be very well
delayed; for the house is now closed, with a watchman at the door, and
will continue so for a month to come. No one can quit it, except members
of our profession, searchers, nurses, and other authorized persons,
during that time."

"But can no one enter it, do you think?" asked Mrs. Bloundel.

"No one would desire to do so, I should conceive, except a lover,"
replied Hodges, with a sly look at Amabel, who instantly averted her
gaze. "Where a pretty girl is concerned, the plague itself has no
terrors."

"Precisely my opinion, doctor," rejoined Mrs. Bloundel; "and as I cannot
consult my husband, perhaps you will favour me with your advice as to
how I ought to act, if such a person as you describe should get into the
house."

"I seldom meddle with family matters," rejoined Hodges; "but I feel so
much interest in all that relates to Mr. Bloundel, that I am induced to
depart from my rule on the present occasion. It is evident you have lost
your heart," he added, to Amabel, whose blushes told him he was right;
"but not, I hope, to one of those worthless court-gallants, who, as I
learn from common report, are in the habit of toasting you daily. If it
is so, you must subdue your passion; for it cannot lead to good. Be not
dazzled by a brilliant exterior, which often conceals a treacherous
heart; but try to fix your affections on some person of little
pretension, but of solid worth. Never, I grieve to say, was there a
season when such universal profligacy prevailed as at present. Never was
it so necessary for a young maiden, possessed of beauty like yours, to
act with discretion. Never was a court so licentious as that of our
sovereign, Charles the Second, whose corrupt example is imitated by
every one around him, while its baneful influence extends to all
classes. Were I to echo the language of the preachers, I should say it
was owing to the wickedness and immorality of the times that this
dreadful judgment of the plague has been inflicted upon us; but I merely
bring it forward as an argument to prove to you, Amabel, that if you
would escape the moral contagion by which you are threatened, you must
put the strictest guard upon your conduct."

Amabel faintly murmured her thanks.

"You speak as my husband himself would have spoken," said Mrs. Bloundel.
"Ah! we little thought, when we prayed that the pestilence might be
averted from us, that a worse calamity was behind, and that one of the
most profligate of t