o the
Doctor; and in moments of what seemed exceptional fondness, when she has
toyed with the head-gear of Adele, has plied the little brain with
motherly questions that have somehow widely failed of their intent.

Under all this, Adele ripens into a certain reserve and individuality of
character which might never have belonged to her, had the earlier
circumstances of her life been altogether familiar to the circle in
which she was placed. The Doctor fastens, perhaps, an undue reliance
upon this growing reserve of hers: sure it is that an increasing
confidence is establishing itself between them, which it is to be hoped
nothing will shake.

And as for Phil, when the Squire teases him with his growing fondness
for the little Jesuit of the parsonage, the boy, though past seventeen
now, and "with views of his own," (as most young men have at that age,)
blushes like a girl.

Rose, seeing it, and her eyes flashing with sisterly pride, says to
herself,--

"Oh, I hope it may come true!"

XXIX.

From time to time Maverick had written in reply to the periodical
reports of the Doctor, and always with unabating confidence in his
discretion and kindness.

"I have remarked what you say" (he had written thus in a letter which
had elicited the close attention of Miss Eliza) "in regard to the rosary
found among the girlish treasures of Adele. I am not aware how she can
have come by such a trinket from the source named; but I must beg you to
take as little notice as possible of the matter, and please allow her
possession of it to remain entirely unremarked. I am specially anxious
that no factitious importance be given to the relic by opposition to her
wishes."

Heavy losses incident to the political changes of the year 1831 in
France had kept him fastened at his post; and with the reviving trade
under the peaceful _regime_ of Louis Philippe, he had been more actively
engaged even than before. Yet there was no interruption to his
correspondence with Adele, and no falling off in its expressions of
earnest affection and devotion.

"I fancy you almost a woman grown now, dear Adele. Those cheeks of yours
have, I hope, not lost their roundness or their rosiness. But, however
much you may have grown, I am sure that my heart would guide me so truly
that I could single you out from a great crowd of the little Puritan
people about you. I can fancy you in some simple New England dress,--in
which I would rather see you, my child, tha