o pray but vainly; no words of such
soothing and consoling import rose to her lips. How long she remained in
this state of wretchedness she knew not, but it was the mild accents of
her mother's voice that roused her from her trance.

"Are you not well, Caroline? What is the matter, love?" Mrs. Hamilton
asked, alarmed at the icy coldness of her daughter's hand, and kissing,
as she spoke, her pallid cheek.

Caroline threw her arms round her, and a violent flood of tears relieved
the misery from which she was suffering so painfully.

"Do not ask me to reveal the cause of this weakness, my dearest mother,"
she said, when voice returned. "I shall be better now, and never, never
again shall recollections of the past, by afflicting me, cause you
solicitude. Do not fancy this apparent grief has anything to do with
regret at my late decision, or for still lingering affection; oh, no,
no. Do not look at me so anxiously, mother; I have had a long, long
conversation with Percy, and that has caused the weakness you perceive;
but it will soon pass away, and I shall be your own happy Caroline
again."

Tears were still stealing from those bloodshot eyes; but she looked up
in Mrs. Hamilton's face with an expression of such confiding affection,
that her mother's anxious fears were calmed. She would not inquire more,
nor question Percy, when he sought her in her boudoir before dinner, to
request that no notice might be taken, if his sister's manner were that
evening less calm than usual. Mrs. Hamilton felt thankful that an
understanding had taken place between her children, whose estrangement
had been a source of severe pain, and she waited trustingly and calmly
for time to do its work on the torn heart and agitated nerves of
Caroline. To Emmeline's extreme delight, preparations for their
departure from London and return to Oakwood were now proceeding in good
earnest. Never did that fair and innocent face look more joyous and
animated, and never had her laugh been more glad and ringing than when
the carriage rolled away from Berkeley Square. Every circumstance of
their journey increased her childlike glee, every town they passed
through an object of interest, and even the pensive features of her
cousin Ellen reflected her unchecked joyousness. They seldom travelled
more than forty miles a day, and consequently it was not till the
evening of the fourth they neared the village, whose inhabitants, clad
in holiday attire, stood at the doo