ted him, it would have preyed on him to madness. Truly
that dark fluid, beneath which his withered fingers were even now so
busily turning the powerful flame, was an apt symbol of his own
life--wasting away before the hidden fire which himself was goaded on to
foster hour by hour.

Absorbed as he seemed to be in his strange employment, he nevertheless
heard with great acuteness the approach of some person, who knocked
softly at the door and then opened it. Sir Michael turned round eagerly;
the new comer was a servant, who said quickly, "My lady wishes to speak
to you, Sir," and disappeared at once, as though the locality was one in
which he by no means desired to find himself.

But the old man had heard the message, and through all the red glow cast
by the flaming lamp, his livid face grew ghastlier still with strong
emotion. He leant back in his chair, breathing quick and hard, and with
his hand pressed to his side; then rising hastily, he gathered the long
black garment round him, and left the room, heedless of the boiling
liquid, whose ingredients it had required days to combine, and which
now, overflowing in the crucible, was lost entirely. Through the
vaulted passages of the noble old building the Lord of Randolph Abbey
took his way, stealing along within the shadow of the wall, the
shrivelled hands still clasped over his bosom, and trembling with
agitation. One might have fancied him the spectre of some old miser,
creeping back to visit the beloved gold which had turned, as it were, to
molten lead, crushing him within his grave; but it was, indeed, hard to
believe that this was the possessor of as noble an estate as ever came
to a man from the dead hands of a long line of ancestors, and that
wealth well nigh untold was at his command. He crossed the great hall, a
magnificent room, lighted by an immense Gothic window at the one end,
whilst the other was occupied by a large organ, whence he went through
various passages, covered with the softest carpets and lined with silken
hangings. It was plain that he was on the outskirts of a region where
luxury was systematically studied. At length he reached a door, which
was closed only by heavy curtains, and there paused for a moment.

A voice was heard within, a clear, full-toned voice, talking, as it
would seem, in terms of endearment to some animal; and as it came
murmuring on his ear, there stole a light into that old man's eyes, a
light reflected from the bright, spr