e castle
or whether through the violent concussion of the air, several heavy
stones were hurled from the mouldering battlements into the roaring
sea beneath. It might seem as if the ancient founder of the castle were
bestriding the thunderstorm, and proclaiming his displeasure at the
reconciliation of his descendant with the enemy of his house.

The consternation was general, and it required the efforts of both the
Lord Keeper and Ravenswood to keep Lucy from fainting. Thus was the
Master a second time engaged in the most delicate and dangerous of
all tasks, that of affording support and assistance to a beautiful and
helpless being, who, as seen before in a similar situation, had
already become a favourite of his imagination, both when awake and when
slumbering. If the genius of the house really condemned a union betwixt
the Master and his fair guest, the means by which he expressed his
sentiments were as unhappily chosen as if he had been a mere mortal.
The train of little attentions, absolutely necessary to soothe the young
lady's mind, and aid her in composing her spirits, necessarily threw
the Master of Ravenswood into such an intercourse with her father as was
calculated, for the moment at least, to break down the barrier of feudal
enmity which divided them. To express himself churlishly, or even
coldly, towards an old man whose daughter (and SUCH a daughter) lay
before them, overpowered with natural terror--and all this under his own
roof, the thing was impossible; and by the time that Lucy, extending a
hand to each, was able to thank them for their kindness, the Master
felt that his sentiments of hostility towards the Lord Keeper were by no
means those most predominant in his bosom.

The weather, her state of health, the absence of her attendants,
all prevented the possibility of Lucy Ashton renewing her journey to
Bittlebrains House, which was full five miles distant; and the Master of
Ravenswood could not but, in common courtesy, offer the shelter of his
roof for the rest of the day and for the night. But a flush of less
soft expression, a look much more habitual to his features, resumed
predominance when he mentioned how meanly he was provided for the
entertainment of his guests.

"Do not mention deficiencies," said the Lord Keeper, eager to interrupt
him and prevent his resuming an alarming topic; "you are preparing to
set out for the Continent, and your house is probably for the present
unfurnished. All t