earthly angel was quietly passing away to heaven. She herself
was conscious of it. There were times--how well I remembered it
afterwards--when I would find her eyes fixed upon me with a yearning
ineffable sadness. Her whole soul and spirit seemed to be speaking to me
without words. She was about to leave me to the temptations and tender
mercies of the world--how would it fare with me in the years to come?
But she never spoke or gave me word or sign of warning.

"My father also saw the change coming, but would not admit it; could not
believe or realise it. The loss would be his death-blow. For him there
could be no second wife, no other companion. When the blow fell, it
crushed him. He was never the same again. I never again heard him laugh,
scarcely saw him smile. His body was still on earth, thought and spirit
seemed to have followed his wife into the unseen world. His affection
for me, the kindly remonstrances of the good Abbe, even these were not
powerful enough to restore his desire for life. He went on quietly,
patiently for four years, then followed the wife without whom it seemed
he could not remain on earth.

"I told you just now their life was too happy to remain long without
interruption. Fifteen years of perfect companionship had passed as a
flash, the dream of a long day, and then vanished.

"I was now nineteen, but mentally and physically more like
five-and-twenty. A restlessness seized me. My home was haunted by the
spirits of my parents; by the remembrance of days whose perfect
happiness made that remembrance for the moment intolerable. I had
passionately, tenderly loved both father and mother. If I went into the
groves, her face seemed ever gazing at me amidst the fruit and foliage.
Her accustomed place in the terrace was filled with her presence. In
every room in the house I heard my father's voice, felt the clasp of his
hand.

"The good Abbe was my frequent companion, but the blow had told upon him
also. He had aged wonderfully. Though he tried to be cheerful for my
sake, it was clearly forced. My life grew impossible. I felt that I
must change the scene if I would recover mental tone and vigour. For a
time I must travel; see the world; wander from place to place, country
to country, until rest and calm returned to my soul. Even the Abbe,
sorry as he was to part from me, commended my resolution.

"I was my own master; wealthy; free to come and go as I would;
everything favoured the idea. At home