eir long-lost child.
This he had great hopes of doing. And as he thought of Elizabeth
Pearson's manner, her way of speaking, and many other little
circumstances, he recollected that her accent was somewhat that of a
foreigner. There was an intelligence and refinement, too, which he
should not have expected to find in a young girl in her position in
life, except, however, that Dame Pearson was herself very superior to
any farmer's wife he had ever met, and was evidently a person who had
belonged to a higher rank of society. He was also sacrificing himself
for the good of others, for had he been left to his own disposal, he
would, in the first place, have hastened on to Nottingham to enjoy the
society of his own family, and, more than all, as he thought, to renew
his acquaintance with Alethea Harwood. Often and often had her lovely
countenance risen up before him, and he had enjoyed the hope that she
would one day become his. At the same time it must be owned that
another sweet face frequently presented itself before him, and though he
had never associated it with the thought of love, yet surely it was one
which must of necessity be very dear to him. It was that of little
Elizabeth Pearson, so gentle, so bright and intelligent, and so
confiding! He had now arranged to go and visit her, not for his own
satisfaction, but for that of the friends who had hopes of discovering
in her their long-lost daughter.

Leaving Mistress Gournay, Jack hurried back through the narrow streets
of Norwich to the Bear Inn, where he found Monsieur de Mertens anxiously
waiting for him. His friend trembled as he took his arm and led him out
of the house.

"A kind friend will inform your wife of your arrival, and by the time we
reach her house Madame de Mertens will, I trust, be prepared to receive
you," said Jack.

"But she will, I fear, scarcely know me," said the poor man. "You
cannot tell how anxiety of mind and physical hardships have changed me.
When we parted I was young, and full of life and spirits, and now my
hair is grey, the colour has left my cheeks, and I tremble in every
limb!"

Jack tried to console him by assuring him that he had greatly improved
in his appearance since he had been freed from the galley, and that he
was sure his wife would know him by the expression of his countenance
and the tone of his voice, even should she discover the change of which
he spoke.

"Alas!" he said, "our joyful meeting must, howeve