e beyond the tomb--a pledge to us that, even in the depths
of midnight, the earth shall have a light, unquenched and unquenchable,
from Heaven!"

Emily turned to Falkland as she said this, and her countenance sparkled
with the enthusiasm she felt. But his face was deadly pale. There
went over it, like a cloud, an expression of changeful and unutterable
thought; and then, passing suddenly away, it left his features calm and
bright in all their noble and intellectual beauty. Her soul yearned to
him, as she looked, with the tenderness of a sister.

They walked slowly towards the house. "I have frequently," said Emily,
with some hesitation, "been surprised at the little enthusiasm you
appear to possess even upon subjects where your conviction must be
strong."

"_I have thought enthusiasm away!_" replied Falkland; "it was the loss
of hope which brought me reflection, and in reflection I forgot to feel.
Would that I had not found it so easy to recall what I thought I had
lost for ever!" Falkland's cheek changed as he said this, and Emily
sighed faintly, for she felt his meaning. In him that allusion to his
love had aroused a whole train of dangerous recollections; for Passion
is the avalanche of the human heart--a single breath can dissolve it
from its repose.

They remained silent; for Falkland would not trust himself to speak,
till, when they reached the house, he faltered out his excuses for not
entering, and departed. He turned towards his solitary home. The grounds
at E------ had been laid out in a classical and costly manner which
contrasted forcibly with the wild and simple nature of the surrounding
scenery. Even the short distance between Mr. Mandeville's house and
L------ wrought as distinct a change in the character of the country as
any length of space could have effected. Falkland's ancient and ruinous
abode, with its shattered arches and moss-grown parapets, was situated
on a gentle declivity, and surrounded by dark elm and larch trees. It
still retained some traces both of its former consequence, and of
the perils to which that consequence had exposed it. A broad ditch,
overgrown with weeds, indicated the remains of what once had been a
moat; and huge rough stones, scattered around it, spoke of the outworks
the fortification had anciently possessed, and the stout resistance they
had made in "the Parliament Wars" to the sturdy followers of Ireton and
Fairfax. The moon, that flatterer of decay, shed its rich a