rs of their houses to receive them,
with silent and respectful yet very evident tokens of joy. The evening
was most lovely; the sun had lost the splendour of its beams, though
clouds of every brilliant hue proclaimed the increased glory which
attended its hour of rest, at times lost behind a richly glowing cloud,
and then bursting forth again and dyeing all nature with a flood of
gold. The river lay calmly sleeping before them, while on its glassy
bosom the heavens cast their radiance, relieved by the shade of the
mighty trees that stood to guard its banks; the rich foliage of the
trees, the superb green of the fields, in some of which the ripening
corn was beginning to stud with gold, the varied flowers gemming the
fertile hedge, the holy calmness of this summer eve, all called forth
the best feelings of the human heart. For a few minutes even Emmeline
was silent, and then her clear silvery voice was heard chanting, as if
by an irresistible impulse, the beautiful hymn of the Tyrolese, so
peculiarly appropriate to the scene. On, on they went, the white walls
of the church peeping through clustering ivy, the old and venerable
rectory next came in sight; a few minutes more, and the heavy gates of
Oakwood were thrown wide to receive them, and the carriages swept along
the well-known entrance. Every tree and shrub, and even flower, were now
looked on by Emmeline and Percy with increased and somewhat boisterous
expressions of delight.

"Try if you cannot be still a very short time longer, dear Emmeline,"
whispered the more restrained Ellen, whose eye had caught a glimpse of
Caroline's countenance, and who perceived in an instant her feelings
were not in unison with Emmeline's. She was right; Caroline could not
feel as did her sister. She was not the same light-hearted, innocent
being she had been when she quitted Oakwood; the appearance of the home
of her childhood vividly recalled all that had occurred since she had
mingled in the world, that world of which she had indulged so many
brilliant visions; and while Entmeline's laugh conveyed gladness in that
hour to all who heard it, Caroline leaned forward to conceal from her
companions the tears that stole silently down her cheek.

A shout from Percy proclaimed the old hall in sight. A group of
domestics stood on the steps, and the setting sun threw its brilliant
hues on the mansion, as if with increased and unusual lustre that
venerable spot should welcome the return of the