ear , to the steward , " he 'spetiklar !  he 'svery petiklar !  It would require a person bespoke to order to please his Lordship .  " And certainly he had become of late years more particular than ever .  One personage only seemed to have the art of doing no wrong in the estimation of Lord Doncaster ; and the respect which he withheld from all mankind , was concentrated to an immeasurable degree on the Abbe Mordaunt , who was the Cardinal Wolsey of Kilmarnock Abbey and Beaujolie Castle .  Proud , overbearing , harsh , and arbitrary , he ruled over the house , the purse , and even the will of his patron , with despotic and unlimited sway .  Men are generally advanced in years before the passions and feelings have stamped their indelible traces , like the impression of a seal , which becomes permanent only after the wax has began to cool ; but in every feature of the Abbe 'scountenance , might now be seen the evidences of a gloomy , severe , and almost ferocious temper , yet never was there a greater triumph of art over nature , than in the skill with which he adapted his looks and conversation to the taste or caprice of those whom it was his interest to govern , and the astonishing facility with which he could call up a bland smile and insinuating voice , to supersede the habitual haughtiness of his tone and manner .  Educated at St. Omers , in all the dark superstitions of that bigoted college , the Abbe was nevertheless far from desirous to seek within the walls of a cloister any protection from those temptations to worldly indulgence , which he had not even the wish to resist .  He neither preached nor practised the virtues of his vocation , but paraded a whole troop of vices openly in the public eye ; and far from attempting to reform mankind , he never attempted even to reform himself .  Though in personal appearance of distinguished ugliness , yet such was the magic of his manner , that even by ladies he was considered perfectly irresistible ; and to all , whether old or young , he generally succeeded in imparting a conviction , that he saw in her , for the first time , a realization of female perfection and female fascination .  The Abbe was never known to stop half-way in arduously pursuing any object of pleasure , profit , or ambition , nor , whatever might be the impediments , was he ever seen to fail of success ; for , like Bonaparte , he did not know the meaning of the word " impossible .  "  After having recklessly squandered , in a career of almost startling dissipation , the whole of his own patrimony , it was believed that he had obtained fraudulent possession of £ 10 , 000 belonging to his very beautiful niece , to whom he must have refunded it had she lived to come of age , or had she married it must have been restored to her children , but about the time our story commences , she was supposed either to have died , or to have retired to a convent abroad , though whether upon conviction or not , might be considered very doubtful , as she had been educated by her mother in the Protestant faith , and it was generally conjectured that to so sudden and entire a removal from all former connections , her poverty more than her will must have consented .  Laura Mordaunt had resided much at Kilmarnock Abbe with her uncle , to whom she seemed warmly and blindly attached , but the gossiping world sometimes conjectured that perhaps the evident partiality and admiration of Lord Doncaster might have roused in her some ambitious thoughts , backed by the influence of the Abbe .  Among the peculiarities of the Marquis he had always professed a decided contempt for all respectable ladies , and therefore his attentions to Laura Mordaunt were at best a very questionable compliment , and became naturally of a nature which few relatives would have wished to encourage , yet Miss Mordaunt still remained a guest at Kilmarnock Abbey , till the period of her sudden disappearance , which caused so much astonishment among her intimate friends and near connections , that the father of Richard Granville , her cousin , shortly before his own death , wrote an affectionate letter , entreating her to return , were it but for a few months , and to make a home of his house for the future , should it suit her to do so ; but to this kind and generous offer no reply ever came , and as all communications were to pass through the Abbe 'shands , who alone knew his niece 'sdirection , it might be doubted whether the invitation ever reached that hand for which it was intended .  That Lord Doncaster had cruelly disappointed Laura Mordaunt , as he had already disappointed many others , her friend and cousin had good reason to believe ; and though unable to imagine any really romantic or lasting attachment to a man , however elevated in rank or agreeable in manners , of at least fifty years old , yet he knew that Laura , who lived so retired that she could boast of few friends and no admirers , might really have been dazzled with the splendour of his rank or the fascination of his conversation ; while it seemed the most unaccountable part of the whole affair , that if such were the case , the attachment had not been reciprocal , between a young and beautiful girl , thrown so continually in his way , and an aged roue , who had so evidently admired her .  If the probable duration of Lord Doncaster 'slife had been measured according to the estimate formed of it in many an Edinburgh drawing-room , it would have brought a very small premium indeed at the insurance offices .  By referring to that valuable record , Debrett 'speerage , it was satisfactorily proved that the De Crespignys were a very short-lived family !  One Lord Doncaster had died of a fall from his horse at thirty-five ; another had been killed in battle , at forty-two ; and not one of them had contrived very much to exceed eighty , therefore hopes might be entertained of the popular and fascinating Louis De Crespigny at last gaining the long-expected " step .  " It might have been supposed by strangers in Edinburgh , that there was but one marquisate in Britain , so frequently were the strawberry-leaves of Lord Doncaster under animated discussion ; and any visitor who accidentally took Burke or Debrett in his hand , might smile to observe that the pages naturally fell open where that interesting paragraph presented itself to notice ,  " Doncaster , Marquis of .  Heir presumptive , Louis Henry De Crespigny .  "  A tradition prevailed among the elder ladies of fashion now in society , that a splendid set of diamonds , which had been long the ornament and admiration of Queen Charlotte 'sdrawing-rooms , were since entailed , by an old Lady Doncaster , in the family ; and many a young beauty , in arranging a bright futurity on her own plan , had frequently worn these far-famed jewels in her imagination , when presented at Court as a Marchioness , the envy and admiration of all her contemporaries .  Meantime nothing could be more astonishing than to find how much was known in Edinburgh concerning the modes of life , temper , and character of the present Lord Doncaster , though he lived not only secluded from society , but made it his peculiar study to evade the scrutiny of impertinent curiosity , and was so anxious to check the loquaciousness of servants , that his butler and housekeeper had strict orders to keep up a sort of prison discipline in the establishment , and not to allow a word to be spoken when at meals .  It was , however , authentically ascertained by some unknown means , that Lord Doncaster , who had formerly been a man of dissipated habits and irregular hours , now devoted himself to the care of his health as diligently and intensely as a miser does to the care of his money , and that to him it had become a subject of almost avaricious interest .  If the Marquis had a finger-ache , it was magnified in Edinburgh into a case of certain death ; but after a really severe illness , he was heard jocularly to remark , in sporting phrase , " I have had another round with death !  " while he seemed confident , on these occasions , of always coming off victorious , though few among the young ladies of his nephew 'sacquaintance would have been found ready to back his expectations , while Agnes Dunbar impatiently remarked , that Lord Doncaster had been so long in the world , he seemed not to know how to leave it .  It was generally understood by the juries who sat upon Lord Doncaster 'scase in society , that his breakfast consisted of strong gravy-soup and poached eggs , which were pronounced to be very plethoric , — he ate no luncheon , which must be very exhausting at his time of life , — he had an enormous appetite for dinner , which would certainly drive blood to his head , — and above all , he took a hot supper , which must be fatal at last ; — every newspaper tends to prove , that after eating a hearty supper the night before , people are invariably found dead in their beds the next morning ; — and it was already unaccountable how many mornings Lord Doncaster had survived !  Any day in the world might bring accounts of his death , — some day must do so , sooner or later , — hundreds of old people were dying continually , and so might the superannuated peer ; yet though his days were numbered in so many houses , they nevertheless seemed to be numberless , while gentlemen , older than himself , were often heard impatiently speculating and wondering what will he would make , and declaring they only wished to live , in order to know the result of so many anxious conjectures , while his dutiful nephew gayly remarked , that his uncle need never wait for parchment to write his will upon , while the skin on his face looked so like it .  Still Lord Doncaster obstinately persevered in living on , while , strange to say , many of the manœuvring mamas who had been heard to declare , that if an old person must die at any rate , they could spare his Lordship better than any other mortal , became mortal themselves , and were first consigned to the tomb .  Even some of the young and lovely girls , who had thought , in the morning of life , before the freshness of their bloom had been dimmed , or the lustre of their beauty had decayed , that this one obstacle to their happiness must be removed , — many of these gay , joyous , and unthinking beings had sunk unexpectedly into an early grave , while still Lord Doncaster , in a most provoking and unprincipled manner , disappointed everybody , and continued to exist in a world where he was anything but welcome , resolved apparently , never , in an every-day vulgar way , to die at all .  In the mean time , Louis De Crespigny , devoted to the amusements of life , but independent of all its finer sympathies , seemed to breathe nothing but the exhilarating ether of life , joyous , giddy , and intoxicating .  He revelled in a laughing , lively , satirical consciousness of his own exact position in society , and privately resolved to make the most of it , — not that he deliberately made up his mind to deceive , — his code of honor was rigid enough in respect to his transactions with gentlemen , but in the case of young ladies it was otherwise , —  " Man , to man so oft unjust , Is always so to woman . "  With ladies Mr. De Crespigny considered his own brilliant prospects and personal fascinations to be fair , marketable produce , which there could be no objection that he should use to the utmost advantage , for bringing in the largest possible return of pleasure , profit , and amusement .  Accordingly , the gay young Cornet , living upon what he could borrow , on the disinterested attentions of manœuvring mothers , and on the expectation of his uncle 'sspeedy demise , made himself the chosen attendant of half a hundred accomplished and perfectly amiable young ladies , who laughed , talked , sang , and danced with him , while he soon became but too intimately known as a ruthless flirt , to many a young heart , and to many a happy home , where he took care that it should be distinctly implied and understood , that nothing but the jealous penuriousness of " that old quiz , Lord Doncaster , " impeded his ardent wish to settle for life ; while in the mean time , wherever a good table and cellar were kept , he testified exactly such a degree of partiality for the sister or daughter of his host , as made her be considered his wife-presumptive , and secured him a regular knife and fork in the house on all family festivals and state occasions , without any trouble in either ordering or paying for the entertainment .  It has been said , that as a rolling stone gathers no moss , neither does a roving heart gain any affection ; but whatever might be the case with others , Louis De Crespigny felt himself without a doubt the idol of every drawing-room , where he sentimentalized , rattled , and flirted in every style , with every girl under twenty , as diligently as if he were canvassing for an election , while they talked , looked , smiled , and dressed their very best ; and the excellence of any gentleman 'swine might be accurately estimated by the thermometer of Mr. De Crespigny 'sattention to the daughters ; but he had a declared abhorrence of family dinners , which looked too business-like and domestic , as if he had really committed himself ; though , as Lady Towercliffe remarked to her four daughters one day , " he never said anything to the purpose , when the purpose was marriage .  "  Though Mr. De Crespigny seemed , at the " dignity dinners " in Edinburgh , to live for no other object on earth , but the one fascinating young lady , with whom it was his game at the time to appear epris , and though she might probably be astonished and piqued during the following week , to observe this indefatigable amateur in flirtations equally assiduous in his attentions to another , and shooting like a brilliant meteor in the ball-room , unheedingly past herself , yet she might console herself by reflecting , that Mr. De Crespigny was in the habit of confidentially hinting how much he felt embarrassed and annoyed by the necessity of generalizing his intimacies , that no gossiping reports might reach his whimsical relative .  " Because actually !  " he one day whispered in confidence to Lady Towercliffe , " when my uncle becomes irritable , he threatens to make all sorts of ridiculous marriages himself ; and it would be my last hour in his will , if he thought me heretic enough merely to dance with a Protestant partner .  He would not engage so much as a housemaid of your persuasion ; but for my own part , I leave all these concerns to the Abbe Mordaunt , who , to do him justice , lets me off very easily .  "  The difference of faith made wonderfully little difference in the intentions of those young ladies who believed themselves the objects of Mr. De Crespigny 'sunacknowledged preference , for every bit of millinery in a ball-room was in a flutter of agitation whenever he approached ; and certainly no one ever excelled more in making those he conversed with rise in their own opinion , from his tact in showing how very high they stood in his , and the consequence was , that he already possessed a rare and romantic collection of sentimental valentines , sketches with his figure in the foreground , songs with the magical name of Louis conspicuously introduced , withered bouquets , anagrams , anonymous letters , and anonymous verses , all with a too-well-remembered history belonging to them , which called up a smile of derision , or a sigh of self-reproach , according as the case required , but all treasured as relics of former happy hours , which had perhaps been the history of a lifetime to the fair donors , and the diversion of a few days only to himself , while he secretly applauded his own dexterity in escaping the matrimonial noose , and to them there remained only the silent remembrance of that intercourse , now for ever at an end , which they had believed was to last for life .  Mr. De Crespigny 'sengagement book was nearly as complicated an affair as any ledger or day-book , and much more so than his own banker 'saccount , for he arranged it on the most systematic principles of profit and loss .  In whatever house he had been invited to dine , he considered himself as " owing a quadrille " to one of the young ladies at the next assembly .  If he had actually " sat under her father 'smahogany , " as he termed it , she might be perhaps entitled to two dances ; and when he had spent the greater part of a summer in her mother 'scountry house , that established a sort of sinking fund in her behalf , which entitled him to have the use of him as a partner , whenever he happened accidentally to be disengaged , though indeed nothing ever occurred accidentally in Captain De Crespigny 'sarrangements , for he never acted on impulse , but always on systematic calculation .  He seemed , with his gay pell-mell manner , the most off-hand , careless , and undesigning of men ; but even in the trifling affair of going to a ball , where he might literally have exclaimed , " I am monarch of all I survey , " he invariably carried in his mind 'seye a list of all those partners with whom policy or self-interest directed him to dance , and very seldom indeed did he swerve from his pre-conceived muster-roll .  It was a singular evidence of young De Crespigny 'sdiscretion and skill , that , while paying attentions which should either have never been paid at all , or never afterwards discontinued , and while , with all its fascinations , Lady Towercliffe declared it was dangerous to a young lady 'shappiness to be even introduced to him , still , in not one instance had " his intentions " ever yet been asked , and neither fathers , uncles , nor brothers had betrayed the slightest symptoms of insurrection against his universal dominion , believing , as his excuse for delaying to propose was so perfectly unanswerable and respectable , that his intentions might safely be allowed to " lie on the table , " while they awaited in breathless suspense the denouement , certainly to take place on Lord Doncaster 'sdeath .  Some of Mr. De Crespigny 'sbrother officers , envious perhaps of his extraordinary success in society , threw out sceptical hints respecting the certainty of his succession , and laughed sarcastically at the indefatigable vanity with which he evidently liked being thus torn to pieces among the chaperons and dowagers of society ; but he laughed as heartily as themselves .  No one could ever get the start of him in a joke ; and his associates , when he came in competition with any one of them , found it no laughing matter .  He knew his own power — who does not know that ?  — and difficulties only enhanced his triumph .  Lord Doncaster often dryly remarked , that the best economist in Britain must certainly be Louis De Crespigny , as , to his certain knowledge , he possessed only £ 300 a year , and yet he seemed to revel in all the luxuries of life , besides having a great deal over for extravagance .  There was no occasion for the young Cornet ever to think of dining at his club , as he might be entertained at the houses of three or four friends in a day , if he could have mustered as many appetites .  In summer he incurred no expense , except to pay for his place occasionally on the top of a coach , or in a steam-boat , from one hospitable country house to another , where gigs were sent a stage to meet him on the way , if he were expected by the mail , or if by sea , a chariot might be seen waiting on the pier .  He got " a mount " from one friend , the best seat in a barouche from another , and often the vacant place in a britschska from a third party , even to the expulsion of its more legitimate occupiers .  " De Crespigny has nothing on earth , and you see how he looks !  " remarked his handsome friend Sir Patrick one day to Sir Arthur Dunbar ; " yet how magnificently he contrives to live at the expense of all those deluded mortals who have disposable or indisposable daughters .  His future prospects act like a cork jacket in society , keeping him always at the top .  Last summer worthy Lord Towercliffe , with his rapidly increasing family and rapidly decreasing income , took De Crespigny in his gig to that old tumble-down castle of his in Argyleshire , where he spent six weeks , ruining the family in champagne and wax candles .  The house became rather cold in September , so at last he accepted a cast in Lady Winandermere 'scarriage to that nest of nieces and daughters at Castle Highcombe , where he found excellent yachting and sea-bathing .  There he lingered a month , till the brother of those four pretty Miss Vavasours bid still higher for his company , by offering him a mount at Kelso , and mentioning that he had a first-rate French cook a ' cordon bleu , ' who hires his own stall at the opera during the London season , and enjoys a salary and perquisites amounting to more than the best curacy in the English Church ; and all this De Crespigny repays with a few frothy nothings , which he is for ever repeating to any young lady who will lend an ear .  Those who beat the bush do not always snare the bird ; and I wonder the manœuvring world does not yet see that he is evidently no marrying man .  "  " What sort of looking individual , is a marrying man ?  " asked Sir Arthur , slyly .  " I am often told that you , for instance , do not look like a marrying man ; but pray point me out any one who does , that I may become more a connoisseur on the subject than I am .  As for what you say of Louis De Crespigny , it sounds to my unpractised ear very like swindling ; and he is not the youth I took him for if he live in such an element of deceit , sacrificing all sense of honor , all confidence , and all good feeling , for a worthless and transient popularity , or worse than all , for motives of mean , heartless self-interest .  Such a man is not worth the space he occupies in the world !  "  The Admiral 'shonest indignation would have been vented in still stronger terms , could his upright and honorable mind have been made to understand how entirely every thought , word , and action of Mr. De Crespigny 'slife was based on the most unswerving principles of cold , hard , unrelenting selfishness , and with what utter carelessness he seemed ready to trample on the wounded feelings of others ; for it mattered not to him what degree of confidence he betrayed , or what degree of sorrow he inflicted .  If in one house where he had been received as a son or a brother , he no longer found the cordial welcome of other days , a hundred other doors were still opened wide to receive him , where he could boast of having been " very nearly caught , " and carry on the same game as before , which was a pastime to him , though fatal to the peace of many , who would willingly have died rather than betray the injury their feelings had suffered , when , after passing through the ordeal of his assiduities , they found themselves beguiled and cheated of all that was deepest and most sacred in their earthly affections — robbed without compunction by one who gave no return — who watched with elated triumph the growing delusion of those whom he had marked as victims to his own self-love , and whom he appeared to consider all in all to his happiness , till they found out at last that they were in reality less than nothing to him ; yet the deception admitted of no redress .  He lived on in a sort of cowardly impunity ; for no young girl endowed with sensibility , and conscious of her own injuries , could desire , after entrusting him with the whole story of her hopes and affections , that the truth should be known ; and his was a crime against which no evidence can be brought ; for who could describe the tender nothings — the refined insinuations — the looks which say everything and mean nothing — the wordless language of the eyes , with which an undeclared love may be safely and yet obviously professed ?  What but a smile of ridicule or of censure could attend on such a detail of " unutterable things ?  " But with Louis De Crespigny nothing was unutterable ; for he could say and unsay the same things two hundred times , and they always seemed to carry as much or as little weight as he pleased at the moment , while he entered society as a school-boy rushes into a garden , eagerly to pursue the brilliant insects fluttering in the sunbeams , ready to crush and injure them all for his momentary diversion , and yet on his guard to retreat in good order , should there appear to be the slightest danger of annoyance or discomfort to himself .  CHAPTER IV .  It was impossible to pass an hour in the society of Sir Arthur Dunbar , without seeing much to admire , and much also to love , — there was a sturdy , resolute , old-fashioned sense of honor in all his actions , tempered by the kindest and most considerate attention to the feelings , as well as to the interest of all with whom he might be associated , and his sentiments were tinctured by a generous liberality , only limited in action by the rigid restraints consequent on a very narrow income , which he had never been known to exceed , though he was often heard jocularly to remark , that the surplus , after his yearly accounts were paid , would scarcely buy him a pair of gloves .  Though the fire of Sir Arthur 'seyes had been quenched by approaching blindness , and his weather-beaten countenance had been scarred in battle , and hardened by facing every tempest which had blown for half a century , yet his aspect had an air of habitual distinction and conscious dignity which commanded instant respect .  There was an energy in the expression of his feelings , and a straightforward pursuit of what he thought right in all his actions , which gave him a singular influence over the affections and the conduct of those with whom he wished to associate , and the admirable use he made of which no one afterwards ever had cause to regret .  His early life had been one full of action and of vigorous exertion , seeking , with old-fashioned patriotism , the honor of his country , more than the promotion of his own interests ; but in advanced years , when no longer able publicly to distinguish himself , he directed his time and talents to the diffusion of happiness at home , and to a zealous , diligent , and humble preparation for that long and quiet home to which he believed himself rapidly approaching , and which he contemplated with the best of all philosophy , — that of a truly devoted Christian .  With all the blunt frankness of his sailor-like manner , Sir Arthur could nevertheless testify an almost feminine gentleness and sympathy towards the unfortunate .  He was often discovered to have exerted clandestinely a degree of activity and zeal in serving the needy and desolate , which to a mind less eager and generous , would have seemed almost incredible , — he never lacerated the feelings of those who came to him for comfort , by attempting to convince the sufferer , as most people begin by doing , on such occasions , that the misfortune , whatever it be , is all his own fault , — and he was quite as ready , as well as better pleased , to rejoice with those that rejoiced , than to weep with those that wept , without ever , at any period of life , having found a place for envy in his kindest of hearts , which  " Turn 'dat the touch of joy or woe , And turning trembled too . "  With a good humored smile at his own credulity in having believed that Louis De Crespigny could ever be serious in proposing to sacrifice a day of his gay and busy life , to a prosing tete-a-tete on the sea-beach with an old man like himself , Sir Arthur dismissed the subject from his thoughts , and finally relinquished all hope of seeing his young friend , after a short soliloquy , in which he ended , by slyly hoping that the gay Cornet would never cause those who might feel it more , to regret his having jilted them .  Not many days following , the Admiral had retired at his usual early hour to bed , and after some time passed in profound repose , he was suddenly startled into wakefulness at the dawn of day , while the watchman was calling the hour of " Past four o'clock , " by a loud and vehement knocking at the front-door of his house , accompanied by the most fearful and vociferous out-cries of " murder !  " It was the sharp , shrill tone of a woman in the agony of fear , becoming more and more vehement at every repetition of the cry , while Sir Arthur dressed with the rapidity of a practised seaman , and hurried down stairs , where he found his maid-of-all-work , and his man-of-all-work , already assembled in breathless consternation round a trembling , terrified-looking servant girl , whose eyes were gleaming with an expression of frantic alarm , while , from her incoherent exclamations , Sir Arthur could only gather that some act of unutterable horror had been perpetrated in an opposite house , the windows of which were all partially closed , except one in the upper story , which was wide open , and seemed to be much broken and shattered .  Without waiting another moment to investigate the business , Sir Arthur strode across the street , hurried in at the open door , and guided by a momentary cry of childish distress , he mounted the staircase , with an activity beyond his years , three steps at a time , and precipitately entered the nearest room he could find .  There he paused for a moment on finding himself in a splendidly-furnished bed-room , adorned with a degree of taste and elegance , far excelling what was customary in so obscure-looking a lodging , and the Admiral was about hastily to withdraw , when he became suddenly transfixed to the spot , and his eye seemed perfectly blasted by the spectacle which met his agitated and astonished gaze , while several moments elapsed before he had nerve to advance , and ascertain the reality of a scene , which filled him with horror .  On a magnificent couch , the rich coverlet of which was drenched in blood , that had sprinkled the floor , and spouted to the very roof of the room , lay the cold stiffened corpse of a young female , whose head seemed to have been nearly severed from her body , while a violent contusion appeared upon her forehead .  The wrist of her right hand , with which she had probably attempted to defend herself , had also been deeply cut , and in her hand she grasped a quantity of dark hair , which seemed to have been torn from the head of her assassin in the struggle for life .  Her teeth were clenched , and her eye-balls were starting from their sockets with a look of agonised fear , most appalling to behold , and her long fair hair which lay in disordered billows on her shoulders , were matted with gore .  A table near the bed had been overturned and broken , — a knife of very peculiar form , bent and distorted , lay conspicuously upon the pillow , as if placed there on purpose to attract notice , and the carpet , on which a pool of congealed blood had gathered , was likewise strewed with money , rings , bijouterie , trinkets , and plate .  Nestled in a little crib , close beside the murdered woman , but plunged in a slumber so profound , that it could not be natural , slept undisturbed and uninjured , a lovely boy of about eight years old .  His head rested on his arm , and a clustering profusion of jetty black hair fell over his blooming countenance , in which there was a look of almost death-like repose .  Awakened with the utmost difficulty by Sir Arthur , the child , who appeared to be of wondrous beauty , opened for a moment , a pair of bright blue , star-like eyes , and with a cry of terror , called for his mother , but a moment afterwards , overcome by irresistible drowsiness , his rosy cheek dropped upon the pillow , his heavy eyes were closed , and he relapsed into the same strange , mysterious insensibility as before .  It was a fearful sight , that young mother , with her look of ghastly agony turned towards the ruddy healthful countenance of her child in his peaceful slumbers , and it was evident that her last thought had been for him , as his clothes were still convulsively held in her left hand , while a vain attempt had obviously been made to tear them asunder , — many deep cuts being visible on the child 'snight-gown , though his person had been left uninjured .  Sir Arthur compassionately snatched the boy up in his arms , to hurry him away from the dreadful scene , and called the watchman , who instantly raised an alarm , and summoned the whole neighborhood to his assistance , when before ten minutes had elapsed , the room was filled with a crowd of agitated spectators , scared by the tremendous event , and crowding around the bed in every attitude of astonishment , terror , and commiseration , uttering exclamations of alarm , gazing helplessly at the frightful spectacle , and forming a thousand conjectures respecting the tragical event , instead of attempting to give any rational assistance .  " Not a moment is to be lost !  " said Sir Arthur , in the steady authoritive tone of one accustomed in great emergencies , to command , " Where are the other servants ?  " asked he , turning to the girl who had first given an alarm , " and where is your master ?  "  " I have no master , Sir !  " replied she in a low incoherent whisper .  " I think the lady was not married ; but perhaps , Sir , she might be !  A gentleman called here last week .  "  " What was he like ?  " asked Sir Arthur , earnestly .  " A sort of clergyman , or gentleman , Sir !  I do n't know nothing about him , but he visited sometimes at this here house .  No good ever came of it though , for my poor young mistress was always in sore distress after he 'dbe gone away .  Last time there be much loud talking and argufying in the parlor , but it was none of my business to listen .  I never pays no attention to what the quality says !  "  " Here is a most disastrous business !  " exclaimed Sir Arthur , in a deep and solemn tone , while he glanced at the crowd of white , livid , ashy faces , collected around him .  " Let us remember , my friends , that every trifle we can observe here , may be of the utmost importance in bringing this dreadful mystery to light .  Touch nothing , but have all your eyes about you to detect what you can , and let us instantly search the house .  "  With the little boy in his arms , who had awakened , bewildered and terrified by the sight of so many strangers , Sir Arthur , followed by the whole troop of spectators , who huddled together with evident symptoms of fearful apprehension , proceeded minutely to scrutinize the whole house .  In one apartment on the garret floor , belonging , as the terrified housemaid declared , to a person who had been taken in , she believed out of charity , to teach the little boy , the bed was disordered , as if the sleeper , when hastily rising , had thrown the bed-clothes almost upon the floor .  The window-frame was broken to shivers , by some one violently forcing his way out ; but no other sign appeared of the room having been inhabited .  Not an article of clothing could be found in the drawers ; not a book or a paper ; and the search was about to be abandoned , when Sir Arthur perceived in an obscure corner of the room , a man 'sglove , stained with blood , and a red silk handkerchief , from which the initials had evidently been erased with great care , though he hoped that some one more accustomed to such investigations might yet be able to trace them .  The next room which Sir Arthur attempted to enter had the door double-locked ; and though the party which accompanied him made a noise of knocking and hammering that might have raised the dead , no answer was returned , till at length , losing all patience , they broke it open , and impetuously rushed forward , all gazing eagerly around , as if they expected an immediate denouement of the mystery to take place ; but some of those who were foremost shrunk back in astonishment , and hastily made way for Sir Arthur , while the servant girl earnestly whispered in his ear , with a look of anxiety and alarm , " This is Sarah Davenport 'sroom !  the child 'smaid !  Better not disturb her , Sir !  She is sometimes hardly right in her mind I think !  "  When Sir Arthur , disregarding the simple girl 'swarning , advanced , he perceived with surprise a very young woman , scarcely twenty , who started up in bed , with a look of bewildered perplexity , as he approached , asking in accents of tremulous alarm , what had occurred to cause this extraordinary disturbance .  Her cheek was of an ashy paleness , her very lips were blanched , and her voice sounded husky and hollow with agitation ; but all this might be attributed to so sudden an inroad of strangers , while again and again she asked with quivering accents , whether any accident had occurred , and why they all appeared so alarmed .  " At all events , my darling boy is safe !  " added she , holding out her arms to the child , who instantly recoiled from her , with looks of unequivocal terror , and hiding his face on the shoulder of Sir Arthur , he sobbed aloud with a degree of passionate grief and agitation which seemed almost beyond his years .  The observant eye of Sir Arthur perceived that a dark scowl of malignity flitted for a moment across the beautiful features of Sarah , whose brow became singularly contracted over her flashing eyes ; but making an effort instantly to recover herself , she averted her countenance , and added in a subdued voice of assumed tranquillity , " The child never knows me in a cap !  I forgot to take it off , but the hurry of seeing so many strangers has confused me !  "  In an instant she snatched off her night-cap , when her shoulders and neck became covered with a cloud of dark massy ringlets , floating down below her waist , and shading her pallid countenance , which had assumed an expression of livid horror , and unnatural wildness .  " Let him come to me now !  " added she again , stretching out her arms with a ghastly smile ; but the boy struggled more vehemently than before , and clung to Sir Arthur with a tenacity and confidence , which deeply touched the old veteran 'sheart , who tried to soothe the terrified child by every endearment which his kind nature could suggest , while his attention was nevertheless enchained by observing the rigid , marble look of the young woman 'scountenance ; the dragged and corpse-like appearance which stole over her features , as if she had suffered a stroke of paralysis .  " You have been frightened enough already , poor boy !  " said Sir Arthur , soothingly .  " No one shall hurt you !  With me at least you are safe !  Stay where you are , and do not be alarmed !  No one shall touch you but myself !  "  The child seemed to understand Sir Arthur 'spromise of protection , and his head drooped sleepily down , while his eyes again closed in that deep unnatural slumber , from which he had been with so much difficulty aroused , till at length ,  " Now like a shutting flower , the senses close , And on him lies the beauty of repose . "  " Young woman !  " said Sir Arthur , bending a look of penetrating scrutiny on Sarah Davenport , " how came you to be quietly asleep , and partly dressed too !  while your mistress was murdered in the room immediately below !  Did you hear no disturbance ?  Was no alarm given ?  "  " My mistress !  " exclaimed Sarah , clasping her hands in an attitude of astonishment , and speaking as if every word would choke her , though not a muscle of her face was altered from the fixed and rigid look it had previously worn .  " Oh !  what will become of me !  "  " What will become of you !  " exclaimed Sir Arthur sternly , fixing his penetrating eye upon her .  " Think rather of your murdered mistress !  Come , come , girl !  you performed that start very well ; but I know good acting !  I greatly fear you are more concerned in this horrid business than we at first suspected , and much more than you would wish to acknowledge .  Get up instantly , and follow me !  "  There was something fearful and appalling in the silence which reigned among the many persons who had gathered around , when Sarah , as a prisoner , was led into the chamber of death .  A look of shuddering horror distorted for a moment her pale and haggard countenance , when she was unwillingly drawn forward to the place where her deceased mistress lay , and Sir Arthur , with silent solemnity , pointed to the ghastly spectacle .  His eyes were intensely and most mournfully fixed on the prisoner 'ssullen and nearly livid countenance , while she silently clung to a chair to support herself .  Sarah appeared neither startled nor astonished after the first thrill of horror , but with a cold stony look of almost preternatural calmness , she muttered to herself in a low tone , which became nevertheless distinctly audible to all the spectators , and was evidently meant to be heard , —  " Why am I brought here !  I know nothing , about this !  The poor lady has committed suicide !  No wonder !  She often wished herself dead !  She had a miserable life of it , and has got rest at last !  I wish !  " added Sarah suddenly , with vehement , almost frantic energy , " O how I wish that I could change places with her !  O that I could be that cold , senseless image , without memory or feeling , without hope or fear , shut up from living wretchedness in everlasting sleep !  "  " Let us hope that the Almighty has in mercy received her never-dying soul , and that in His own good time He will reveal the guilty assassins who sent her so suddenly to judgment , " said Sir Arthur solemnly .  " Unburden your own mind now , by confessing all , and be assured it will relieve the agony you are so evidently suffering .  Murder is like fire , it cannot be smothered long .  "  " I know nothing !  What could I know !  " replied Sarah hurriedly .  " She has destroyed herself , or thieves have broken into the house and robbed her .  Could I help that ?  "  " No one has broken into this house , " replied Sir Arthur , scanning the expression of her fixed and apparently unalterable features .  " But you can perhaps tell us who escaped by that shattered window above ?  Not a lock is broken — not a door is injured — not a trinket seems missing , among the many scattered around the room .  Here is money in abundance , if gold had been the inducement !  Some other motive has provoked this crime — jealousy perhaps — or revenge — — "  At the last word an angry hectic rushed over the face , arms , and neck of the prisoner , and her eye glittered for a moment with an unnatural fire , which rapidly faded away , leaving her as pale and death-like as the corpse beside which she stood , and on which her eye now rested with a look of cold and passionless indifference .  " It was only yesterday that she wished herself dead !  this is her own doing !  " said Sarah , turning away .  " Why am I brought here !  This is too dreadful !  too shocking !  It will drive me mad — it will !  it will !  " added she , with rising agitation ; and then suddenly bursting in a hideous maniacal laugh , which rang with fearful sound through the gloomy chamber , and caused the horror-struck spectators to fall hastily back , " I would have saved her !  I would !  What woman ever sheds blood !  but it was too late !  I would have saved her , as I saved the child ; but it was done — kill me !  kill me !  if you have any mercy , let me die !  let me hide myself in the grave for ever !  " Saying these words , with a scream of agony , she fell upon the floor in violent convulsions , from which it was nearly an hour before she entirely recovered , when faint , weak , and exhausted , Sir Arthur suggested that she could be carried to bed ; but before she left the room , anxious , if possible , to elucidate the mystery , and to gain some clue for pursuing the actual murderer , he detained Sarah during a moment , and desired that a glass of water might be brought for her , hoping that the violent emotion she had betrayed might lead her to a full confession .  Laying his hand then upon her arm , in tones of deep and awful solemnity , he looked at her , and pointed once more to the corpse , saying , —  " By a dark and harrowing crime those lips are sealed in the silence of death !  What a tale they could disclose , if they might but once describe all that passed in this room a few hours ago !  Those very walls have echoed this very night to her cries !  You alone seem able to throw any light upon the horrid deed .  You could tell all , or I am greatly mistaken .  We shall yet know , at the day of judgment , if not sooner , how this fearful act was done .  Consider , Sarah Davenport , that undying remorse will pursue you through life , and be the fitting tenant of your soul , unless by timely repentance you avert the fearful doom , and hereafter your heart will be tortured by the pangs of eternal despair .  Unfortunate woman !  consider now , or during the long period of your approaching imprisonment , whether it be better to repent and confess at once , or to confess and suffer everlastingly .  "  Not a word or look gave evidence that Sarah so much as heard Sir Arthur speak .  Her large eyes were vacantly fixed on the ground , her hands were firmly clenched , and her teeth were set with an air of resolute determination , when , after a silence of several minutes , during which her very stillness was frightful , supported by some of the strangers around , she walked with almost mechanical unconsciousness out of the room .  Again and again the house was searched that day — the very floors and wainscots torn up ; but not a trace could be discovered to throw light upon the cause or circumstances of this disastrous event ; and equally remarkable was it , that no hint could be obtained of who or what the murdered lady had been .  There were books on the table in various languages , but not one retained any name written on the boards , though it was evident that on some a coat of arms had once been pasted , and subsequently defaced .  Not a letter or paper could be found with either signature or direction , though one or two notes were discovered beneath the pillow of the bed , all anonymous , but written in a similar hand , and containing nothing that could identify the writer ; and several sketches of the child , beautifully executed in various attitudes , were found in a portfolio , beside which were written many simple verses , containing the most fervent expressions of tender affection and anxious solicitude for the boy , and the most passionate bursts of melancholy , but all conceived in general terms , which baffled the researches of curiosity .  " This hand is disguised , yet surely I have seen it before , " said Sir Arthur , musingly examining the anonymous notes , which related chiefly to remittances of money .  " The face of that appalling spectacle sometimes seems also familiar to me .  Have I not met with it already , or is this only the delusion of an excited mind ?  These deep and prominent eyelids — the small aquiline nose — the delicately-pencilled eye-brows — and that month of perfect grace and beauty , which seems still almost to speak without a tongue , in the language of heart-broken misery , telling of deceived affections — of blighted hopes — of unpitied and solitary tears .  "  Sir Arthur seated himself on a chair beside the couch for some moments in agitated reflection , vainly endeavoring to collect his thoughts , and form them into some tangible remembrance .  " It is a strange and bewildering sensation , to look at the mute features of this death-like image , and to feel as if once she had been known to me in her days of youth and bloom .  A vague harassing perplexity besets me in trying to realize the floating and flickering remembrance , which dimly mock my efforts to catch them .  It seems like starting out on a dark night , and trying to distinguish some busy scene , where figures and lights appear , and vanish again before they can be identified .  Where have we met before ?  Surely in some dream of former days I once beheld those fixed and glassy eyes lighted up with intelligence !  but my treacherous memory will not help me — it recalls enough to torture me with perplexity , and not enough to be of any actual avail .  "  Sir Arthur wearied himself with intense efforts to identify the lineaments before him , but in vain .  They were lovely indeed , and many a stranger came likewise to try whether they could be recognised , but without success .  The fearful story circulated like wild-fire — the excitement and curiosity it produced became intense ; but not a gleam of light was thrown upon the dark and mysterious event .  Among the many who hurried to behold the murdered woman before her remains were disturbed , two gentlemen arrived one evening after dusk , and having ascertained that neither the Admiral nor any other stranger was in the house , they gave Sir Arthur 'sservant , Martin , who was in attendance , a handsome donation , and desiring him not to follow , hurried up stairs , and remained in the room alone for several minutes .  Both were much muffled up , and evidently avoided any scrutiny of their countenances ; but they seemed greatly agitated on leaving the room ; and as they hastened past Martin , and threw themselves into a hackney coach which awaited them at some distance , one of the party had appeared so overcome , that he could not walk without support .  Much conjecture was aroused by this incident , which seemed to increase the mystery and interest attached to the melancholy circumstances , and not a doubt could be entertained that these untimely visitors had a more than common connection with the affair , but of what nature , and to what degree , could only admit of very vague conjecture .  Nothing could exceed the active interest taken in all the proceedings by Sir Arthur , who seemed to forget all his years and infirmities , while keenly promoting the cause of truth and justice .  Much as he had formerly bemoaned the trouble entailed upon him by deceased friends , many of whom had bequeathed their estates and children to his guardianship , he felt on this occasion , a pity so intense , for the nameless , friendless , and helpless boy , thus unexpectedly and tragically thrown on his compassion , that he publicly pledged himself to harbor and protect the child in the mean time , trusting that some connections might at last be found , to whom he more naturally belonged .  " Life has had a mournful commencement for him , poor boy !  His days are dark , and his friends are few , " said Sir Arthur , with a strong emotion of pity , " but we must hope for the best hereafter , and do the best that can be done in the mean time , trusting that a wise Providence , who cast him on my care and kindness , will also watch over his future welfare .  "  On the night previous to that appointed by Sir Arthur for committing to the grave the last remains of the murdered lady , he who had so often faced death in every form , and " kiss 'dthe mouth of a cannon in battle , " yet felt himself awed and deeply affected in contemplating the solemn preparations for committing to the tomb one so young , so deeply injured , and so apparently unlamented .  It was with mournful and mysterious wonder that he stood beside the corpse , and contemplated that mortal frame , from which the spirit had been so suddenly and so cruelly driven ; and he could not but imagine the scenes of love and joy which those eyes had once probably looked upon — the busy thoughts that had hurried through that lifeless head — the warm affections that had flowed through that heart , now for ever at rest .  While yet his mind was dwelling with painful interest on all the thoughts which crowded through his fancy , Martin hastily entered the room , and in an agitated voice requested Sir Arthur 'simmediate presence in the entrance-hall , as some persons were there who had orders to communicate only with himself .  On arriving in the passage , Sir Arthur was astonished , and almost startled , to find several porters in the passage , carrying a coffin magnificently decorated , and covered with a velvet pall , on the summit of which was conspicuously placed a large brass plate , with the date of the murder engraved , and bearing no other inscription , but these two words in German characters —  My Wife .  " This is strange !  " said Sir Arthur , turning anxiously to the men .  " Who sent you here ?  "  " A gentleman left his orders with the undertaker , Sir .  No questions were to be asked ; and he paid for everything at once , leaving neither name nor direction , " said the man who seemed to have charge of the business .  " We know nothing of him ; but he desired us to deliver this note into your own hands , and perhaps it may tell you more .  "  Sir Arthur hastily tore open the letter offered to him , giving an impatient glance at the handwriting , which was exactly similar to that of the anonymous notes he had already so carefully and so vainly scrutinized .  He was astonished ; and solemn as the occasion was , almost amused to observe that his name and direction had been carefully cut out of the newspaper paragraph which he quarrelled with some weeks before at the Club , and that this unknown correspondent , to prevent the possibility of his writing being detected by those who examined the outside , had pasted these printed letters on the cover , " Sir Arthur Dunbar , Portobello .  " The packet was sealed with a plain impression on black wax ; the paper bore a broad black border ; and there was an evident tremulousness in the pen which had inscribed these words : —  " Enclosed is the sum of £ 200 , for the benefit of Sir Arthur Dunbar 'sadopted ward , Henry De Lancey .  The same amount shall be transmitted annually , so long as no effort is made to trace from whence it originates ; and the day he comes of age , it shall be increased to £ 500 per annum .  The first attempt to find out his connections will be detected , and shall put a final period to all intercourse .  The unfortunate woman was married to one who remained ignorant , till a few hours ago , of the circumstances attending her death .  She disgraced his name , and abandoned his house ; nevertheless her child may one day , perhaps , be acknowledged ; and the whole expenses of his education shall be liberally defrayed , till he is grown up and has chosen a profession .  "  It was a strange , cold , heartless communication from a parent , without one expression of relenting affection , one word of solicitude for his happiness , or one expression of gratitude to Sir Arthur for taking upon himself so arduous a charge ; but still it was to a certain extent most satisfactory , the Admiral being relieved of a great perplexity , by having thus ascertained in what rank of life the interesting boy should be educated , as he felt justified now in obtaining for him the highest cultivation , an advantage to which he attached the utmost importance , often repeating his favorite aphorism , that " principle is the helm , and learning the main-sail , which carries a young man forward in life ; but both would be useless , unless the wind , which ' bloweth where it listeth , ' be sent from Heaven to guide and direct him safely into harbor .  "  CHAPTER V.  The day of trial at length arrived , and the court , from the roof to the floor , seemed one sea of faces , crowded together like the " studies of heads " on a painter 'scanvass .  During the legal investigation , which was conducted with deep solemnity and anxious perseverance , the mystery became still deeper , and more inscrutable .  No appearance of a robbery could be observed , except that the finger of the lady 'shand , on which a wedding ring had probably been worn , was much bruised and discolored , as if , immediately after her decease , it had been violently torn off ; and a vain attempt had evidently been made to snatch away a gold chain hung round her neck , to which was appended a small broken miniature frame , set with brilliants , and adorned with what seemed to represent a very antique coronet .  The portrait which it once enclosed , had been , with obvious difficulty removed , as the marks were visible all round , of some sharp-pointed instrument having been inserted in the frame , to which there still adhered several broken fragments of glass .  Sarah Davenport , who had been fully committed for trial , on suspicion of being an accomplice , refused to give any references as to character , and was strongly suspected of habitually concealing her real name , and of more than once assuming those that were fictitious , as her clothes and linen appeared to be marked with various initials , but in not one case did they bear those that she pretended were her own .  It was evident that she labored under a powerful , but forcibly-subdued excitement ; yet , with a tone and manner externally cold and hard as Siberian ice , she persisted in professing her own perfect innocence , and her utter consciousness of anything that might by possibility lead to a discovery of the perpetrators .  She coldly , and almost calmly , threw back glance for glance , on the spectators nearest her , who were keenly watching every turn of her countenance , while dark surmises , and fearful conjectures , were whispered in murmurs of horror on every side ; but at length her eye wandered to a distant part of the court , when suddenly a livid paleness flashed upon her face — an indescribable but startling lustre glittered in her eyes — her whole frame shook , as in the coldest blast of winter , and with a suppressed groan of agony and fear , she bowed her head upon her hands , and sunk fainting upon the floor .  At the same time , a man was observed hastily to leave the court , and , gliding with rapid steps through the narrow passages , disappeared , before any of those who stood near had presence of mind to stop him , or could even identify his appearance .  Nothing apparently touched the feelings of Sarah Davenport , except when a suspicion seemed to be implied that she meant to injure the boy ; and when a question to this effect was put to her by the court , she wrung her hands and burst into tears , saying , in accents of piercing anguish , though with a shudder as if death were upon her , " No !  oh , no !  Who suspects that I would injure a hair of his head !  He once loved me !  Few — few but he , ever did !  — none that have not afterwards given me reason to hate them !  I am a solitary , lost , and desolate being ; but let him not forget in after years , that I saved his life !  — that I saved it at a risk you never can conceive !  "  An impulse of mournful interest and astonishment ran through the assembled multitude , when they beheld the rare and singular beauty of the child , after he was led into court ; and it seemed as if the spectators had ceased to breathe as soon as he began to answer some of the questions which were skilfully put , to draw out his recollections of past times , and especially the dark history of the last few weeks .  He was at first shy and intimidated , but gradually regained an unexpected degree of self-possession , and spoke with a surprising degree of intelligence and distinctness of all he remembered .  The boy retained a faint recollection of having been awakened , on the night of the murder , by some violent scene of strife and horror ; but his faculties had evidently been so benumbed by opiates , that no distinct impression remained ; and to his own young mind , the whole seemed like a fearful dream , too dreadful to look back upon even yet , except with bewildering terror .  He gave a clear account , however , of the last evening he had passed with his mother , of whom he spoke in accents of infantine affection , evidently unable yet to conceive that he should see her face no more .  An old gentleman , he said , had come into the room and spoken angrily to her ; while , with astonishing precision , the boy acted over the whole scene , recapitulated some of the language they had used , and described how his mother had hung to him with frantic eagerness , saying she would promise anything , if she might only retain her child ; how the stranger , who was very tall , and wore a black coat , had spoken again with angry vehemence before he left the room ; and how his mother , when left alone , had prayed and wept over him with looks of agonized and desolate grief , until he had been carried away to bed by the maid , who administered some medicine to him , which she said the doctor had ordered .  He spoke much also of a large room , hung with pictures , in which his earliest days had been passed , and of a small dark apartment close beside it , into which he had often been precipitately hurried , apparently for concealment , and where toys and sweetmeats had been always provided to keep him quiet , while he was punished with the utmost severity , for making the slightest noise ; and he still remembered with looks of apprehension , the gentleman dressed in black , who most frequently visited him there , and often caused his mother to weep bitterly .  Sarah Davenport was then recalled , and rigidly cross-examined , respecting the gentleman who had visited at the house ; but she doggedly asserted her entire ignorance respecting his rank in life , or connections , and pertinaciously maintained that the lady 'sdeath had been her own voluntary act , and that the sleeping potion had been given to the boy by his mother 'sown imperative orders , as she did not herself know even what it contained .  During a long and anxious consultation of the jury , there was a hushed and intense silence in the court , so still and unbroken , that the breathing of an infant would have been audible , while every eye perused the countenance of the prisoner , with an intensity that brought a hectic flush , burning like fire , upon her cheek , and she gazed around with a glance of anger that caused her beauty for the moment to look like that of a fiend or a fury .  At length , after arduously scrutinizing every atom of evidence that could be gathered , the jury , though morally certain of the prisoner 'sbeing an accomplice in the crime , felt unwillingly obliged to bring in a verdict of " not proven , " and she was immediately liberated , after which , amidst the yells , jeers , and execrations of the populace who were convinced of her criminality , she hurried from the court , and was seen no more .  Nothing is half so attractive as a mystery , and many crowded at first , with a temporary enthusiasm , to see the beautiful boy , so strangely bereaved , and so cruelly abandoned ; but the interest and excitement of hearing and relating his story were soon superseded by greater wonders and fresher news .  In a world where all are rushing on headlong in pursuit of novelty , and where events , great or small , are speedily hurried into one common oblivion , people were tired at last of thinking or talking about young Henry and his concerns .  Every one of the Admiral 'sfriends hinted that he could have managed the whole affair ten times better than Sir Arthur ; all blamed him for many things , and praised him for very few ; the Admiral was wondered at , criticised , discussed , admired , pitied , and censured , more than he remembered to have been for many years before ; and the givers of advice were lavish of propositions and objections , all which were borne by their venerable friend with good-humored indifference , whether adopted or not .  At length some perfectly new murders from London came on the tapis in society ; those who liked reading in the Jack Sheppard style were satiated with studies from the life ; the Mording Post assumed a terrifying interest ; and the lady of fashion who consulted Sir Henry Halford about her appetite , because she could no longer enjoy her murders and robberies at breakfast , would have thought , when they were coming out hot and hot every week , that it was a wearisome repetition to speculate another hour upon a murder nearly a month old .  In short , " the Portobello story " ceased to be told or listened to .  Henry had had his day .  There is no such thing now as a nine days 'wonder , because nothing lasts so long .  Young De Lancey had been talked of as much as any reasonable being could expect to be talked of ; and now it was universally voted a bore whenever the subject occurred in conversation ; for , as Lady Towercliffe remarked , with a very long-drawn yawn , when , for the last time , it was alluded to in her presence , " It was a shocking , barbarous , and really startling affair ; but all stories should be allowed to die out like an echo , which grows fainter and fainter at every repetition .  One cannot be for ever talking of the same thing .  "  When Henry De Lancey lost one parent , he certainly gained another in Sir Arthur , who often afterwards remarked , that in no instance could virtue be more obviously its own parent , than in the case of any kindness he had shown to this fascinating boy , whose gay , joyous spirits became a source of perpetual amusement to him , while the Admiral seemed to derive new life from watching the frolicsome gambols of his young companion , occasionally enlivened by the gleeful vivacity of his niece Marion , when she escaped a single day from the trammels of school , bringing generally in her train two of her favorite juvenile companions , Clara Granville and Caroline Smythe , both several years older than herself .  On many occasions the sensibility of Henry De Lancey seemed already to have attained almost the depth and intensity of manhood , so strong were the bursts of natural feeling with which he occasionally spoke or acted , while it was deeply affecting to trace throughout the extraordinary progress thus early made in his education , the careful culture given to his remarkable abilities — the pains bestowed by his solitary parent to strengthen his mind for future difficulties and sorrows , the earliest and worst of which she could so little have foreseen or apprehended .  With considerable thoughtfulness of character , however , and natural integrity of mind , which Sir Arthur was delighted from the first to remark , yet , when the merry group of young friends assembled together on the shore of Portobello , building houses of sand , or running eagerly in search of shells , it would have been difficult to say which was the most carelessly happy , while the Admiral seemed to borrow their young spirits for the time , and gazed with ceaseless delight on those joyous countenances , radiant with laughter and smiles , which were archly turned towards their aged playmate , sometimes with a challenge to run after them , or lighted up with smiles of affection when they brought him a bouquet of his favorite flowers , torn roughly from the stems , and crumpled in their little hands .  Sir Arthur often seemed almost ashamed to betray the engrossing interest and delight he felt in his young companion , who gained every day a stronger hold upon his affections , and it appeared as if he were anxious to forget that a time had ever existed when the playful and interesting boy was unknown to his heart ; but a circumstance occurred , not long after Henry 'sadoption , which brought painfully to mind , with greatly increased solicitude , the fearful mystery that hung over his origin , proving also that danger still threatened him from some unforeseen quarter .  While the whole party of his young guests were noisily engaged on the shore in a game at hide-and-seek , one day in the month of July , Sir Arthur had seated himself on a bench within sight of them , sometimes watching their gambols with pleasure , and frequently conning over a newspaper , which proved by undeniable and satisfactory demonstration , that the country was entirely ruined — that the Government was coming to an end — that the Houses of Lords and Commons would be completely demolished — that the ministry had not another day to exist — and , as a grand climax , that anarchy , confusion , bankruptcy , and revolution , were about finally to drop their extinguisher over Great Britain .  Sir Arthur had read the same thing in different words every day during fifty years , and under twenty varied administrations ; yet still the wonder grew , how a constitution so mismanaged could so long survive , and that when all was wrong at the head of the country , it still had a leg to stand on .  The Admiral 'spatriotic meditations had been several times interrupted by repeated complaints from the little girls , that Henry had hid himself so well , that they could not possibly find him ; but he was too much pre-occupied to give the subject much attention , till at length Martin announced that the children 'sdinner had waited some time , and that still the boy was not to be found , though his companions had been searching for him at least half an hour .  Upon hearing this , Sir Arthur hastily started up , making a considerable expenditure of energetic and wondrous explanations , while he gazed around with increasing surprise at the wide waste of sand , like an Arabian desert , with which he was on every side encompassed , and where it seemed to him as if a mouse could not be long concealed .  A hasty and most anxious search was instantly commenced in the garden , while Sir Arthur and Martin shouted the name of Henry at the full pitch of their voices , but in vain ; not a sound was heard in reply , nor was there a spot unexamined in which he could by possibility be lurking .  The Admiral now became seriously alarmed at so unaccountable a disappearance , especially when the child 'sgardening tools , with which he had been last observed , were found mutilated and broken , at a great distance , on the beach — one of his shoes had fallen off close to the water , and his hat lay nearly buried in the tide .  Sir Arthur instantly summoned the police to his aid , but the search continued fruitless , till at length the dreadful conjecture became more and more probable , that Henry must have rashly ventured into the water , and been washed away by the waves — in pursuance of which apprehension Sir Arthur summoned more assistance , that the water might instantly be dragged .  Martin , meantime , no less active than his master , had accidentally met a stranger on the beach , who mentioned , on hearing of his alarm , that on the road to Leith , half an hour before , he had observed a boy struggling and screaming in the arms of a female , dressed like a nursery-maid , who complained loudly that the child would not go home , when a young man , rather strangely dressed , and of very singular appearance , had instantly offered his assistance , and carried him forcibly onwards .  This gentleman said he had stopped the woman to remonstrate with her on using the boy so roughly , as a cap was drawn over his eyes , and he seemed to suffer agonies of terror , sobbing convulsively , and trembling in every limb ; but the man had answered in reply , with a strong Irish accent , that he would see the child safe to his friends , and let no one do the poor boy " a taste of harm .  " The stranger added indifferently , that it was no affair of his , therefore he ceased to interfere ; but he thought both the man and the woman had a very bad expression , and he would not trust either of them with his dog for an hour , to use it kindly .  Without wasting time in returning to communicate what he had heard , Martin hurried forward to Leith , where , with reckless speed and untiring diligence , he threaded all the narrow streets , and elbowed his way among carts , carriages , parcels , and passengers , till at length he reached the pier , to which he had been so eagerly aiming his steps .  At its farthest point stood a smoking steam-boat in full boil , while men and women , boxes , packages , bags , and trunks were pouring in ; and at length , as he breathlessly approached within some hundred yards , an arbitrary little bell was rung , to summon stragglers on board , and to hurry stragglers away .  A single plank , connecting the steam-boat with the pier , was on the point of being withdrawn , when Martin approached ; and while he paused , in momentary hesitation whether to pursue his almost hopeless search , the steward peremptorily desired him to hasten on board instantly , if he were coming at all , as not a moment more could be lost .  At this moment a cry , almost amounting to a scream of childish joy , became audible on the deck — a young boy was seen vehemently struggling in the arms of a female ; and in an instant , pursued by a man who vainly endeavored to overtake him , he rushed past the steward , ran across the temporary bridge , and clasped Martin round the knees , exclaiming , with eager incoherent exclamations of almost hysterical delight , " Take me , Martin !  take me !  O let me go home to Sir Arthur !  I did not come away without leave !  I did not , indeed !  That naughty , horrid woman forced me !  She tied a cap over my face , and would not let me go back !  I have been so frightened and so sorry , " added the child , bursting into tears , and sobbing as if his heart would break ; " I thought Sir Arthur would be angry , and I thought , perhaps , I would never see him again !  O take me home , Martin !  take me home !  and let me never see these people again !  "  The boy put his hand , with an air of happy confidence and security into that of Martin , who snatched him up in his arms , with a thousand expressions of joyful surprise ; but a moment afterwards , when he recollected himself , his first impulse was to secure the culprits who had decoyed Henry away , and to deliver them up to a magistrate for examination .  With this intention , he looked hastily around , intending to cause their immediate apprehension ; but the steam-boat had sailed off ; and all the gesticulations he could make to bring them back only caused the steward laughingly to shake his head , thinking that Martin had merely missed his passage , as he deserved , for not showing more alacrity in obeying his injunctions to embark .  At Portobello , meantime , Sir Arthur had suffered agonies of grief , and even of self-reproach , thinking he had too securely relied on the safety of his young protege ; and with a heavy heart he was still directing his steps , and conducting his assistants to the most probable places for finding the child 'sbody , having already ordered his maid to have everything in readiness , in case a chance remained of his being restored to life , when he felt a gentle pull at the skirt of his coat , and , on looking down , he uttered a volley of joyful exclamations , on beholding the radiant countenance of Henry , whom he clasped in his arms with unutterable joy .  While Martin and the boy himself gave each his own history of the strange adventure , Sir Arthur walked up and down in a state of irrepressible irritation , clenching his teeth , and grasping his walking-stick firmly in his hand , as if about to wreak instant vengeance on the miscreants .  At length , after exhausting his indignation , he took Henry again in his arms , declaring he would never for a moment lose sight of him again .  Nothing in Henry 'snarrative threw the slightest gleam of light on the plans or intentions of the strange man and woman , which seemed destined to remain buried in impenetrable obscurity .  They had evidently been accomplices in decoying him from home ; and the boy had brought away from the steam-boat a small book which they had given him , full of ribald songs and profane jests , but covered with magnificent boards , and clasped with silver hinges , which seemed to have once belonged to some ancient missal , and still retained in the inside a collection of texts beautifully written in a very remarkable hand , which seemed to be that of a highly-educated female .  For some time afterwards , several suspicious-looking people were seen lurking about Sir Arthur 'spremises , late at night ; and one evening a shot was fired suddenly in at the drawing-room window , which passed so near to Henry 'shead , that his hair was actually disturbed ; but though an active police had been placed on the watch , not a trace could be obtained of the authors of this outrage .  As time wore on , and the mind of Henry rapidly expanded on all subjects of classical learning and general science , the fearful and melancholy events of his early years faded considerably from his mind , while he made astonishing progress at the excellent school where Sir Arthur placed him , exhibiting that happy , but rare combination of deep thought , and refinement of mind , with extreme liveliness of fancy , and enthusiasm of character .  This threw a perfect witchery over his conversation , which sparkled with vivacity , or flowed with uncommon depth and power , as best suited the occasion , while at the same time , during his intercourse with Sir Arthur , he became imbued with the highest principles of honor and good-feeling ; and from his master he imbibed the most enlightened knowledge of the doctrines and duties of Christianity , with the profoundest reverence for its precepts and practice .  Sir Arthur felt a dreary blank during Henry 'sabsence at school , which became more and more intolerable as his eyesight was at length nearly extinct ; and he had serious thoughts of engaging a person to walk out with him during the day , and to read to him during the evening , being of opinion that it is the highest wisdom , as well as the best Christianity , cheerfully to meet every appointed privation , and derive from the blessings that remain , as much enjoyment as they can afford .  Sir Arthur often remarked to his friend , Lady Towercliffe , that it is a misfortune to wear out a taste of any inoffensive occupation ; and he began to fear it might be possible for him to survive his enjoyment of reading .  " In my long life , " he observed , " I have myself travelled all the travels described by others , thought all the thoughts , and felt all the feelings .  If I read such a book as Robertson 'sAmerica , for instance , the question forces itself upon me , ' what the better would I be of knowing this whole volume by heart !  ' The time was once , when a romance carried me off into another existence altogether , and I seemed to awaken as from a dream , when called back to the ordinary business of life ; but now I can anticipate from the first page , the whole denouement of every novel , and never for an instant forget my own identity in reading the story .  "  " It is a shocking symptom of advancing years , " said Lady Towercliffe .  " But you must wait till I publish .  "  " Yet , " continued Sir Arthur , " there is one volume always new , in which I never can tire of reading my own heart and character ; and in the Bible , the descriptions of eastern countries are so like what I have observed myself of the scenery , customs , and manners , that they fill me with recollections and associations that are of endless interest .  "  No sooner had Sir Arthur mentioned incidentally , to Lady Towercliffe , and several friends , that he would willingly give a handsome salary to a person of good reading and writing abilities , than it seemed as if all the meritorious young men in Scotland happened at that very time to be looking out for precisely such a situation ; and it made Sir Arthur almost melancholy in examining testimonials , which ought to have procured any one of them a bishopric , to think that so many admirable youths , of learning and talents , were ready to sacrifice themselves for a mere home , and a pittance of £ 50 per annum !  No situation ever became vacant in the memory of man , for which Lady Towercliffe had not some protege exactly suited ; and no sooner did she hear that Sir Arthur required a secretary and reader , than she wrote him a note of seven pages , closely penned , in which she made it evident that there was but one individual in the world who could suit , or ought to suit , and that one individual was the bearer of her despatch , who waited below for an answer .  It appeared that , with all her zeal in the cause , Lady Towercliffe knew very little of the young man she so vehemently recommended ; but having accidentally met him in a bookseller 'sshop , he had been employed by her to copy some verses in an album , and she thought him , without exception , one of the most civil and grateful creatures in the world , who really deserved encouragement .  When Sir Arthur sent for Mr. Howard up stairs , his kind heart was almost shocked at the tone of wild energy , and the look of feverish anxiety with which he entreated that his capabilities might be tried .  His figure , though youthful , was tall , gaunt , and meagre , while his care-worn countenance , which bore a stern and melancholy aspect , was lighted up by large , dark , flashing eyes , in which there gleamed an expression of singular excitement .  He appeared young and handsome , but not prepossessing — so gloomy and determined was the expression of his firmly-compressed mouth , that it seemed almost indicative of ferocity ; and his eye had that peculiarity invariably expressing evil — an impossibility of looking any one steadily in the face .  " You see me under great disadvantage , Sir Arthur ; friendless , homeless , and poverty-struck , " said Mr. Howard , with a look of eager , deprecating solicitude , which spoke at once to the generous heart of the Admiral , and filled him with commiseration .  " Fate and fortune have hitherto frustrated my efforts , and weighed me down with life-crushing sorrows ; but only give me employment , and I would not thank the Queen to be my cousin !  "  It was a favorite saying with Sir Arthur , that he would be more ashamed to suspect mankind , than to be deceived by them ; and if he had a weakness in the world it was a total incapacity to give pain .  Touched by the nervous excitement in Mr. Howard 'seye and manner , which he attributed entirely to his necessitous circumstances , he almost immediately engaged him , to the entire satisfaction of Lady Towercliffe , who never asked or cared any more about her protege , gratified that he had achieved " a job , " and that by her interest , and hers only , a place in the world had been filled up , which would have been occupied by some one else , perhaps equally deserving , if she had not interfered , and she was satisfied for the present to have been of consequence to somebody , no matter whom .  Mr. Howard generally spoke in a subdued , mysterious voice , as if afraid to let himself know what he was saying ; yet sometimes his words came forth with a rushing impetuosity , full of energy and fire , like lightning itself .  His hollow , blood-shot eyes , betrayed a wild , watchful , suspicious expression , by no means prepossessing ; and there was something inscrutable in the bland , perpetual smile he always wore upon his countenance , and in the frozen tranquillity of his manner , which occasionally , though seldom , gave way to bursts of tempestuous emotion .  The very pupils of his eyes seemed to have become darker , with a fearfully wild and ferocious expression when irritated , while the fierce fire flashed out from beneath his lowering brows , with a blaze of inexpressible fury ; yet in a moment he could command himself again into a cold , calm , and almost haughty exterior , while the spectral paleness of his handsome countenance made him look like marble itself .  Years passed on , during which Sir Arthur endured , rather than enjoyed , Mr. Howard 'sattendance , whose pre-occupied air and vague manner continually annoyed him ; but his benevolent heart shrunk from consigning the poor man to that hopeless and solitary want which he seemed to apprehend must inevitably follow the loss of his present situation , and from day to day he postponed the decision , till habit grew into second nature , and he became so accustomed to hear " The Times , " column after column , spouted forth in a rather theatrical tone by his reader , and to dictate notes and letters to his very silent and diligent secretary , that he almost forgot at last to think of parting with him .  When Henry returned for the first time from school , six or seven months after Mr. Howard had become domesticated at Portobello , the secretary professed a vehement fancy for the boy , would fetch and carry for him like a tame dog , and loaded him with attentions ; yet , though in general most affectionately grateful to all who showed him even a trifling kindness , these assiduities and flatteries were lavished upon him in vain .  The boy shrunk instinctively from Mr. Howard 'snotice , but could assign no other reason to himself or others for this apparently unreasonable antipathy , except merely that the stranger resembled somebody he had seen before , but how , when , or where , not a trace remained in his memory .  This little caprice did not appear to be noticed or resented by the secretary , till one day , when Henry refused some bon-bons which Mr. Howard offered him , saying , the last he accepted had made him sick , and when the boy soon after flew gaily out of the room , Marion was for a moment startled and surprised to observe the malignant scowl with which the eye of Mr. Howard followed Henry .  It was a glance , fell and malignant , that feared to be seen , while his cheek became pale as death , but whether in anger or in sorrow , Marion thought it impossible to divine .  As Henry grew older , his instinctive dread of Mr. Howard seemed only to increase , but he was too considerate to disturb the tranquillity of Sir Arthur by mentioning it , or to injure the poor man himself , by giving way to a feeling of dislike so unaccountable , and yet so perfectly unconquerable ; but at length , after many years of such prudent self-restraint , when nearly grown up to manhood he could not help saying one day , in a careless tone , to the Admiral , after witnessing a sudden outbreak of temper in Mr. Howard that morning ,  " Your secretary always reminds me , Sir Arthur , of Sinbad 'sOld Man of the Sea .  It seems impossible to get handsomely rid of him , and he will never certainly make a voluntary departure !  "  " I fear not !  " replied the Admiral , with something between a smile and a sigh .  " He does all I desire him , but without interest or pleasure , and he has the most undisguised contempt for every living being , almost amounting to hatred , yet he expresses unbounded gratitude for being harbored in my house .  What can I do ?  It would be cruel to kick the man out of doors , merely because he is unhappy ; but I have often observed , Henry , that he is no favorite of yours , though that is the only subject on which you have never been entirely open with me .  "  " Because I am heartily ashamed of my feelings , Sir Arthur , and you are the last person on earth to whom I wish to tell anything against myself .  You have told me there are people with a loathing antipathy to cats , and somewhat similar is the shuddering sensation with which I see your worthy secretary enter the room .  A sort of shiver comes over me , and a wish to keep him off — to avoid his very glance and touch .  He has a strange under-look certainly !  His smile makes me shudder !  and yet the feeling is quite undefinable !  They say dogs and children have an instinctive liking or antipathy to those who secretly like or hate them , and perhaps my sensation is on somewhat similar grounds .  " There is something fearful in the eye of Mr. Howard , occasionally , when I catch it fixed upon myself , " added Henry rapidly , but in a sort of musing , absent under-tone , while his voice acquired a deeper tinge of thought , " I seem to have beheld him once in a dream !  When he looks at me in that strange and extraordinary manner , his eyes like the flickering glare of light in a gloomy cavern , I feel and know that at some period in my life I have seen such a countenance before !  The time and place have escaped me , but the remembrance is painful , and in his presence I cannot but be convinced that I am in the presence of an enemy .  It is a feeling I can neither drive away , nor distinctly realize !  "  " Why did you never tell me this before , Henry ?  " asked the Admiral , rising with agitation .  " He has been hardly dealt with by fortune , but surely you do not think — — "  " Think !  !  — ; I think nothing , Sir Arthur , for I know nothing , and I ought not to have spoken as I have done , — it was wrong and rash .  I shall try to conquer this , — to conquer myself , — and , as they say , acquired tastes are always the strongest , I may yet learn to like Mr. Howard better than any one living ; but , in the mean time , Sir Arthur , he does occasionally look to me , very like some stray member of the Lunatic Asylum !  "  " I sometimes think , " said Sir Arthur , " that Howard has a bee in his bonnet .  "  " He has a whole hive of bees in his bonnet !  " replied Henry in his usual off-hand tone ; but when he looked round , as is usual , when people are spoken of , the individual himself , Mr. Howard , stood before him .  A mortal paleness had overspread his countenance , contending emotions seemed flitting across his lowering brow , like shifting clouds in a threatening sky , and his eye gleamed upon young De Lancey with a look of maniacal fury ; but the same artificial smile was on his lips which he habitually assumed , while , in the blandest tone of courtesy , he turned from the steady penetrating gaze of Henry to Sir Arthur , saying , in a tone of servile cunning , but with a smile the most ghastly that was ever seen on a human face ,  " Every fool can find fault , but my livelihood fortunately depends not on any boyish caprice .  It is derived from the generosity of a noble mind , unbiassed by cruel and unfounded prejudices , which may , however , yet be my ruin .  A small leak sinks a great ship , and even you , my benefactor , may hereafter be influenced by the opinion of one who avowedly hates me , though without cause , — I should have little to dread if he were like you , but then who is ?  Come what may , however , you deserve and shall ever retain my undying gratitude and attachment .  I have met with little kindness in life , and am never likely to forget that little , from whatever benevolent heart it comes .  In this bleak , desolate , most harsh and cruel world , you are now my only friend .  "  " Those who have deserved friends , Mr. Howard , are seldom so entirely destitute of them !  " said Sir Arthur , with a certain tone of interrogation in his voice , for he abhorred the slightest approach to flattery , and always had an instinctive apprehension that it was accompanied by deceit .  " We are too ready often to throw the blame upon human nature , when our own individual nature is to blame .  For my own part , I have met with little unkindness or ingratitude hitherto , and would willingly look upon the sunny side of life , hoping all things , and believing all things , of mankind in general , and of yourself among the number .  "  The darkened sight of Sir Arthur prevented him from perceiving that in the countenance of Mr. Howard there flitted a quick succession of emotions , fiery and vivid as summer lightning , but Henry observed with astonishment the powerful though ineffectual efforts he made to control his agitation .  His hands were clenched , till the very blood seemed ready to spring ; he gnawed his nether lip with frightful vehemence , and his eyes shot fire from beneath his dark and frowning brow .  With a glance of unspeakable malevolence at Henry , and a hurried bow to Sir Arthur , he hastened with rapid steps out of the room , and subsequently out of the house .  " If there be a madman out of bedlam , Sir Arthur , that is he !  " exclaimed Henry , following with his eyes the rushing steps of Howard , as he crossed the garden .  " Before I go to college , let me hope you will dismiss him .  Give the man a trifling pension , or do anything for him , rather than trust yourself in his hands , for I am mistaken , indeed , if he is not a bad and dangerous man .  "  " Before you return here , I may perhaps be able to find some other situation for him ; but he has done nothing yet , Henry , to forfeit my protection , and I scarcely think he would live , if I dismissed him .  He has drank a bitter cup of wretchedness , and without principle or hope , he has more than hinted to me , that death itself will be his resource if I turn him adrift .  It was a well-meant officiousness of Lady Towercliffe to force him upon my good offices , and I cannot yet see any easy way to relieve myself of the charge , without causing more distress than I can reconcile myself to occasioning .  "  " He is certainly a strange , mysterious being , " replied Henry , wishing to turn off a subject which he saw was agitating Sir Arthur with perplexity ; " but Mr. Howard is not probably the only man on earth whom in the course of my existence I shall not be able to comprehend .  "  CHAPTER VI .  The most popular girl at Mrs. Penfold 's" Seminary for Young Ladies , " near Edinburgh , was Marion Dunbar , too much loved by her companions to be envied ; admired by all , and almost idolized by each , while beneath the gay , sparkling surface of her joyous disposition , there rolled on a warm current of sensibility and feeling sufficient to repay , and more than repay , all the deep tenderness and enthusiastic affection she excited among the little circle of her young and ardent friends .  Cast in the finest mould of classical beauty , and formed mentally as well as personally in the very poetry of nature , the perfect grace and symmetry of her features became enlivened frequently by a rich and radiant smile , like a Hebe , glowing with the richest hues of health and joy .  Her splendid eyes sparkled with every passing emotion , sometimes dimmed for a moment by tears of sensibility , but usually glittering with smiles , while occasionally , when amused or delighted , she burst into a comic , elfish laugh , the very essence of glee and joyousness — a most enlivening accompaniment to what she said , while her conversation , always fresh and unpremeditated , rushed straight from her heart , fresh and natural as a mountain stream .  The color of a violet was not more deeply blue than the dark , unfathomable eyes of Marion , shaded by a fringe of eye-lashes that might have been mistaken for black .  No description could do justice to the fascination of her smile , without one shade of affectation , while her pure transparent complexion , fresh as a bouquet of roses , took a richer tint from all the fleeting emotions which chased each other through her mind .  A rich profusion of nut-brown hair played around her high arched forehead of alabaster whiteness , and a thousand laughing dimples quivered around her delicately-formed mouth , giving her a merry , joyous look of girlish beauty , varied occasionally by a melting softness of expression when she looked on any countenance that she loved .  On one occasion , a celebrated sculptor asked Sir Patrick 'spermission to take a cast of Marion 'shead , and on obtaining the desired permission , he observed , that if those features could be turned into marble , he would stake his whole fame on the impossibility of any critic pointing out a single defect .  But while admiration is given by the eye of an artist merely to symmetry , expression is the mystery of beauty ; and the charm of Marion , in the estimation of her friends , was , that her face seemed like a mirror formed to reflect every emotion of their own hearts .  The most stern and morose of human beings must have been conciliated into some degree of regard by the deep tenderness of a character " without one jarring atom form 'd, " which seemed made only to love and to be loved .  While her gay fancy revelled in " cheerful yesterdays and confident to-morrows , " the flowers that grew around her path , the birds that sang as she passed , the very turf beneath her feet , and the sky above her head , called forth her feelings .  She had a tear to spare for the sorrows of every one who claimed her sympathy , and a ready smile for the joys of all her companions , while yet a great deal of unoccupied love remained at her disposal , the chief portion of which was bestowed with prodigal enthusiasm on her indulgent uncle Sir Arthur , whose doting affection would have spoiled any other disposition , but only rendered her more keenly to merit and to deserve his partiality .  In the estimation of Sir Arthur , his " little Marion " never became a day older , and he considered her a perfect prodigy in everything she said or did , watching all her words , and entering into all her juvenile feelings with a versatility of mind astonishing at his advanced age .  Nothing on earth is more touching than to see the warmth of sensibility and enthusiasm yet surviving the chill of many a year in this disappointing and sorrowing world ; but there was a degree of mutual confidence between Sir Arthur and his young niece which can seldom exist with a disparity of years and circumstances .  Besides all her feminine gentleness , and almost poetical gracefulness of character , Marion yet displayed at times a power of intellect and an energetic strength of character for which a superficial observer would have been totally unprepared ; for her mind seemed always to rise in proportion to the occasion , while she had been born apparently to practise without reserve that beautiful Christian rule , for each individual always to consider himself last .  Rarely are deep feelings and intense sensibility united with that high intelligence of mind , and that vivid gladness of spirit peculiar to Marion ; but the stream of her mind was deep as well as sparkling , while during her early years sorrow flitted through her cheerful , laughter-loving mind , like the shadow of a butterfly in a bright sunny flower-bed .  Pleased " she knew not why , and car 'dnot wherefore , " there was a peculiar grace in all she did , and an infectious merriment in all she said , which attracted a joyous group of companions continually around her , on whom the light of her own buoyant vivacity seemed to be continually and brightly reflected .  Nothing could be more pleasing and characteristic than to observe the refined ingenuity with which , from the earliest age , Marion tried to evade receiving the multitude of little presents with which it was Sir Arthur 'sdelight to surprise her .  Trinkets and toys would have multiplied around her , if she had not frequently made an ostentation of possessing more than it was possible for her to use ; and when Sir Arthur allowed her a choice in any gift he was about to force on her acceptance , she invariably selected that which seemed least expensive ; and her uncle afterwards told , that when , on the twelfth anniversary of her birthday , he clasped a beautiful Maltese chain round her neck , she said to him , with a deepening color and faltering voice , " I would like better to love you for nothing , uncle Arthur !  My drawers up stairs are like a jeweler 'sshop already .  You know I inherited half dear mamma 'sornaments , and Patrick says you bring Rundell and Bridge in your pocket every time I have a holiday ; but I would be quite as happy to see you all for yourself .  "  The merry-eyed Marion seemed to " wear her heart upon her sleeve , " and to see only what was best in all those with whom she associated .  With her small means , it was truly astonishing how frequently and ingeniously she invented some unobtrusive way of conferring a favor on her companions , as if she were receiving rather than bestowing one ; and it certainly appeared as if she scarcely knew the difference .  There was not an individual among her numerous young contemporaries who did not often relate traits of goodness in one whom they always found ready to answer the largest drafts that could be drawn upon her good offices , while the cheerfulness of her mind reflected itself on all .  If one of her young friends rushed joyously forward to announce some unexpected success , Marion 'sfeatures seemed as if they had been put together only for smiles and laughter , while her bright eye glittered with instant gladness , and a glow of color mounted to her dimpling cheek , as she felt and expressed with spontaneous warmth all that kindness could dictate , and more ; but if some unforeseen affliction visited the hearts of her juvenile associates , there seemed no limits to the patience with which she listened to their complaints , or to the eager assiduity with which she endeavored to alleviate their sorrow .  The most trifling attentions she never overlooked , were it merely the tying of a string , or the picking up of a handkerchief , which she did with a good-humored grace all her own , and the trifling actions of life are those by which the character can generally be most justly appreciated .  Great achievements are a conspicuous embroidery laid on the surface often for effect , but the ground-work and material are formed of what is most unobtrusive and often scarcely noticed .  With Marion , every kind and generous feeling was as natural as perfume to the violet , and equally inseparable from her daily existence ; her ideas were fresh and vivid , while her manner was thoroughly fascinating and thoroughly feminine , at the same time that all the grace of look and expression added a surpassing charm to her lively and intelligent conversation , every word of which sprang from the spontaneous impulse of a heart full of natural emotion and straightforward sentiments .  Many a difficult exercise she had secretly assisted to write for her young contemporaries , many an unintelligible drawing she had touched up , many a dress she had privately mended , many a little debt she had clandestinely paid for her juvenile friends , and far from wishing to be thanked , she shrunk with modest sensibility from letting her services be over-estimated , even by those whom she had most exerted herself to oblige .  Whenever a kindness had been privately done at school , the author of which could not be guessed at nor discovered , few hesitated to declare that it must have proceeded from Marion Dunbar , and none were ever mistaken in saying so .  It was indeed wonderful that the lovely and gay young school-girl found time for a tenth part of her kind and tender affections , at Mrs. Penfold 'sfirst-rate seminary for what Sir Arthur called " fiddle-faddle education .  " There no taste was inculcated for quiet pursuits or domestic intercourse , and it was one of Mrs. Penfold 'sfavorite axioms , that nature is always vulgar ; but in her zeal for the honor of her establishment she seemed resolute to make every pupil an Admirable Chrichton , — or more , — not in studying the experience of past ages , and reading the thoughts and feelings which have been recorded for their instruction by millions of the best and wisest of their predecessors in life , but in all the frivolities of existence ; and to this end the pupils were stinted in sleep and food , while they pursued a course of application more incessant , though not so profound , as that of students for a double first class at Oxford .  The most eminent masters were in hourly attendance to cultivate every thing but the heart or understanding .  The various arts of killing or of wasting time were taught in perfection , by the best , or at least by the most fashionable teachers ; and , as the Admiral disapprovingly remarked to her brother , " little Marion was surrounded by professors of every thing on earth , — by professors of trumpery in all its branches , but by no professors of common sense !  "  With Mrs. Penfold each pupil was a favorite in exact proportion as she appeared likely to acquire a talent for the difficult art of rising in the world , by which she might reflect credit and celebrity on the theatre of her education ; and it seemed , therefore , by no means intended as an expression of kindness , when the lady was heard one day impatiently to exclaim in accents of reproach , " Marion Dunbar is all heart , and no head !  Some girls do nothing , but she does less than nothing ; and though she gets on in years , she gets on in no other thing !  "  Wearily busied in being taught , Marion yet felt that there was no incitement , and one only , which made every effort a pleasure , while it gave life to the dull routine of her heartless labors , and that incitement was her fervent , incessant desire to please , not the dictate of vanity , but of spontaneous sensibility ; and while , with her bright and beaming looks , she was by no means a prodigy , Marion very much under-rated her own powers , believing , in the simplicity of her heart , that she really was the most hopeless dunce on many subjects , only able to recommend herself by diligence and by alacrity to oblige .  Even Mrs. Penfold was disarmed of half her severity , by the eagerness with which Marion , buoyant with youth , and joyous as a bird on wing , undertook any task , or suffered any penance to compensate for such little etourderies as had caused her to be in temporary disgrace ; and the stern schoolmistress herself could not but smile sometimes in the midst of her gravest lecture , to observe the look of extreme anxiety and self-reproach with which Marion listened to the catalogue of her small indiscretions , and the grateful joy with which she heard that there were any terms on which she might yet be restored to favor .  Caroline Smythe , her most frolicsome companion , frequently amused herself by inventing imaginary scrapes into which Marion was supposed to have fallen , and by sending her express to Mrs. Penfold for a reprimand , while the lively girl watched , in laughing ambuscade , for the bright beaming smile which flashed into the supposed culprit 'scountenance , the instant she unexpectedly found herself honorably acquitted .  Thus the foundation of Marion 'smind was laid , and these were the light breezes that ruffled the smooth current of her life ; but enchanted by the slightest pleasures , few ever bore the burden of her annoyances so lightly , while a brilliant painted curtain hung over the future , filled with images of anticipated joy , to be realized in all their brightness and beauty , as soon as she became emancipated from the dreary thralldom of Mrs. Penfold 'smanufactory of young ladies .  Meantime , Marion 'smind grew and flourished , like some rare and beautiful plant injudiciously cultivated , yet glowing in almost unprecedented luxuriance .  Plunged in this inextricable labyrinth of educational troubles , she had to undergo lessons from sunrise till sunset , while all the varied arts , sciences , and languages were piled promiscuously on her brain , like an ill-grown coppice , distorted and stunted for want of more judicious thinning and training .  She could name things in every language , but was told nothing of their nature and properties ; while , as Sir Arthur complained , " poor little Marion was taught plenty of sound , but no sound sense , except what she had inherited by nature , without paying £ 100 a-year for it .  "  In music Marion displayed great taste and expression , while her flexible , richly-toned voice poured out sometimes a flood of harmony most exquisite to hear , as the pathos of her full round intonations drew forth the feeling and sympathy of all her auditors .  Expression in music is like expression of countenance , not to be taught or acquired , but the spontaneous result of natural emotion , and with Marion music was almost a passion , for her whole spirit seemed instinct with melody , while her lark-like voice trilled its liquid notes with joyful hilarity .  Signors and Signoras , who might have fitted their pupils to become chorus-singers at the opera , were multiplied around the young ladies at Mrs. Penfold 's" College of Frivolity , " followed in ceaseless succession by Messieurs and Mesdames , who taught the young ladies to maltreat pianofortes , by playing on them at the rate of 100 miles an hour , or to speak foreign languages better than the natives , and to write them better than they could write their own ; —  While hands , lips , and eyes were put to school , And each instructed feature had its rule .  On Sunday evenings , for the sake of effect , the girls were regularly assembled to prayers , which were conducted like those of Frederick the Great 'ssoldiers , being performed simultaneously at the word of command as a part of their exercise , without a semblance of reverence , and within a very limited number of minutes , while they were hastily slurred over by Mrs. Penfold herself , with scarcely an external aspect of solemnity or interest .  Sunday had long been considered by all the pupils at Mrs. Penfold 'sas a privileged day for writing letters , wearing best bonnets , peeping from behind a red silk curtain at the congregation , criticising the clergyman 'smanner , dress , and appearance , discussing , in suppressed whispers , who it would be possible or impossible for them to think of marrying , and enjoying rather a longer walk than common in strolling to church and returning again .  Any knowledge of the Bible inculcated at Mrs. Penfold 'swas like all the other acquirements taught in that establishment , more for show than use .  Each young pupil could repeat by heart , without hesitation or mistake , the whole history of Jacob , Abraham , and any of the patriarchs , prophets , or apostles , and enumerate all the kings who ever reigned over Israel , but they remained utterly uninstructed respecting the influence which the Divine revelation should obtain over their own life and character , nor were they ever taught to inquire what was their own nature , why they were placed upon the earth , and whither they were likely to go after this perishable world had passed from their sight .  Summer flowers alone were implanted in their minds , but no thoughts , hopes , or affections , such as may last for winter wear .  To them their birth seemed merely to have been the commencement of an existence , given entirely for their own individual pleasure or advantage , which was finally to terminate at their death .  Before Marion had been long at school , however , she formed an intimacy which produced a permanent and most happy effect on all her subsequent life and feelings .  Clara Granville , several years older than herself , had been nurtured , like her brother , in holiness , and in every domestic excellence , while she lived only for the dictates of a chastened and sanctified heart .  Delicate in health , and fragile in extreme to appearance , there was something almost seraphic in the delicate purity of her lovely countenance , and in the tranquil composure of her graceful manner .  During a long and tedious illness , with which Clara was seized , a short time before leaving school , she testified a tender and almost exclusive affection for Marion , who spent all her leisure hours — or rather moments , for hours were scarce at Mrs. Penfold 's— in the most assiduous attention to the beloved invalid , and in imbibing those elements of good , those feelings and principles of religion which were to be guides of all her future life , and thus she became , before long , an enlightened , well informed , and deeply pious Christian , not shrinking from the society of one who excelled herself , but humbly and gratefully seeking , on all occasions , her advice and instruction , while both had their hearts filled with a fervent desire , steadily and consistently to pursue their own best interests , and an anxious wish also to succor and benefit others , in all the troubles and sorrows of life , though Marion was apt to feel like the poet , —  Ready to aid all beings , I would go The world around to succor human woe , Yet am so largely happy , that it seems , There are no woes , and sorrows are but dreams .  Marion 'shealth and spirits were refreshed and invigorated by frequent excursions to visit Sir Arthur , who endeared himself to his eager young auditors , Henry and Marion , by expatiating with all the freshness of youth , to their wondering ears , on the times long past , when holidays , romping , sight-seeing , birth-days , and festivals , were still in fashion , but these were the days of his own boyhood , before children were too wise and busy to have time for natural enjoyment .  The Admiral was thought , by Mrs. Penfold , a sad marplot , having already , as she knew , done all in his power to dissuade Sir Patrick from placing the " little fairy , " as he called his favorite , in such a tread-mill as her school-room , where he said the only knowledge to be acquired was , that knowledge of the world which ruins the heart , and where fascination was to be taught as one of the fine arts , but all his representations , whether in jest or in earnest , were in vain .  Sir Patrick , being the guardian of both his sisters , had determined to expend a considerable part of the provision bequeathed by their father in training them up as carefully , for the course of fashionable life , as he would have trained a promising race-horse which was expected to win the St. Leger , confidently anticipating a short and brilliant career of admiration and success , ending with a splendid trousseau , a chariot and four , and a profusion of wedding favors .  Even the gay , frolicsome Caroline Smythe , many years older than Marion , and the most seditious and unruly of pupils , became speedily tamed down to mechanical obedience at school , where , losing her naturally intense enjoyment of mere existence , she seemed at best almost a habitual drudge in the usual routine of labor .  There was a mystery never apparently to be fathomed about this lively girl , which excited the most intense curiosity among her companions , but though she was gifted with an extraordinary degree of volubility , which astonished and diverted the whole school , talking in a rapid and irregular manner of all events , past , present , or to come , with a brilliant confusion of drollery and humor , still she never dropped a hint which threw the most transient light on her own situation and affairs .  No one knew whence she came or who she was , but though defying all the powers of all the masters to render her accomplished , yet Mrs. Penfold evidently treated her with extraordinary consideration , and almost with respect .  Many were the restrictions and directions given respecting her to the scholars and teachers , which seemed to them most unaccountable , and several of which were voted by the juvenile community to be so peculiarly barbarous and oppressive , that though the young lady herself seemed neither surprised nor annoyed by the rigid watchfulness exercised over all her motions , it excited among her companions an indignant pity , and a keen spirit of partizanship .  She was never on any occasion known to walk with the governesses and the other girls beyond the narrow limits of the high garden walls , and on Sundays , instead of attending the parish church , it was observed that one of the teachers invariably remained at home to read prayers with her .  No general invitations sent for all the pupils by the friends of other girls , were ever accepted for Caroline , who had special permission to visit with Marion at Sir Arthur Dunbar 's, but at no other house in the visible world .  She never spoke of home , — received no letters , and once only had a visitor , an object of keen and eager scrutiny to the little gossiping community of Dartmore House , who discovered nothing more , however , than that Caroline 'saunt , Mrs. Smythe , was a gay , fantastic-looking , showily-dressed little woman of no certain age , for whom her niece seemed to care very little , as the whole flood of her affections was concentrated on her companions at school .  Money she had in the most lavish abundance , while she squandered it with a degree of reckless , and almost contemptuous profusion , perfectly startling to those who scarcely received as much in a year as she seemed able to spend in a day on presents for those she loved , which was the chief use to which her large funds were devoted .  Marion , the companion and pet of her two elder companions , Clara and Caroline , tried with all her powers to extend her affection also to Mrs. Penfold , but her feelings found nothing to feed upon in the cold , formal , rigid manner , and stern upright appearance of the schoolmistress , who repelled all intercourse with her pupils , considering them necessary grievances to be endured in her house , as a source of existence to herself , but not of pleasure .  Towards these little slaves of education , driven from task to task with ceaseless pertinacity , no confidence was shown , and between them conversation became systematically discouraged .  A governess was appointed to sleep in each room to secure silence among the pupils , few of whom had that glow of heart and imagination peculiar to Marion , and it was fortunate , perhaps , that her large stock of sympathy was not more frequently in requisition , as the most astounding confidences were sometimes imparted to her wondering ears .  One young lady , in a high fever of romance , described to Marion at great length , in the strictest confidence , an elopement which took place from the school where she had last been educated , on which occasion the young narrator had accompanied the bride part of her way , and returned home without detection , by climbing in at an open window .  Another of the pupils asked if she did not think Monsieur D'Ambereau , the Italian master , wore singularly handsome mustachios , adding that it was a very common custom now for noblemen to go about in disguise , teaching at boarding-schools , in order to see the young ladies ; and a third of Marion 'syoung friends pointed out to her notice that many a ringlet appeared to be more carefully curled than usual , and many a dress to be put on with unwonted solicitude , when Monsieur Frescati , the singing-master , was expected .  Girls in a boarding school are as unnaturally situated as nuns in a convent , where the feelings and emotions , being checked in their spontaneous course , are thrust into channels for which they never were originally intended .  Marion had a sufficient object in view , every time she entered a room , from the desire she felt to please all with whom she associated , which gave a vent to the warmth of her affections in seeking the reciprocal attachment of her companions ; but many of the other pupils , shut out from nature with her sunshine and flowers , her feelings and emotions , and wearied by a monotonous , uneventful life of dictionaries and grammars , snatched at every legitimate or illegitimate source of novelty or excitement , and their conversation became as frivolous as a toy-shop , while the hopeless vacancy of their thoughts obtained relief if even a blind fiddler or a hand-organ appeared beneath their windows .  It was an object of romantic interest for the day , to most of the girls , if an officer in uniform passed along the high-road within sight ; an equestrian in plain clothes , if tolerably mounted , furnished them with a subject of exclamations during the following half-hour , and even the very Doctor , a mere country pill-box , who prescribed for Mrs. Penfold 'spupils , being well-dressed , and not much above forty , would himself have been astonished could he possibly have guessed the interest excited by his visits , and the keen discussion that ensued after his exit , respecting his slightly grey hair , and brilliant yellow gloves .  Each young lady at school had a large assortment of romantic stories to relate , in a confidential under-tone , to her listening companions , of lovers who had committed suicide , gone mad , or been , at the very least , rendered miserable for life , in consequence of a disappointed attachment ; while the whole party impatiently anticipated the time , not perhaps far distant , when their own turn would come to be idolized , admired , courted , and finally married to some " perfect love , " with title , fortune , and establishment all pre-eminently superlative .  Pure as the swan that passes through the darkest and most turbid stream , with plumage unsoiled , Marion 'smind , in the meantime , remained untainted by the atmosphere of evil and frivolity around her .  She caught at all that seemed good , avoided what was evil , and rejected every thought that might injure the unsophisticated excellence of her artless mind .  There arose , however , in time , one source of individual anxiety to Marion , known only to herself and Mrs. Penfold ; but it increased in weight and urgency every year , throwing occasionally a shadow of care over that bright young countenance , in general so beaming with joy , though with true philosophy Marion tried often to forget what it had proved impossible for her to remedy .  Once a quarter , or at least during every successive " half , " the mortifying fact forced itself upon her observation , that no bills were so irregularly paid as her own ; for while their amount rapidly accumulated , Sir Patrick 'sagent forwarded annually the very smallest instalments , with a thousand apologies , and many promises of a final satisfactory settlement at some future period , which period never seemed any nearer ; and Mrs. Penfold often dryly remarked , in the hearing of Marion , that " short accounts make long friends .  "  An appeal to Sir Arthur for his interference often occasionally suggested itself to the mind of Marion ; but she knew that his influence was less than nothing , and she greatly feared lest his vehement partiality to herself might lead him to overlook the very limited nature of his income , and to volunteer some generous sacrifice , such as she would rather suffer any privations than occasion .  The pension and half-pay of Sir Arthur very barely sufficed , she knew , to defray his extensive charities , and to furnish sometimes the hospitable table , and the bottle of first-rate claret , round which it was his delight to gather a frequent circle of old brother admirals ; but his purse was little calculated to stand the shock of such a draft as Sir Patrick would unhesitatingly have drawn upon it , had the idea occurred to him that Sir Arthur might perhaps be induced to take Marion 'sschool bills upon himself .  In no instance was it more obvious than in that of Sir Patrick Dunbar , how precisely in society men are generally estimated at their own valuation .  He was , like his sisters , pre-eminently handsome , while the hauteur of his demeanor , bordering on a sort of well-bred contempt for others , rendered his slightest notice an event of considerable magnitude even to many whom the world might have deemed his superiors in rank , fortune , and talents .  There were a few exclusives , however , among his own exclusive set , whom he admitted to the most unbounded familiarity and good fellowship , inviting them to entertainments , given much more as an ostentatious display of wealth and taste , than from any feeling that might be dignified with the name of friendship ; and thus , by a reckless and unbounded profusion in dress , equipage , and hospitality , unchecked by one sentiment of justice or of prudence , the young Baronet obtained universal celebrity for his generosity and good humor , — anecdotes of which were circulated with delighted approbation in every house .  He was known to have tossed a sovereign one day to an old woman at a cottage door , for merely reaching him a glass of water ; he paid the post-boys double always when travelling ; he gave ten pounds at a ladies 'bazaar , for a paper card-case , which he presented the next moment to Clara Granville ; and he sent Marion a magnificent rosewood box , filled with crystal perfume bottles , and gold tops , which cost twenty pounds , when at that very time she had scarcely a frock to put on , and was in agonies of vexation under an unpaid shoemaker 'sbill .  Sir Patrick 'sgrooms and footmen always roundly estimated his income at £ 20 , 000 a year ; and his rent-roll certainly exceeded that of all the parents united who paid Mrs. Penfold regularly for cramming their children 'sunderstandings ; but while Sir Patrick made it a matter of accurate calculation to train Marion with skill and sagacity in the way most likely to take her speedily off his hands , yet it was no part of his calculation to pay for anything in money if he could do so in words ; and while he rattled off whole estates in a dice-box , and raced himself into difficulties , entering horses for every cup , and dogs for every coursing-match , he privately resolved that Marion and her embarrassments should always remain both out of sight and out of mind .  Mrs. Penfold 'sgrave and dry expression of countenance became graver and drier every time she contemplated the rapidly-increasing amount of Marion 'sbill , while she urgently impressed on her pupil 'smind the absolute necessity of entreating more zealously than ever for the speedy payment of such very old scores .  Observing Sir Patrick so exceedingly profuse in his expenditure , however , Mrs. Penfold believed there could be no cause to apprehend any defalcation at last , being convinced that he might at any time defray her demands with ease , though the only thing he never found it convenient to command was ready money ; and Marion soon discovered that it made him frantic with ill-humor to be asked for any .  Of this peculiarity she had once an early instance , never afterwards to be forgotten .  Having received from Sir Arthur , on her fifteenth birth-day , the first five sovereigns which it had ever been her good fortune to possess , she accidentally heard Sir Arthur laughingly complain during her mid-summer holidays at home , to Mr. De Crespigny , that he had arrived at the bank that morning too late to present a draft for money , and having given his last shilling to a beggar , he was , according to his own expression , " completely cleaned out , " not having enough even to pay for being admitted to the exhibition of pictures , and actually put to some temporary inconvenience by his penniless condition for that day .  In all the pride of exhaustless wealth , Marion soon after stole up to her brother 'sside , and displayed her glittering treasure ; but afraid to be suspected of conferring a favor , with intuitive delicacy she asked Sir Patrick to take charge of it until the following Saturday , that she might consider what to purchase on that day .  Scarcely conscious of what she said or did , the young Baronet mechanically dropped the sovereigns into his pocket , where sovereigns in general had a very short reign , and soon after sauntered away to the club .  Day after day elapsed , week after week , and every time Sir Patrick entered the room , or drew out his pocket handkerchief , Marion thought she was on the eve of being paid ; but at length her holidays came to a close , and still not a syllable transpired respecting her funds .  Rendered desperate at last by anxiety to re-enter school , laden with presents to her favorite companions , Marion , who valued money only as a means of being kind to others , ventured one day , with glowing cheeks , and faltering voice , to remind Sir Patrick , for the first time , of their little pecuniary transactions , which was so very trifling that he had probably forgotten it .  " You tiresome little dear !  am I never to hear the last of those sovereigns !  " exclaimed he angrily , throwing down his newspaper .  " You deserve not to be paid till Christmas !  But here they are !  No !  I have no change , I see , at present .  Well !  I shall remember it some other time !  "  That " other time " never came , however , and Marion returned penniless to school , sympathizing more fully than she had ever done before , in Mrs. Penfold 'slamentations respecting Sir Patrick 'scarelessness about money , — a subject which supplied that lady with a ready-made excuse , whenever she was out of humor at any rate , for venting it all on her unoffending pupil , whose sensitive heart became so imbued at last with vexation and anxiety , that on attaining the age of sixteen , she ventured to pen an earnest appeal to Sir Patrick , begging with all the eloquence of natural feeling , that if the expenses of her education were inconvenient , she might return home , where she would willingly shew all the benefit derived from the advantages he had already afforded her , by continuing her studies alone , and by devoting herself entirely to his comfort , amusement , and happiness .  This letter , which cost Marion agonies of thought , and a shower of tears , received no answer whatever ; and with a sigh of unwonted depression , she dismissed the subject from her thoughts , and trying to hope the best , quietly resumed the course of her occupations , comforted by the consolatory reflection , that in two years she would have nothing more to learn — the whole range of human acquirement being supposed to attain its completion by each of Mrs. Penfold 'spupils at the age of eighteen .  Clara Granville , and Caroline Smythe , having attained the highest acme of perfection under the finishing hand of Mrs. Penfold , were about to be emancipated in a few months from the thralldom of school , and to astonish society by their brilliant acquirements ; respecting the most advantageous mode of displaying which , great pains had been taken to instruct them , though the inclination seemed wanting in both girls , being already surfeited with admiration and panegyric among their masters and governesses , who vied with each other in praising their two most advanced pupils , by whose influence they hoped hereafter to obtain recommendations and employment .  Marion had strolled one evening with Caroline , farther than Miss Smythe had ever been known to venture before ; and the two young friends were seated in an arbor at the extreme verge of the bounds prescribed by Mrs. Penfold , in earnest conversation , while watching with delight the declining sun , which superbly illuminated a heavy mass of clouds in the western horizon .  Time flew on , and darkness nearly closed around them while they discussed with lively , careless humor , all the petty annoyances of their daily life , and compared the little hopes and fears they entertained for the future .  As the hour became later , Marion felt that the high exhilarating key in which Caroline spoke , and her gay , well-rung-out laugh , made her almost nervous in the obscure and solitary retreat to which they had withdrawn ; but ashamed of her own timidity , she determined to conquer or conceal it .  Marion was flattered when a companion like Caroline , some years older than herself , thus treated her with familiarity ; though certainly , neither on this occasion , nor on any other , was it with confidence , as no living being seemed entirely in the confidence of Miss Smythe , who , while she appeared gayly and heedlessly to rattle on in conversation , yet kept a cautious silence respecting all that concerned herself .  Many very reserved persons pass for being perfectly open , by means of a frank , free manner , and by speaking in a confidential tone concerning the most private affairs of those with whom they converse ; and this Caroline did to excess , asking Marion , with every appearance of kindness , a hundred questions , which in her own case she either could not , or would not have answered , and testifying the most cordial , unfeigned interest in all that related to the prospects or feelings of her companion , who never attempted to conceal a wish or a thought , and often forgot that the trust was not mutual .  Caroline was talking eagerly with great animation , and telling Marion that the only injury she never would forgive , was , if any of those she loved had a sorrow that did not allow her to share with them ; and especially if they permitted themselves to suffer from any pecuniary difficulties which it was within her power to relieve , when suddenly Marion laid a hand on her arm , making a hurried signal for silence , while she whispered in a low undertone ,  " I have scarcely heard you for the last five minutes .  Did you observe that strange-looking man , very much muffled up , who scrambled several minutes ago to the top of the garden-wall ?  He was staring wildly about him for some time , then gliding noiselessly down , and has suddenly disappeared ?  "  " Where ?  where ?  " whispered Caroline , grasping Marion 'shand with a look of wild alarm , and speaking in a low , hoarse tone of extreme terror .  " For your life , Marion , do not stir !  Tell me which way he went !  He must not see us .  O how on earth has he traced me out !  "  " Who ?  " asked Marion , bewildered and terrified , when she beheld a degree of frantic alarm depicted on the countenance of her companion , which seemed almost unaccountable .  " Dear Caroline !  whom do you fear ?  "  " A madman !  " replied Miss Smythe , in accents of mingled anger and disgust .  " He has haunted me for years !  He threatens either to murder or to marry me ; and you may guess which I think the worst !  He has even adopted my name !  Did you never hear , Marion , that he actually put his marriage to me last year in the newspapers !  He besets my footsteps — besieges my dwelling-place , persecutes me with letters , sends me his picture , follows me to church , throws stones at my windows in the night , and frightens my very life out , yet the law leaves me unprotected , because he commits no actual breach of the peace .  It was to avoid him that I begged my aunt to let me live here !  How did he discover my retreat ?  "  Caroline seemed to have lost all command of herself in the agony of her fear , and poured out a flood of words in the rapid and subdued accents of extreme terror , while she retreated into the darkest corner of the arbor to screen herself from observation , hastily dragging Marion along with her , and whispering an eager request , if they were discovered , that she would endeavor herself to get off , and fly towards the house for assistance .  " Meantime I shall engage his attention ; but if he once sees me , all hope of escape on my part would be vain , while the very endeavor might irritate him !  Everything depends on you , Marion !  Be resolute , and lose not a moment , or you may be too late .  "  In agonized suspense and apprehension the two friends remained during several minutes , cowering behind the overhanging branches , and scarcely venturing to breathe , while Caroline bent her head eagerly forward to catch the slightest sound , and grasped Marion 'sarm almost convulsively , as if to secure her being perfectly immovable ; at length , after some time , she heaved a deep sigh , expressive of relief , and looked up , saying  " He is surely gone !  he must be gone !  I never eluded his eye before !  — his sight is almost supernatural ; but he must be gone at last !  Let us hurry home !  "  " Stop !  " whispered Marion , in an under tone , " I heard a rustling close behind us , among the leaves and branches .  Some one certainly approaches !  "  " Fly , then , Marion !  all is over , and I must face the danger !  " said Caroline , with sudden energy , while rising and drawing herself up to her full height , with resolute countenance , though her limbs evidently trembled beneath her , she walked towards the door , saying , in a loud , commanding accent , to a tall man , much muffled up in a loose great-coat , who had now appeared at the door , " Who goes there ?  Ernest !  !  " added she , in tones of remonstrance .  " How dare you enter my presence again !  How dare you intrude here !  "  " Be true to yourself and me !  " replied the stranger , in a voice which sounded harsh and excited , while the deep , full tones appeared to Marion as if she had heard them before ; but the darkness prevented her from seeing him distinctly , even if his dress had not been sufficient to disguise him from the most penetrating eye .  " Say what you will , I know you are glad to meet me , " added he , in accents of increasing wildness .  " All that you do is dictated by others ; but Caroline , in her secret heart , loves me !  I know that !  By your looks , by your voice , by your manner , it was revealed to me years ago !  Yes , you love me , and cannot deny it !  Speak but the word , and we may both be happy , — happier than the wildest dreams of fancy !  No impediment can prevent it !  Let your aunt conceal you where she will , she cannot hide you from me .  In the farthest corner of the earth — in the deepest dungeon that was ever dug , I shall find you out , and still free you from persecution .  She may do her worst , but love laughs at locksmiths , and I can still enable you to elude her vigilance .  I come now prepared , if you will but consent to fly with me !  — now , — this moment .  If not , — — "  The madman 'svoice , which had been loud and vehement , here dropped into a low , stern , inaudible murmur , and his hand plunged into the breast of his coat , seemed as if it grasped some weapon there , while Marion , taking advantage of his pre-occupied attention , darted off with the speed of thought , and almost as noiselessly fled towards the house .  A loud , angry cry to stop her , mingled with curses and imprecations , from the madman , while he waved his singularly long arms menacingly above his head , only accelerated her pace , while he followed some steps in pursuit ; but terror gave wings to her feet , and rushing into the entrance-hall , she instantly rang the large dinner bell , and raised an alarm , which assembled the whole household , all of whom gazed with looks of panic-struck astonishment at Marion 'spale and ghastly countenance .  Not a moment required to be lost in explanation , for Mrs. Penfold seemed at once to guess the whole nature and extent of Caroline 'sdanger , the instant her name was mentioned ; therefore Marion had but to point out the direction in which she might be found , when Mrs. Penfold hastened forward , preceded by several of the more active servants .  When Marion had rapidly executed some orders committed to her she quickly returned towards the arbor , but not a trace remained there of any one .  The little table had been upset , several branches torn down that surrounded the entrance , and the grass beneath was much trampled and disfigured ; but all was silent and deserted .  After one hurried glance of alarm and perplexity , Marion hastened forward to the garden gate , which she found had been violently burst open , and on emerging into the high road beyond , she there found Mrs. Penfold and her servants all crowding round Caroline , who remained in a dead faint on the ground for nearly half an hour .  A carriage was rapidly disappearing at full speed in the distance , but already almost too far off to be distinguished ; and Marion perceived the figure of a man lurking behind the hedge close beside her ; but when she made it evident that he was observed , he rushed close up to her side , saying , in a threatening tone , between his clenched teeth , " You have provoked a madman !  "  Scarcely had Marion time to utter an exclamation of sudden affright , before he sprung over the hedge , and was seen running across the neighboring fields , until his figure mingled with the surrounding gloom , and vanished out of sight .  Mrs. Penfold 'schief care , after Caroline 'srecovery from her alarming swoon , was earnestly to enjoin that the circumstances of this adventure should never be mentioned , or so much as remembered by those who had witnessed them ; a story so extraordinary and alarming , being likely to injure her establishment , besides causing much unnecessary gossip among the younger pupils ; but had Marion ever been disposed to consign , as desired , the whole adventure to oblivion , she could not but be continually reminded of it for several weeks afterwards , by the startled and agitated manner of Caroline , whose frolicsome spirits had entirely deserted her , while she seemed for some time to be in imminent danger of a nervous fever .  If any one appeared suddenly in the room , she almost screamed with the start it occasioned her ; she could not bear for a moment to be left alone , and seemed as if continually listening , even when safe in the house , for the sound of steps in pursuit of her .  Gradually , however , her mind became more composed , and she ventured one day to take a stroll with Marion in some of the nearer parts of the garden , though even there she scarcely spoke above her breath , and turning hastily round several times , as if apprehensive that some one approached .  Had the far-famed Upas tree grown over the arbor , Caroline could scarcely have shunned more fearfully the slightest approach in that direction , and with equal care did she avoid any allusion to what had occurred there , not a hint of which ever transpired in her most confidential moments .  The very sound of her own feet on the gravel seemed to startle her , and as she walked beneath the shade of some tall forest trees which overhung the garden-wall , Marion observed that Caroline trod more cautiously ; and though she dropped not a word respecting her feelings or fears , it was evident that her nerves were strung to an agony of sensitiveness , for the fluttering of a bird in the hedge , or the fall of a leaf , made her start , and she seemed about at last to give up the point in despair , and hurry homewards , when suddenly a loud shrill whistle arose amidst the branches of an ash-tree , almost directly over their heads , and before Marion had time to look round , a small packet had dropped at the feet of Caroline .  With a half-suppressed cry of alarm , the terrified girl fled , while Marion , scarcely less frightened , instinctively picked up the parcel , and followed , while again she was pursued by a volley of oaths and imprecations , which ended in a laugh so wild , so maniacal , and so fearful , that for months afterwards it rung in her ears , causing her a shudder of horror and alarm .  When Mrs. Penfold tore open an innumerable multitude of seals which closed the packet addressed to Caroline , she discovered within only a long incoherent letter of several sheets , filled with the most extravagant professions of ardent love , and the most vehement declarations , that nothing on earth could impede or discourage him in his resolution to carry her off , which he seemed still persuaded , with the self-delusion peculiar to madness , must be a welcome assurance to Caroline , whose words and actions he perseveringly attributed to the arbitrary influence of others .  Accompanying this farrago of most intolerable nonsense , was a black shade in a wooden frame , representing the profile of a young man , certainly handsome , and which seemed to Marion like features she had known elsewhere , but being frequently addicted to observing resemblances , she felt at once persuaded that this must be some such vague and unaccountable likeness as she had frequently found or fancied before .  Time wore on , and still Caroline lingered at school , unwilling apparently to forsake the comparative quietness of Mrs. Penfold 's, where , though her age exceeded by some years that of the other pupils , and though her cotemporary Clara had been already introduced into society , she still seemed anxious to forget herself and her affairs in the multitude of her masters and studies , so completely was she engrossed by which , that she evidently grudged every moment and every thought which interrupted her progress .  At length , on the evening previous to that fixed on for her final departure from school , when Mrs. Smythe was expected to convey her home , Mrs. Penfold was bestowing on Caroline some of her last advice , of the most approved mode of " getting on " in society , and especially on the manners and conversation most attractive to gentlemen , when a note was brought into the room , which had arrived by express , bringing the melancholy intelligence that Mrs. Smythe 'scarriage had been upset a few miles off , causing so severe a blow on the head , that a concussion of the brain had taken place , and she continued insensible , at a village some miles off , where little hope remained of her recovery .  The Doctor who wrote these hurried particulars had obligingly sent his own carriage and servant to accompany Miss Smythe to the spot , that she might take a last leave of her dying relative , and he recommended that she should not lose an instant , or it might be too late to find the sufferer in life .  Struck with grief and consternation by this most unexpected and calamitous intelligence , Caroline , though she had never before seemed much to love her aunt , yet now became overwhelmed with the shock , and lost not an instant in hastily preparing to obey the melancholy summons , by throwing on her coat and bonnet , while she rushed into the arms of Marion , and burst into an agony of tears in bidding her farewell .  The French governess who had been summoned to escort Caroline in the carriage , was one of those nervous persons , who became perfectly frantic when hurried , and she flew about the room , uttering a volley of incoherent exclamations , expressive of her wonder and perplexity at so sudden a call on her activity , while her preparations seemed to make no visible progress .  There is a secret , mysterious pleasure in being waited for , which every living mortal seems to enjoy when they have the opportunity ; and without a thought of Caroline 'simpatience , her anxiety , and her sorrow , Madame D'Aubert expressed the most eager and vehement solicitude about her own dress , and a resolution not to stir till equipped to her entire satisfaction , for so rare and almost unprecedented an event , as leaving the boundaries of Dartmore House .  Every thing that has a limit , however , must come to an end , and Madame D'Aubert 'stoilette being at last completed she leisurely advanced , talking to herself and to everybody else , arranging her shawl , and giving a last finish to the contour of her bonnet , before she threw herself with dignified deliberation into the chariot .  Marion had affectionately insisted on conveying her weeping friend to the carriage , while , with all the little arts of affection , she tried to console and encourage her , till at length they exchanged a final embrace , and parted .  Scarcely , however , had Miss Smythe placed her foot upon the steps , while the man-servant who accompanied the carriage carefully assisted her in , before Marion suddenly sprung forward with an exclamation of terror , seized hold of Caroline 'sdress , and before she could speak , dragged her forcibly into the house , exclaiming in accents almost inarticulate from alarm ,  " Come back , Caroline !  come back !  This is some mistake !  some dreadful trick !  Caroline !  dear Caroline !  come back !  That servant wears the very dress of the person who attacked you in the garden !  I cannot see his face , but I am certain it is he !  "  Before Marion could finish her sentence , the supposed servant had violently seized Miss Smythe by the arms , and was about forcibly to drag her towards the carriage , when the loud cries of Marion brought assistance .  The almost fainting girl was rescued , and the post-chaise secured ; but not a trace could be seen of the madman , who instantly vanished ; and the post-boy could give no intelligence respecting him , except that he had been ordered out at an inn close by , in urgent haste , that evening , with a promise of double payment if he implicitly obeyed the gentleman , who seemed highly irritable , and swore at him in a most fearful manner , if he made the slightest delay , or so much as asked a direction which way to turn .  The most diligent search was made , but made in vain , by the officers of police , to find out the lunatic 'sretreat , which eluded their utmost research ; and as Caroline Smythe was privately removed soon afterwards from school , where the subject was forbidden ever to be mentioned , the whole story seemed almost buried in oblivion , and Marion herself felt at last as if the entire adventure had been an agitating dream , remembered by no one but herself .  CHAPTER VII .  Marion 'ssister , Agnes , five years older than herself , after being distinguished as the best musician , best sketcher , best linguist , best everything , at Mrs. Penfold 's, had left school with no real knowledge , except of the most frivolous kind , accidentally gathered in conversation , and repeated again in society like a parrot .  Formed to excite the most rapturous admiration , by the gorgeous magnificence of her almost regal beauty , art had acted the part of the Fairy Bountiful in forming Agnes , while nature had showered her choicest gifts on Marion .  Agnes was brilliant without being interesting , and dazzling without being attractive , for her mind seemed irremediably and incorrigibly vulgar , selfish , and vain .  A good actress , an inimitable mimic , and incomparable in a tableau , she assumed generally a queen-like dignity of manner , " stalking through life , " as Sir Arthur said , " with an assured and stately step , as if practising for her appearance as a Duchess at the next coronation .  "  Admiration seemed to Agnes the only pleasure of life , and amusement its only business ; while , if ever she had possessed any sensibility , it was frittered away on the fictitious sorrows of the Adelines and Julias in the volumes which she read with surpassing diligence from a circulating library ; though , in all other respects , Agnes wasted her time amidst such listless idleness , that she might have let her nails grow , like those of a Chinese mandarin , to testify how literally she did nothing .  No one , certainly , could excel Agnes in turning up her hands and eyes at the faults of others ; but those who trace nothing except evil in their companions , have seldom much good in themselves .  Marion found it one of the most important and pleasing studies in the world , to comprehend the character and temper of her friends and connexions , besides her own , with a wish to render herself suitable to them , as her mind , pliable without weakness , was bent on constantly yielding her own wishes to those she loved ; but this unobtrusive generosity was only a subject of satirical remark to her sister , who could neither understand nor believe in Marion 'sutter singleness of heart and disinterestedness ; her own sole aim being selfish indulgence , and her sole rule to obtain it in the easiest possible way .  Self-love was the ruling passion of Agnes ; love of others the quickening principle , or rather impulse with Marion , who would have zealously planted flowers for even strangers to enjoy ; but Agnes would have plucked all those of her friends , and scarcely taken the trouble to rear any even for her own use .  Agnes , cold , vain , heartless , and self-sufficient , thought she was made only for this world , and this world for her , and for such as herself , young , gay , rich , and lovely , while all others were mere intruders on the creation .  But Marion , on the contrary , followed the dictates of her own heart , in wishing to do good of every kind to every person , while still she had learned to aim above nature , to that high standard of Christian perfection , so exalted , that those who have gained the most elevated human attainment in virtue and excellence , must still consider the structure of their minds , however beautifully decorated with generous sympathies and kind emotions , as being only begun , while they perseveringly aspire upwards , even to the measurement of that Divine Being who left us an example that we should follow his steps .  Agnes had now been , for three seasons , the reigning beauty of Edinburgh !  There it is the privilege of every tolerable-looking girl to be considered in her own set pre-eminent , during the first winter after she is introduced ; but though the public eye usually grows weary of the same features , however perfect , during a second campaign , Agnes had apparently taken out a diploma of beauty , the reputation for which seemed confirmed to others by her own thorough conviction of being completely unrivalled , and by the exulting consciousness she displayed of her own supreme loveliness .  Three seasons of tumultuous joy , triumph , and conquest , had already succeeded each other , during which Agnes was , to use her own expression , " fiercely gay , " yet still no younger rival had appeared to eclipse the dazzling array of her charms ; and not a whisper was heard that the freshness of her Raphael-like beauty was at all impaired ; nor were any ladies ever heard to " wonder " what gentlemen could possibly see to admire in Agnes Dunbar , as not a dissenting voice had yet ventured to make itself audible on that subject .  Agnes began life with that perfect confidence in her own knowledge of the world , universally felt by young ladies under twenty , especially when they have seen very little of it , and with a thousand schemes and projects of perfect happiness .  Though one after another her castles of cards fell to the ground , still , in the exercise of persevering energy , she rebuilt the edifice again with new materials , and on what she imagined a better construction , but still in every instance , to her own unutterable astonishment , she found that most unaccountably , " hope told a flattering tale !  "  Considering every officer she danced with as a hero , and every gentleman who paid her a compliment as a lover , Agnes wasted her first season , as most young ladies do , in flirting with scarlet uniforms , the inhabitants of which were generally so much alike in ideas and conversation , that if blindfolded , she might have found it difficult or impossible to distinguish which of her countless red and gold admirers happened at the moment to be " doing the agreeable .  "  All her military victims were dying to know what Agnes thought of their brother officers ; whether she intended to adorn the next ball by her presence , or the next concert ; how she liked their military band ; if she proposed patronising their night at the theatre ; whether she preferred a galope fast or slow ; how she thought the colonel 'sdaughter looked on horseback ; whether she did not think it barbarously tyrannical of the commander-in-chief to insist on their all wearing uniforms ; how she liked the new regulation jacket ; and above all , whether she thought the order for their wearing mustachios an improvement or not !  To all these subjects , and many more of similar import , Agnes lent her very profound attention , not only during the discussion , but in many a solitary hour , while her whole head , heart , and understanding were crowded with the recollection of epaulettes , mustachios , spurs , and gold lace , and she privately believed that the supreme felicity of earth , — all the most refined sensibilities of life , and all its brightest joys , were to be found at Piershill Barracks .  Sir Patrick laughingly alleged that Agnes had rehearsed a set of prepared conversations suited to every different occasion , — a musical conversation for amateurs , full of crotchets and quavers — a hunting conversation about foxes , dogs , and steeple-chases , — a Court of Session conversation for the lawyers , — and a dragoon conversation , discussing at great length whether officers should dance with spurs or without them , and in which she had been known to enumerate correctly , the facings of every regiment in Her Majesty 'sservice .  Her brother often and loudly declared that nothing is more perfectly hopeless , than for any young lady to expect a serious attachment from an officer actually quartered with his regiment , as it was against all rule , and contrary to all nature or custom , for Cupid to attack the army .