"that it would not occasion me the slightest surprise if Mr. Herbert were to postpone his return for at least a few months."

"I believe you will be mistaken," responded Mrs. Seymour, unbelievingly shaking her head.

"Well, I hope so, for your sake," replied the doctor, with unfeigned sincerity; "but I know how difficult it is for a party of gentlemen travelling together to abide by any fixed rule; they like to move just where and when the whim takes them, and

"True, they might wish to extend their tour," mused the lady; "I never thought of that. But at all events," she continued more briskly, "he would be sure to inform us, if they made any alterations in their plans."

"Yes; provided he had sufficient time," was the vague and somewhat unsatisfactory rejoinder.

The lady remained for a few minutes quite silent, apparently ruminating upon what she had heard; and, at a sign from Mr. Seymour, Willson, taking advantage of her abstraction, quietly replaced the letters in the desk, and carried it off to its old place in her mistress's dressing-room.

CHAPTER LXXIII.

VISIONS OF THE PAST.

"How some they have died, and some they have left me,
And some are taken from me; all are departed.
All, all are gone, the old familiar faces."

CHARLES LAMB..

At times, impetuous with emotion,

And anguish long-suppressed,

The swelling heart heaves, moaning like the ocean
That cannot be at rest."

LONGFELLOW.

"I SHALL not be able to stand this much longer, Leslie; these incessant allusions to the same painful subject are almost more than I can endure."

"I am sure it must be very distressing, sir."

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Distressing? why it is killing me by inches."

And Mr. Seymour's pale, haggard countenance and grief-laden eyes bore testimony to the truth of his assertion.

They were sitting alone together, he and the doctor, whom he had of late (in consideration of the zealous interest and continuous and unwearied assiduity he had displayed during his long attendance on his afflicted wife) admitted into his full confidence.

"It is bad enough for me to be obliged to keep such a constant watch over myself," continued Mr. Seymour, rising suddenly from his seat, and beginning to pace up and down the room. "No one

knows what it costs me to force back my own feelings, and maintain a calm and indifferent manner when answering her reiterated questions regarding my poor son. But this I would willingly endure, were it not for the state of perpetual uncertainty and apprehensive perplexity in which I am kept, never knowing what the next moment may bring forth; always dreading and expecting to hear that she has been in some way or other made acquainted with the truth. I scarcely dare to leave her side for an instant, lest any ill-judging friend should gain access to her, and unwittingly divulge all that we are so anxious to conceal from her knowledge."

"You are, indeed, placed in an exceedingly difficult and trying position," returned Dr. Leslie, with a sympathetic shake of the head, "I can hardly tell how to advise

"Unfortunately also," pursued Mr. Seymour, "she has been expressing a wish to see the friends who have been in the habit of visiting her."

"Ah! that must be avoided," said the doctor, quickly, and with emphasis.

"But how can I prevent it, Leslie ? She has never been accustomed to pass her time alone, and occasionally feels dull and listless." Something must be done," said the doctor, in a half-musing tone, as he fixed his eyes upon the ground with a rather puzzled expression.

"You are right there," gloomily answered his companion. "It is utterly impossible for things to remain as they are."

"Perhaps change of scene might serve to divert her," suggested Dr. Leslie, after a little reflection.

"Do you consider her strong enough to travel?" asked Mr. Seymour, in a less despondent tone. "When I proposed it last week, I thought you seemed doubtful."

"You were then speaking of the German spas. But why should you not first try a fashionable English watering-place? Supposing, for instance, you were to take her to Brighton for a few months?" "She would meet two many of her old acquaintances there," objected Mr. Seymour.

"The Isle of Wight, then?"

Mr. Seymour still looked doubtful.

"Clifton-Cheltenham-Leamington?"

"Yes, that may do, said Mr. Seymour, stopping him at the lastmentioned place. "She has often spoken of spending a season at Leamington, so that there will, I trust, be no difficulty in persuading her to undertake the journey."

"The first move will, of course, be an experiment; but I have no doubt that if her health admits of it, she will greatly enjoy the variety of travelling. Perhaps by the time the winter is over, she may be able to accompany you to the Continent."

"When do you think we should set out for Leamington?"

"The sooner the better," was Dr. Leslie's concise rejoinder.

Very good," said Mr. Seymour, in evident relief; "I will lose no time in writing to secure a suitable house. In the meantime, Leslie, if you are going upstairs -the doctor had risen to leave the room "I should be glad if you would kindly broach the subject with Mrs. Seymour, and let me know what she says."

"I shall have much pleasure in doing so," replied the gratified practitioner, respectfully bowing himself out of the apartment.

Mrs. Seymour received him with a pleased smile. Even his visits were a change to her, and served to break the monotony of which she was beginning to complain.

"Well, doctor," she said, accosting him in rather a doleful voice, as he came up to her, and inquired about her health, "I am sorry to say your prophecy seems likely to be fulfilled; the fifteenth is past, and still Herbert has not arrived."

"I regret it on your account, my dear madam," he replied cheerfully; "but I think you can scarcely find it in your heart to blame him this lovely weather is very enticing to travellers."

"Yes," spoken somewhat hesitatingly; "only I wish I could understand it."

Dr. Leslie regarded her for a few seconds with latent uneasiness. "I hope you are not permitting your mind to be agitated by any nervous fears?" he said gravely.

Oh, no; but, doctor," lowering her voice to a mysterious whisper, and casting a rapid glance around her, to make sure that only himself and her constant attendant Willson were there, "such a strange fancy keeps flitting across my brain."

Indeed," returned the gentleman, in a tone of well-assumed composure. "I am by no means surprised to hear it, my dear madam; it is, I assure you, quite a common symptom in cases like yours."

"Is it?" inquired Mrs. Seymour, eagerly fixing her eyes, which wore an unquiet and troubled look, upon his expressionless face.

"You would deem me an unparalleled amplifier were I to attempt to describe some of the fanciful ideas which have at various times visited the minds of many of my patients."

"To what do you ascribe it?"

"Weakness—nothing else; though it is often accompanied by a slight derangement of the nervous system, which will subside as your general health improves. What you at present require is change of air and scene, and a little, very little, pleasurable excitement."

"Then I may receive my friends when they call?" said the lady, with rather more animation; "hitherto Mr. Seymour has objected to my doing so."

"He is quite right," returned Dr. Leslie, firmly; "the novelty and harmless gossip of a watering-place cannot affect you; but there would be no inconsiderable exertion and hurtful excitation in meeting and conversing with friends whom you have known for years, and in whose affairs you naturally take a warm interest."

"Perhaps a few?" suggested Mrs. Seymour, "just a few of my particular friends."

"You would scarcely know where to draw the line," said the doctor, laughing; "so many would come and claim admittance under that plea, if once your doors were thrown open."

"But I need not see them all," replied Mrs. Seymour, a smile of amusement breaking out on her face.

"You need not certainly," he answered, shaking his head incredulously, "though I greatly fear you would, sooner than disappoint them. Now, if you will do as I advise"-this was added more seriouslyyou may in a very short time be able to set my authority at defiance." Well, you must tell me what you would have me do, doctor," responded his patient, languidly leaning back in her chair.

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"I have been recommending Mr. Seymour to take you at once to Leamington."

"To Leamington!" echoed Mr. Seymour, in astonishment.

"Is there any other place you would prefer?" asked the doctor, fearing from her manner that she was about to raise objections to the plan; at present it would scarcely be prudent for you to perform a longer journey."

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"But you are altogether forgetting Herbert," exclaimed the lady. "I don't like the idea of leaving home until he arrives."

"In the event of his returning while you are staying at Leamington, he could join you there as easily as here," said the doctor, evasively.

"True; I was losing sight of that," soliloquised Mrs. Seymour. "Then we may consider the matter settled," rejoined her companion, in a tone of decision; "and I hope before a week is gone to hear that you are ready to start

"A week! that is very soon," remonstrated Mrs. Seymour, beginning to waver.

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"I am sure you will be delighted with the change," said the artful little man, skilfully driving her into a corner; even now, I can plainly see that you are suffering from ennui."

"Perhaps I may be," she replied, smiling in spite of herself at his plain speaking.

"And what, let me ask you, would be your condition if you were to remain here through the winter?"

"I have no intention of doing that, doctor-you know we always spend the winter months in London."

"The gaieties of the metropolis would exercise a most pernicious effect upon you in your present state," was the emphatic answer. "I could not, therefore, on any consideration sanction your visiting it during the coming season."

"You are growing more and more arbitrary," returned Mrs. Seymour, half diverted, half annoyed; "but I suppose I must submit." "I thought you would end by acknowledging the wisdom of my suggestions."

"Not their wisdom," disclaimed Mrs. Seymour, "only the expediency of acting upon them."

"Which is quite the same thing," quickly interposed the doctor, with his mildest professional smile.

His patient shook her head, and relapsed into silence.

Until she spoke again, Dr. Leslie continued to gaze at her from under his projecting brows. It was his daily custom thus stealthily to scan her countenance, and he often gathered more from this inferential, albeit conclusive, mode of judging of her mental and bodily soundness, than in any other way. Not a single change of expression escaped his practised eye. He noted every curve of her small mouth, every shadow that left its trace upon her snowy forehead, every restless, inquiring look she threw around her; and drew therefrom his own conclusions as to her chances of amendment.

He plainly saw that some harassing thought was just then disturbing the serenity of her mind, but he would not for the world lead her to suppose that he observed it; neither would he appear to attach the least importance to the hint she had previously given him regarding herself, although he really felt exceedingly anxious to discover what it was which had thus agitated her.

"Then you positively wish me to go to Leamington, doctor?" she remarked at length, as if in continuation of some train of thought. Decidedly," he answered, instantly withdrawing his spectacled orbs from her face.

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"And so soon?" she asked again.

"If you propose setting out to-morrow, I should offer no objections." "But I cannot go anywhere without Willson," cried Mrs. Seymour, glancing affectionately at her aged attendant.

"There is no reason why you should," quietly rejoined Dr. Leslie. "But she has a great dislike to travelling, and

"Don't trouble about that, ma'am," said Willson, coming hastily forward; "I will gladly accompany you."

"I fear it might be a risk."

"Nothing of the kind," returned Dr. Leslie, earnestly; "the change will be almost as good for her as yourself."

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"Ah! if I could believe that," said the lady. Certainly," she went on, ponderingly, "the poor creature has been much better of late. The last tonic you gave her seems to have wonderfully revived her."

"Seeing you restored to perfect health will do more towards strengthening her than all my medicine," feelingly observed the doctor.