broken by the
jarring discords and vexations of waking life; every feature then falls
into its natural place, and renders the symmetry of the face chaster,
whilst its general expression breathes more of that tender and pensive
character, which constitutes the highest order of beauty.

Jane's countenance, in itself so exquisitely lovely, was now an object
of deep and melancholy interest. Upon it might be observed faint traces
of those contending emotions whose struggle had been on that day so
nearly fatal to her mind for ever. The smile left behind it a faint and
dying light, like the dim radiance of a spring evening when melting into
dusk;--whilst the secret dread of becoming a cast-away, and the still
abiding consciousness of having deceived her father, blended into the
languid serenity of her face a slight expression of the pain they had
occasioned her while awake.

"Unhappy girl! There she lay in her innocence and beauty like a summer
lake whose clear waters have settled into stillness after a recent
storm; reflecting, as they pass, the clouds now softened into milder
forms, which had but a little time before so deeply agitated them.

"Oh, no wonder," said her father, "that the boy who loves her should
say he would not leave her, and that separation would break down the
strength of his heart and spirit. A fairer thing--a purer being never
closed her eyelids upon the cares and trials of life. Light may those
caros be, oh! beloved of our hearts; and refreshing the slumbers that
are upon you; and may the blessing and merciful providence of God guard
and keep you from evil! Amen! Amen!"

Maria on this occasion was deeply affected Jane's arm lay outside the
coverlid, and her sister observed that her white and beautiful
fingers were affected from time to time with slight starting twitches,
apparently nervous.

This, contrasted with the stillness of her face, impressed the girl
with an apprehension that the young mourner, though asleep, was still
suffering pain; but when her father spoke and blessed her, she felt her
heart getting full, and bending over Jane she imprinted a kiss upon her
cheek;--affectionate, indeed, was that kiss, but timid and light as the
full of the thistle-down upon a leaf of the rose or the lily. When she
withdrew her lips, a tear was visible on the cheek of the sleeper--a
circumstance which, slight as it was, gave a character of inexpressible
love and tenderness to the act. They then quietly lef