. What then was he to do? She could
not answer her self-put question; and her surprise when he parted from
her, after a short conversation, conducted with difficulty, with his
secret unapproached, and the mysterious stare of his illegible eye, was
not less than her terror of the anticipated issue when she first
encountered him.

This new extraordinary element in the subject of her meditations and
fears disarranged all her ideas, and sent her thoughts in new channels
for a discovery of what might be the secret plans of her cousin. She
sighed for an interview with her lover; but that, she was satisfied,
would be attended with great danger; and thus reduced to her own
resources, she passed the night following her meeting with Blacket House
in still increasing pain and difficulty. In the morning she was visited
in her own chamber by her mother, who appeared, from the serious aspect
of her countenance, to have something of great importance to
communicate.

"Helen," began the good matron, "though your father and I have seldom
broached the subject of love and marriage in your presence, we have,
with heartfelt satisfaction, observed and understood that the man who
alone has our consent to win your virgin heart is your own choice. Your
wooing has lasted so long, that the very birds in the woods are familiar
with your persons and converse; and surely this is not to last always.
You are twenty years old, my dear Helen, at the next Beltane, the first
of May; and I know that it is Blacket House's wish that your happiness
may be crowned by a union within as short a period as we will agree to
fix. I have broken the matter to you, my love; and as I am well
acquainted with the fluttering of Love's wings when Hymen enters the
bower, I will not urge you to fix a day at present, but leave you to the
pleasant meditations my communication cannot but call forth. I shall
send your breakfast to your bedroom this morning, my love; but I hope we
may walk in the afternoon. Say nothing, Helen. Adieu! adieu!"

And the mother left the room rapidly, as if to avoid noticing the
blushes of the supposed happy damsel. Helen heard the words uttered, as
one may be supposed to feel the syllables of a condemnation falling upon
the heart. It was well that her mother departed so rapidly, for the
agitation the kind parent attributed to joy, was but the prelude to a
faint, which retained her cold and struggling in its relentless arms for
a considerable period.