mingled pity and contempt; "otherwise it might have been my painful duty to refresh your memory." "What do you mean, sir?" Mr. Vernon forced himself to ask, though the sudden leaden hue which his face assumed, and the fearful, guilty look he cast on his antagonist showed that he was by no means so ignorant as he wished to appear. "Ask your conscience, sir! Unless quite callous, it will enlighten you," sternly responded the Major; and, to Mr. Vernon's infinite relief, he recommenced a conversation with the gentleman beside whom he sat. CHAPTER LII. AN EXPOSE. "Still to guilt occasion sends BYRON. Slaves, tools, accomplices-no friends." SHAKESPEARE. As soon as Major Ramsay's eye was off him, Mr. Vernon rallied from his discomfort, and made an effort to recover his wonted vivacity, though, previous to uttering any equivocal sentiment, or indulging in any of his offensive jokes, he involuntarily directed an exploratory glance at his formidable opponent, lest he should again incur his displeasure. To all appearance, however, the Major had forgotten his presence; for he continued quietly to converse with first one and then another of the party, without troubling himself to observe the movements of his despised vis-a-vis. But at length, emboldened by his silence and seeming forgetfulness, Reginald and his friend were encouraged to become more and more boisterous in their mirth and personal in their remarks. "I say, Herbert," exclaimed the former, taking advantage of a general pause in the conversation, "Vernon and I are finding fault with you for spoiling our sport." "Indeed," replied Herbert, very composedly; "I am not conscious of having done anything to merit your reproof." "As I led you to suppose this morning that I should come here alone, we naturally reckoned on finding you unprepared for other visitors; and it would have been fine fun to witness “Fun!” repeated Sir Edward, gravely; “I can hardly conceive of a more disagreeable position than that of going where we are uncertain as to the kind of reception we shall meet with." "Oh, we had no fear on that score," laughed Reginald; "it was the entertainment, not the reception, of which we stood in doubt!" A lightning glance shot from the Major's eye at the unpardonable rudeness of this remark; but it was unnoticed by Reginald, who continued, in a tone of mock seriousness,— "Tell us how you managed, my good fellow." "Really, your language is none of the clearest this evening," answered Herbert, trying to suppress an exclamation of impatience. “Did your tutelary deity apprise you of our plan, and initiate you into" "Well, as you appear so interested in the matter," said Herbert, a peculiar smile skirting his lips, "I may mention that (incredible as it will probably seem to you), so far from seeking to be made acquainted with your designs, I actually forgot your promise to dine with me until I came home, precisely half an hour before your arrival. If, therefore, you require any further information, I must refer you to some more competent authority." This ought to have satisfied Reginald Grafton as to the propriety of abandoning the subject; but he was not easily silenced, and from one impertinent query he went on to another, until Sir Edward, who warmly resented the indignity offered to his friend, deliberately interrupted him in the middle of a sentence, by saying, pointedly," It ill becomes you, Mr. Grafton, to pursue this question further." 66 'Why so?" bluntly returned the young man. "Surely you cannot be utterly insensible to the excessive kindness --and, I may be pardoned for adding, totally undeserved forbearance -you have received from your cousin, since entering his house; though it would appear, by your conduct, that you no longer remember the immense debt of loving gratitude you owe him for the inestimable service which he rendered you, as well as myself, some years ago." The intense gravity and firm decision with which these words were uttered overawed Reginald for the moment, and a look of shame and humiliation overspread his face, as Cleveland, touching him on the arm, asked in unfeigned amazement,— "To what does he refer, Grafton? "Did you never hear that Mr. Grafton and I both owe our lives to his"-pointing to Herbert-" bravery?" 66 No," said Mr. Cleveland, emphatically, and, almost without knowing what he did, he edged his chair a little way from Reginald. Mean ungrateful," he murmured, half aloud; "I could not have believed that of him!" 66 66 My dear Edward," said Herbert, smiling at the young baronet, who sat at the bottom of the table, "you have not yet told me whether your visit to M proved a satisfactory one. Did you find the gentleman you were in search of?" "Oh, yes; and more than that, I got him to accede to our wishes respecting the readmission of Craig into his office." "I am glad, indeed, to hear you say so," replied Herbert, his eyes dilating with pleasure; "how delighted the poor man will be when you tell him the good news!" 66 I shall leave that office to you, as it was entirely your own idea that I should apply to his old master." 66 No, no," said Herbert, hastily, “I "It is fortunate that I chose to-day instead of to-morrow for my journey," pursued Sir Edward, with an arch glance at the Major; "otherwise I should have missed seeing my friend Ramsay: for I am ashamed to say he had no intention of coming to Lanchester, and it was with difficulty I could persuade him to accompany me home." "Ah!" exclaimed the Major, in a tone that made Mr. Vernon start; "when I inform Mr. Seymour of the painful circumstance which obliged me to spend a few days in M- he will scarcely wonder at my wishing to leave the neighbourhood as quickly as possible, after accomplishing what I had in view." Sir Edward regarded him in evident astonishment. "I was not aware- " he said. "Of my object in visiting M"No, I dare say not. quickly interposed the Major. But the fact is, I had been earnestly requested by an old friend of ours, a widow lady, to take upon myself the melancholy office of getting her son placed in the asylum for lunatics -her only son," he added, looking around him, and speaking amid breathless silence; a young man of good family, high character, and intellectual attainments; gentle and amiable; harmless, guileless, and unsuspecting, even to a fault. "Poor fellow!" said Sir Edward, as he paused. "Well you may pity him, Edward,” continued Major Ramsay, in a deep, solemn voice. "He deserves the pity of every true-hearted man. There was no hereditary taint of insanity in his blood, no previous signs of weakness or excitability, to make the fearful catastrophe less overwhelming; and, for this reason, his mother, whose pride and idol he was, is at present suffering the most poignant anguish which it is perhaps possible for a human being to experience on this side the grave! 'How, then, did it happen?" softly inquired Sir Edward. "I will tell you," said the Major, in a voice of concentrated severity; "he was the dupe of two young men, somewhat older than himself, but about the same standing in society. "These two had been for several years leading a wild and dissipated life, and, as a natural consequence, were greatly involved. Rather than suffer any personal inconvenience by way of liquidating their debts, they resolved on resorting to a base and dishonourable method of extricating themselves from their difficulties. Gradually they prevailed upon my ill-fated young friend to join them at the gaming-table, and, by permitting him, for a time, invariably to come off the winner, they persuaded him that of the three he was the best player, till- but I dare not trust myself to repeat all their infamous designs," he exclaimed, passionately plucking at his moustache. "One evening they invited him to dine with them; and after inducing him to partake freely of wine; which had been previously drugged, they adjourned with him to a well-known gambling house, where, in the course of a few hours, the unfortunate young man lost the whole of his fortune. "Meanwhile, his widowed mother, having received an anonymous communication, which troubled her exceedingly, and, not knowing what else to do, despatched a messenger to my quarters, explaining the nature of her fears, and also the name of the place where she imagined her son might be found. "Without the loss of a moment, I started off in quest of him; but, when I discovered him, the foul deed had already been perpetrated, and the poor victim, overcome by grief, remorse, and despair, was making a violent effort to commit suicide. With great difficulty I succeeded in wresting the knife from his hand, and forced him, after the first appalling fit of frenzy had in some measure subsided, to accompany me home. "A brain fever, of the most dangerous kind followed, and when at length his bodily health was re-established, it became painfully evident that the light of reason would never again illumine his mind." Here he was interrupted by a low murmuring sound, expressive of sympathy and indignation; and as he glanced swiftly around the table, he observed more than one brow expanded in wondering horror. "Since then," resumed the Major, endeavouring to speak calmly, "he has been subject to such terrible paroxysms of fury, that it is now found necessary to confine him, it being positively unsafe for any of his friends to remain in the same house with him. During these seasons of violence, he is, of course unable to discriminate between his friends and foes, and always fancies that he is struggling with the two young men to whom I have alluded (one of them a relation of his own), and obliging them to restore the property of which they so ruthlessly deprived him." "And they?" asked Mr. Cleveland, his lip curling haughtily; were no steps taken towards obliging them to relinquish their unlawful gains?" "None," said the Major, gloomily; "no object could have been gained by publishing the matter, and therefore we preferred-"But surely they did not deserve to escape?" ་་ They did not altogether escape," returned Major Ramsay, energetically; "by some means or other the affair got whispered about, and on its reaching the ears of the gentlemen belonging to the same club of which themselves were members, they instantly testified their abhorrence of the transaction by informing them that if they wished to avoid being publicly disgraced they had better, of their own accord, withdraw from the club. This advice they were wise enough to follow and as they both left London immediately afterwards, the affair was less talked of than it might otherwise have been." "Were you personally acquainted with these gentlemen ?" inquired Mr. Cleveland. "I was," replied the Major, pressing his lips together. "And-but I suppose I scarcely ought to ask the question do you know what became of them?" "I do!" was the deep-toned response. An ejaculatory sound of grief and rage drew every eye towards Mr. Vernon, whose wild, unsettled look, and pale, ghastly countenance, as he leaned helplessly back in his chair, could not fail to create considerable alarm. "What is the matter?" inquired Herbert, rising from his seat, and pouring some water into a tumbler. "Here, Reginald" -putting it into his hand-" will you offer him this?" But Reginald also appeared strangely excited. His hand trembled visibly, and instead of raising the water to his friend's lips, he divided it between himself and the table-cloth, and ended by allowing the glass to slip from him, and roll upon the floor. With a miserable attempt at a smile he stooped and picked it up, and then, glancing darkly at the Major, who seemed to view his agitation with stolid indifference, muttered something about the heat of the room. At that moment the painful truth flashed simultaneously through the minds of Herbert and Sir Edward, and they exchanged a look of thrilling import. Mr. Cleveland also had his suspicions aroused; though he essayed to assure himself that it would be doing his friends gross injustice to believe them guilty of conduct which he, with his fine sense of honour, could only regard as contemptible and ungentlemanlike in the extreme. "How do you feel now, old fellow?" asked one of the young |