ir Philip Derval to the morning on which I had quitted the house of
his heir; whether realities or hallucinations, no guess of mine could
unravel such marvels, and no prudence of mine guard me against their
repetition. But I had no fear that they would be repeated, any more than
the man who had gone through shipwreck, or the hairbreadth escape from
a fall down a glacier, fears again to be found in a similar peril.
Margrave had departed, whither I knew not, and, with his departure,
ceased all sense of his influence. A certain calm within me, a
tranquillizing feeling of relief, seemed to me like a pledge of
permanent delivery.

But that which did accompany and haunt me, through all my occupations
and pursuits, was the melancholy remembrance of the love I had lost in
Lilian. I heard from Mrs. Ashleigh, who still frequently visited
me, that her daughter seemed much in the same quiet state of
mind,--perfectly reconciled to our separation, seldom mentioning my
name, if mentioning it, with indifference; the only thing remarkable in
her state was her aversion to all society, and a kind of lethargy that
would come over her, often in the daytime. She would suddenly fall into
sleep and so remain for hours, but a sleep that seemed very serene and
tranquil, and from which she woke of herself. She kept much within her
own room, and always retired to it when visitors were announced.

Mrs. Ashleigh began reluctantly to relinquish the persuasion she had so
long and so obstinately maintained, that this state of feeling towards
myself--and, indeed, this general change in Lilian--was but temporary
and abnormal; she began to allow that it was best to drop all thoughts
ofa renewed engagement,--a future union. I proposed to see Lilian in her
presence and in my professional capacity; perhaps some physical cause,
especially for this lethargy, might be detected and removed. Mrs.
Ashleigh owned to me that the idea had occurred to herself: she had
sounded Lilian upon it: but her daughter had so resolutely opposed
it,--had said with so quiet a firmness "that all being over between us,
a visit from me would be unwelcome and painful,"--that Mrs. Ashleigh
felt that an interview thus deprecated would only confirm estrangement.
One day, in calling, she asked my advice whether it would not be better
to try the effect of change of air and scene, and, in some other place,
some other medical opinion might be taken? I approved of this suggestion
with unspea