ce on
the river front. There was a side gate leading to the garden, and there,
at that hour, Lilian knew she would most probably meet the elder Mr.
Grahame, while his wife was almost certain to be found in the dairy, to
which the same gate would give her access; but the gate was passed with
a light, quick step, and Lilian entered the house at the front. With a
fluttering heart, but a steady purpose, she passed on, without meeting
any one, or hearing a sound, to the usual morning room. The door was
open; she entered, and her heart throbbed exultingly, for _he_ was
there. Michael Grahame sat at a table writing. His back was towards the
door, and her light step had given no notice of her presence. Agitated
by a thousand commingled emotions, wishing, yet dreading to meet his
eye, she stood gazing on his face as it was reflected in an opposite
mirror. It seemed to her paler and graver than of yore. Manhood had
stamped its lines more deeply on the brow since last they parted. But
some movement, a sigh, perhaps, from her, has startled him. He raises
his head, and in the mirror their eyes meet. In that glance her whole
soul has been revealed, and with one glad cry of "Lilian! my Lilian!" he
turns, and she is folded in his arms.

There was no more doubt, no more fear, on her part--no concealment on
his. She had chosen freely and nobly, and she was rewarded by love as
deep, as devoted, and as unselfish as ever woman inspired, or man felt.

The marriage of Lilian, which took place in three months after her
return to Mossgiel, could not but excite some interest in the world in
which she had so lately occupied a conspicuous place. When, however, to
the great question--"Who is this Mr. Grahame?" the answer, "Nothing but
a mechanic," was received--the interest soon faded away, and in the
winter Lilian found herself in New-York, with scarcely an acquaintance,
except the Trevanions, and she could easily perceive that something of
pity was mingled with their former kindness. Yet never had Lilian been
less an object of pity. Every day increased not only her affection to
her husband, but her pride in him, by revealing to her more of his high
powers and noble qualities. Those powers had received a new spring from
his desire to prove himself worthy of his cherished wife. He had long
been occupied with a problem whose solution, he believed, would enable
him to increase greatly both the speed and safety of steam navigation.
In the early part