it seemed to have dropt from his hand in the
depth of his abstraction; his faultless features, his
chiselled mouth, the peculiar colour of his hair, and the
light which shed around him a kind of halo, made him at that
moment resemble the pictures of saints which Raphael and
Domenichino have painted.

It seemed to me like a vision; in the highly excited state in
which I then was I almost fancied it such; and the restless
tide of thought within me took a new direction; the tears
sprung into my eyes, and I turned away, wit a softer feeling
at my heart than I had known there for a long while. As I
moved towards the door, the rustling of my gown disturbed
Edward; he called to me to come and admire the glowing colours
of the sky, where clouds over clouds of red and purple hue
were floating in an atmosphere of burnished gold. I went to
him, and we stood together for several minutes, till the sun
descending quite beneath the horizon, left the room in
comparative darkness. I then withdrew, but it was not till I
reached my room that I found I had dropt the paper on which
Henry's verses were written. I felt annoyed at this, and
retraced my steps to the library door, but before I reached
it, I met Edward, and in his hand he held the very paper I was
come in search of. I did not venture to claim it from him, but
he held it out to me at once, and said coldly, "Is this your
property?" I felt confused, neither venturing to deny, or
liking to admit the fact. In my embarrassment I muttered
something about a copy of verses that Henry had written out
for me, and, hastily stretching out my hand for the paper, I
took it, and walked away without further explanation.

On the evening of this day we were all sitting round a table,
on which work, books, and implements for writing were spread
about. Henry Lovell was even more than usually animated, and
spoke well and eloquently on a variety of subjects. Mrs.
Middleton joined eagerly in the conversation; Edward listened
attentively, but spoke seldom. I remember every word he said
that evening. Once Henry requested us all to say what it was
we hated most, and what it was we valued most. I forget what I
said, what he said, what my aunt said, but I know that to the
first question, Edward answered, _duplicity;_ and to the
second, _truth;_ and as he pronounced the word _truth_, he
fixed his eyes upon me, accidentally perhaps, but so sternly
that I quailed under his glance. A few minutes after, Hen