"'Oh, do not say that, Miss Moncton. What I did was perfectly
impulsive, without thought or premeditation. I could not imagine that I
was in the wrong, and Sir Alexander's conduct appeared to me cruel and
unjust.'

"'Come with me to the Hall, Mr. Mornington, and I will plead your case
to this cruel tyrant. My eloquence with papa is quite irresistible; and
he, poor dear, is more ready to forgive, than you are to ask
forgiveness.'

"This was said, with one of her bewitching smiles, which lighted up
like a passing sunbeam her calm, pale face.

"'You are too good, Miss Moncton. I would gladly avail myself of your
invitation, but I must proceed on my journey to York immediately. I
hope, however, soon to visit Moncton again; when I will, with Sir
Alexander's permission, explain my conduct, and ask his pardon.'

"'I hate procrastination in these matters, which pertain to the heart
and conscience,' said Margaret. 'My motto, when prompted by either, to
perform an act of duty, is--_now_; when we seek forgiveness from God,
or from a friend, we should never defer it to the future, for the
opportunity once neglected may never again be ours.'

"This was said with some severity. A sort of mental cowardice kept me
back and hindered me effectually from profiting by her advice. Just
then, I felt it was out of my power to meet Sir Alexander. I had not
courage to enter his presence in my present mood.

"'Alice,' said Margaret, turning from me with a disappointed air, 'what
has kept _you_ so long away from the Hall?'

"'I grow too proud to visit my rich friends,' returned Alice, in a tone
between sarcasm and raillery.

"'There is only one species of pride, that I tolerate,' said Margaret,
calmly--'the pride of worth. That pride which enables a good man to
struggle successfully against the arrogance of the world.'

"I turned to the speaker with admiration. Had she been born a peasant,
Margaret Moncton would have possessed the dignity of a lady, and the
little lecture she thought fit to bestow upon my beautiful wayward
sister, was dictated by the same noble spirit.

"'We should never be proud, Alice, of the gifts of nature, or fortune,
which depend upon no merit of our own. Beauty and wealth have their due
influence in the world, where their value is greatly overrated; but
they add little in reality to the possessor. Deprived of both, persons
of little moral worth, would relapse into their original
insignificance; while those, w