s, for a young lady, though I know not why it
should be considered more out of the way than copying flowers from nature.
However, I exerted myself to the utmost, and succeeded well, for he gave
my drawings unqualified approbation, and was eloquent in thanking me. I am
sure the amiable recluse read my heart at once, and saw how eagerly and
gratefully I availed myself of this opportunity, trifling as it was, of
gratifying Mrs. Priestly, to whom I owed so much; for her affection toward
Mr. Edwin rendered attentions bestowed on him personally felt and
acknowledged by her. This similarity of taste, together with our mutual
love and veneration for Mrs. Priestly, induced that kindly communion
between Mr. Edwin and myself which afterward ripened into a lasting
friendship, cemented by time. He was, indeed, wise unto salvation. Learned
not only in this world's lore, but in that wisdom which maketh not
ashamed, he bore his daily cross most meekly, and yet most manfully.
Deeply alive to the beautiful, keenly sensitive on all points,
tender-hearted and affectionate, he lived alone in the woodland solitude,
not, I was convinced, from any morbid disinclination to encounter his kind
on account of his personal affliction (he was too humble and good for
that), but from some unknown and mysterious cause, some hidden sorrow,
which rendered solitude in a retreat like this desirable. At Lodimer, I
never gazed on the gay and sparkling river, without remembering that it
flowed onward toward the swan's nest among the reeds. I never gazed on the
thick, rich woods, or heard the wood-pigeon's cooing across the waters at
the hushed evening hour, without a sensation of tranquillity and peace
stealing over my spirit, as fancy pictured the lonely lodge, the soft
twittering around it, and the dense shadows beyond.

I obeyed Mrs. Priestly, and never asked a question concerning Mr. Edwin,
but I pondered much on this interesting subject; and whenever my thoughts
turned away from the vanities of this world, they always rested with
satisfaction on the ornithologist.

As the time drew nigh for our departure to Lovell Castle, I observed a
degree of restlessness on Mr. Edwin which I had not hitherto noticed, and
frequent gloomy abstraction, which he vainly endeavored to shake off in
our presence. Mrs. Priestly often conversed alone with him, when traces of
agitation were visible on her countenance, and tears on his; and when she
bade him farewell, these words