atched his death, and would have died if Mr. Fotheringham had not
brought him home.'

'What! has he been abroad, Sarah?'

'Yes, ma'am. I was holding the baby when he says to Missus he was going
to Bully, or Boulong--'

'Boulogne--'

'Yes, Bullying, or some such place; and bullied him they have; stripped
him even of his very portmanteau, with his eight new shirts in it, that
they have! Well, Missus, she says his cold would be worse, and he said
it only wanted a change, and she need never fret, for he meant to get
quit of the whole concern. But for that, I would have up and told him he
didn't ought to go, and that he must stay at home and mind her, but then
I thought, if he did get rid of them nasty horses, and that there Mr.
Gardner, with his great nasturtions on his face, it would be a blessed
day. But I ought to have known how it would be: he is too innocent for
them; and they have never been content till they have been and got
his very clothes, and given him his death, and broke the heart of the
bestest and most loving-heartedest lady as ever lived. That they have!'

Having eased her mind by this tirade, Sarah mended the fire, put every
comfort in Miss Martindale's reach, advised her to lie down by her
mistress, and walked off.

Theodora felt giddy and confounded with the shocks of that day. It was
not till she had stretched herself beside Violet that she could collect
her perceptions of the state of affairs; and oh! what wretchedness! Her
darling brother, round whom the old passionate ardour of affection
now clung again, lying at death's door; his wife sinking under her
exertions;--these were the least of the sorrows, though each cough
seemed to rend her heart, and that sleeping mother was like a part of
her life. The misery was in that mystery--nay, in the certainty, that
up to the last moment of health Arthur had been engaged in his reckless,
selfish courses! If he were repentant, there was neither space nor power
to express it, far less for reparation. He was snatched at once from
thoughtless pleasure and disregard of religion--nay, even of the common
charities of home! And to fasten the guilt to herself were those few
half-uttered words--races, debts, Gardner!

'If you once loosen the tie of home, he will go back to courses and
companions that have done him harm enough already.' 'Beware of Mark
Gardner!' 'Whatever comes of these races, it is your doing, not mine.'
Those warnings flashed before her eyes li