m again, and his memory had been as faithful as
yours; and if he offered the sole atonement in his power, for all
that his early error cost you; if such a chance should happen in the
vicissitudes of life, you would--"

The curate stopped short; for he was struck by the exceeding paleness of
his friend's cheek, and the tremor of her delicate frame.

"If that were to happen," said she, in a very low voice; "if we were to
meet again, and if he were--as you and Mrs. Leslie seem to think--poor,
and, like myself, humbly born, if my fortune could assist him, if my
love could still--changed, altered as I am--ah! do not talk of it--I
cannot bear the thought of happiness! And yet, if before I die I _could_
but see him again!" She clasped her hands fervently as she spoke, and
the blush that overspread her face threw over it so much of bloom and
freshness, that even Evelyn, at that moment, would scarcely have seemed
more young. "Enough!" she added, after a little while, as the glow died
away. "It is but a foolish hope; all earthly love is buried; and my
heart is there!"--she pointed to the heavens, and both were silent.

CHAPTER II.

QUIBUS otio vel magnifice, vel molliter, vivere copia era
incerta pro certis malebant.*--SALLUST.

* "They who had the means to live at ease, either in splendour or
in luxury, preferred the uncertainty of change to their natural
security."

LORD RABY--one of the wealthiest and most splendid noblemen in
England--was prouder, perhaps, of his provincial distinctions than
the eminence of his rank or the fashion of his wife. The magnificent
chateaux, the immense estates, of our English peers tend to preserve
to us in spite of the freedom, bustle, and commercial grandeur of our
people more of the Norman attributes of aristocracy than can be found in
other countries. In his county, the great noble is a petty prince; his
house is a court; his possessions and munificence are a boast to every
proprietor in his district. They are as fond of talking of _the_ earl's
or _the_ duke's movements and entertainments, as Dangeau was of the
gossip of the Tuileries and Versailles.

Lord Raby, while affecting, as lieutenant of the county, to make no
political distinctions between squire and squire--hospitable and affable
to all--still, by that very absence of exclusiveness, gave a tone to the
politics of the whole county; and converted many who had once thought
differently on the respective virtues