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yet this

"I will not oppose further," said Lord Archibald ; were perhaps the safest way to procure a more speedy explanation." "It would lead exactly to what, for many reasons, I wish to avoid,” replied the duchess. "It appears to me, also, that if the unravelling of this matter lies beyond our power, the dispensations of Heaven have placed the lady under our protection; and we shall have done our duty, and be in the right path, if we endeavour to find the relations which she professes to have. It will then only remain for them to guard her rights; or we will do so, if she remains under our care."

The old duchess smiled her satisfaction at these words, which were by far the most consistent expressions she had uttered during the interview; and it appeared from them that the duchess had conquered her irresolution Lord Archibald had also a smile on his face, which showed that he had still something to propose. He added, presently, that it would be a great assistance if they would go over the facts of Lady Melville's narrative, in order to discover, by means of the time that she had been on the road, the last abode of the young lady: even if the direction failed, the distance might in some measure be settled. Thus, it might be concluded that the place was distant from the coast, about three days' journey from Cumberland, and somewhat more than a day's journey from the main road to London.

"The lady left the castle at midnight,” Lord Archibald continued, "and passed that night and the following day in hard riding, until she reached the little cottage, in the wood. After having been carried back there, and her subsequent escape, she gives us to understand, in her too defective account, that she passed two days and nights on foot, and exhausted. On the third day, early in the morning, she awoke, as it appeared, in the forest adjoining this park; for it is not probable that, in the state of unconsciousness in which she describes herself, she could have proceeded further than through the wood next the terrace; and this is the more probable, as wide roads, easily to be distinguished, lead through it in this direction."

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"We will not attempt too much at once," interrupted the duchess, with evident disquiet. "I have promised to protect her against her angry uncle; and who knows if we may not rouse him, by attempting these inquiries, before we discover the protector upon whom she relies? We shall not then have any right to withhold her from the man who seized her, and at the remembrance of whom she feels such intense alarm."

It is doubtful how much longer Lord Archibald would have endured this cutting short and rejection of all his counsels by a woman with whom he held equality, had not the old lady gently taken up the discussion, and with great difficulty made clear the next necessary steps in the wilderness of for and against, of overthrowings and acceptations. As to the rest, it was finally agreed that the lady should be informed that there was no Lord Mar at court; and, secondly, that she should be requested to write a letter, to be enclosed to Master Brixton, it being of the most essential importance to gain intelligence respecting him. The old lady undertook to communicate with her on these points on the following day.

"Then," added she lovingly, "my dear daughter has already done enough in this affair, and she may well permit the old mother to obtain a little merit. I will perform my business properly," said she, smiling, and endeavouring to give a peaceful termination to this grave discussion.

The duchess appeared very willing to accede to this proposal; and Lord Archibald undertook to recount its most important features to the young duke, in order to restrain his zeal within due bounds, and also to persuade him to leave all to the greater experience of his uncle and the two ladies. They separated in tolerable good humour, and Lord Archibald led the duchess to her own apartments, in which she remained secluded till dinner, attended only by Mistress Morton, whose easy benevolent management is well known to us.

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CHAPTER XII.

Whoever has observed the movements of the various personages of whom we have been speaking, must conclude that, for some weeks after the events related in our last chapter, matters proceeded in their usual train at Godway Castle. The forms in which a family is accustomed to move are a benevolent restraint against the waves of passion, obliging each individual to control his feelings, whilst he performs those duties which occupy all around him. This was more or less the case with many of the members of the Nottingham family at this time.

Although changed in their relations to one another, as well as in their hopes and plans for the future, we nevertheless find the members of the family assembled as usual around the breakfast-table; and those who where the least at ease, imposing a restraint upon themselves in order not to interfere with those whose cheerfulness was more natural. He who has not passed through a similar ordeal, knows not the difficulty of controlling the expression of sorrow in the countenance, and forcing a painful smile; he knows not the grieftouched gaze which fixes itself on vacancy, nor the distracted answers called forth by the strange levity which makes the inward wounds the greater, while it fails in concealing the agitation of the heart.

delicate

The old lady had performed the delicate task we left her about to undertake-that of informing Lady Melville that the name of her uncle was unknown at court. Although she did not add that they doubted the existence of an Earl of Mar-for it was thought better to delay this until they had received Master Brixton's communications-yet this disappointment destroyed all her hopes, and filled her with horror at the loneliness of her situation. After a warm expression of her grateful feelings for the protection vouchsafed to her, she read to the old lady the letter she had written to her former tutor, and to which the duchess could not listen without tears.

This letter bore the impress of deep feeling, which was the more

striking, as her mind displayed an acuteness of perception and a consistency of judgment above her years. This was attributable to the education she had received, which had more especially for its object the cultivation of her reason and understanding. She perfectly concurred in the wish of her protectors to wait until they had heard what Brixton would advise; but at the same time, as suggested by Lord Archibald, she would have preferred to find out the castle from which she had fled. She ventured to request this; but the old lady opposed her wish on the ground that she might probably again encounter the furious man from whose persecution she had escaped. The slightest allusion to this individual sufficed to fill her mind with the most fearful apprehensions, and entirely subdued the wish she had expressed.

Lord Archibald, influenced by what he had heard, was led to form a very advantageous opinion of the young lady's understanding; and the old duchess could not resist confirming this, by adding her own observations, although, by so doing, she widened the difference of opinion between her daughter-in-law and her son. But Lord Archibald was too generous to rejoice in this triumph. On the contrary, he scarcely appeared to notice it; but from this moment his opinion of the stranger was confirmed, and the old duchess did not close her remarks until he had acknowledged that there was not the slightest ground for personal suspicion of the lady.

It was not, however, so easy to persuade the young duke to be silent on the communication which his uncle made to him. What was it that moved him to impatience? Was it that he wished to make use of his newly-acquired power, and therefore disliked yielding to his mother's will? Or was it merely owing to the dictates of his noble heart, influenced by some secret feeling which transformed anxiety for her into enjoyment? Be this as it may, he certainly thought all that his mother and uncle proposed far too slow and too unsympathizing. We will not inquire the motive which induced the earl, when he had related all to his nephew, to recommend him to be prudent; adding, that they had no power to withhold the lady, should she be claimed by the most distant relation, who could give her the protection she required; and that even should she fall into

the hands of those with whom she would be more unhappy than she was now, they had no right to detain her.

But these reasons produced the desired effect; and Lord Archibald requested his nephew to procure a messenger to convey the letters to the Bishop of Lincoln, and to select for this most faithful servant and the swiftest horse.

purpose the The conviction could no longer be withstood by all, that the young duke love the Lady Melville. He so openly displayed this feeling, that one could not avoid thinking he was ignorant of its nature; but all who had ever felt the echo of love in their own hearts, proclaimed that the young man's hour was come, With fearful alarm his mother at length made the discovery; and she found herself plunged into a whirlpool of difficulties, which threatened to swallow up her strength, and which must be struggled with alone. Every day increased her burden, which became greater from her resolution not to divulge what she believed to be the truth.

Whether Lord Archibald, who must have known the outward signs of love, guessed the state of the case-whether his silence was the result of that prudence, which prevents our disturbing the somnambulist, in the hope that he will find his way back in safety -or whether it was indifference to the emotions of the heart, could not be decided. He received many letters, wrote much, and his uneasiness might be attributed to the state of political affairs, which, it was well known to all, occupied his mind and heart.

Two persons only were unconscious of what was going on. These were the old duchess and the Lady Melville. The former calculated upon Lady Anna Dorset becoming her granddaughter, and this prevented any other idea entering her mind; whilst she attributed the young duke's attentions to his feeling of the duties which he owed, as master of the house, to the young and beautiful girl who had been thrown under his mother's protection. Yet the emotion of the duchess did not escape her mother-in-law's observation, and it grieved her to see her thus worn down by some secret sorrow, which it was evident she did not wish to share with any one.

The Lady Melville, on the contrary, presented a picture of the most perfect innocence. She saw herself the object of the duke's