he whole of that night; was it a witness of the
calm and learned vigil, or of the unresting heart?

CHAPTER XI.

THE FAMILY SUPPER.--THE TWO SISTERS IN THEIR CHAMBER.
--A MISUNDERSTANDING FOLLOWED BY A CONFESSION.--WALTER'S
APPROACHING DEPARTURE AND THE CORPORAL'S BEHAVIOUR THEREON.--
THE CORPORAL'S FAVOURITE INTRODUCED TO THE READER.--THE
CORPORAL PROVES HIMSELF A SUBTLE DIPLOMATIST.

So we grew together
Like to a double cherry, seeming parted,
But yet an union in partition.
--Midsummer Night's Dream.

The Corporal had not taken his measures so badly
in this stroke of artilleryship.--Tristram Shandy.

It was late that evening when Walter returned home, the little family
were assembled at the last and lightest meal of the day; Ellinor
silently made room for her cousin beside herself, and that little
kindness touched Walter. "Why did I not love her?" thought he, and he
spoke to her in a tone so affectionate, that it made her heart thrill
with delight. Lester was, on the whole, the most pensive of the group,
but the old and young man exchanged looks of restored confidence, which,
on the part of the former, were softened by a pitying tenderness.

When the cloth was removed, and the servants gone, Lester took it on
himself to break to the sisters the intended departure of their
cousin. Madeline received the news with painful blushes, and a certain
self-reproach; for even where a woman has no cause to blame herself,
she, in these cases, feels a sort of remorse at the unhappiness she
occasions. But Ellinor rose suddenly and left the room.

"And now," said Lester, "London will, I suppose, be your first
destination. I can furnish you with letters to some of my old friends
there: merry fellows they were once: you must take care of the
prodigality of their wine. There's John Courtland--ah! a seductive dog
to drink with. Be sure and let me know how honest John looks, and what
he says of me. I recollect him as if it were yesterday; a roguish eye,
with a moisture in it; full cheeks; a straight nose; black curled hair;
and teeth as even as dies:--honest John shewed his teeth pretty often,
too: ha, ha! how the dog loved a laugh. Well, and Peter Hales--Sir Peter
now, has his uncle's baronetcy--a generous, open-hearted fellow as ever
lived--will ask you very often to dinner--nay, offer you money if you
want it: but take care he does