ck but for the
lights in it, which were of a deep dusky golden tone. The eyebrows were
beautifully arched, and the lashes of the eyes were represented as
unusually long. The eyes themselves were very deep hazel, or black--it
was impossible to say which; the nose perfectly straight; the lips, of a
clear, rich, cherry hue, were full and slightly pouting; the mouth
perhaps the merest shade larger than it ought to have been for perfect
beauty; the chin round, with a well-defined dimple in its centre.
Altogether, it was the loveliest face I had ever seen; and I stood for
some time gazing in a trance of admiration on it, the feeling being
mingled with one of deep regret that fate had, in snatching away the
living original, deprived me of such rich possibilities of mutual love.
I felt keenly that, had she continued to live, my life would, in all
probability, have been widely different and very much happier than it
ever had been. Musing thus, I turned the case over in my hand, and
found that there was a contrivance for opening it at the back. I soon
discovered the spring, upon pressing which the back flew open,
disclosing a circlet of glossy chestnut hair reposing upon an oval of
pale yellow silk, in the centre of which were painted the words "Maria
Lascelles; aet. 18. C.L."

Closing the case again and placing it carefully in my bosom, I turned my
thoughts to my new prospects; and whilst collecting together a few of my
more treasured valuables to take with me, and packing the remainder away
in a place of safety, I suffered myself to indulge in much pleasant
speculation upon my immediate future.

On the following morning, about ten o'clock, my father and I left town
in a post-chaise, and, stopping only for an hour about mid-day to dine
at a pleasant little road-side country inn, arrived, at about seven
o'clock in the evening, at our destination. This was a large brick-
built edifice evidently constructed especially to serve the purposes of
a scholastic establishment, standing in its own somewhat extensive
grounds, and situated in a lonely spot about half a mile from the sea,
and--though actually in Hampshire--some four miles only from the port of
Poole in Dorsetshire. I was speedily presented to the principal, who at
once made a favourable impression upon me, afterwards abundantly
confirmed; and, after perhaps half an hour's conversation with him, my
father formally delivered me over to his care and left me--his leave-