lled with
the exceeding beauty of the landscape.

"You must be very sorry to leave all this Jane," he said.

"I believe that is the least of my troubles. I am more sorry to leave
these;" and she led him to the stables, and showed him the two
beautiful horses she and her sister had been accustomed to ride. "You
will be kind to them for our sakes, and the dogs, too. I am--we are
both--very concerned to part with the dogs."

"Should you not like to take any of them with you?" said Francis,
eagerly.

"No, no; dogs such as these would be a nuisance in a crowded little
room in Edinburgh, and I do not think they would like such a life, for
their own part. You will take better care of them than we could
possibly do. But I forget: you have, perhaps, as little affection for
animals as I have taste for scenery."

"I am not naturally fond of pets--which is rather strange; for my
solitary life should have made me attach myself to the lower animals.
But perhaps I am not naturally affectionate. I must cultivate this
deficient taste, however; and be assured that anything you have loved
will always be cherished by me; and every wish that you may express, or
that I can even guess at, that I am allowed to gratify, I will be only
too happy to do so. It has been a strange and stormy introduction we
have had to each other; but I am so grateful to you for not hating me,
that I chafe still the more at the cruel way in which my hands are
tied. I have consulted several eminent lawyers in the hope of being
enabled to overturn my father's will, but without success. If a man is
not palpably mad he may make as absurd a settlement of his own property
as he pleases; and your assertion of your uncle's peculiar opinions
tends to support the validity of the testament. Though no one thinks
that the disposition of the money will serve the end Mr. Hogarth
intended, yet he believed it would, and the spirit and intention of the
will must be carried out. Oh, my father! why did you not give me a
little love in your lifetime instead of this cursed money after your
death?"

"Cousin," said Jane cheerfully, "I believe you will make a good use of
this money. As my uncle says, you have served well, and should be able
to rule justly and kindly. I do not think so much about the improvement
of the property by your taste as of the care you will take of the
condition of the people upon it. This last month has been a hard, but a
useful school to me. I have thought