Nelly's tongue as she ought to do; and Nelly, with her Irish vehemence, doesn't stop to think of the mischief she may do; but she certainly has, to various people, thrown out very unpleasant insinuations about poor Sir John's death."

"You don't mean to say that she accuses Mr. Rivers of shooting him?" said Miss Dalton. "Not far from it, I believe," replied Mrs. Grenville.

"Poor

"Ha! ha!" laughed Miss Dalton. aunt Grieves! What a fine story for her, to be sure! I don't suppose she ever had such a godsend before."

"It's very absurd," said Lady Lorton; "but at the same time it's extremely improper that such a calumny should be allowed to circulate."

"It's infamous!" said Lord Lorton. "It must not be permitted."

"Oh, by the bye," said Lionel, "I forgot to mention it; but I heard just now that the man's taken!"

"What man?"

"The deserter. He was found concealed somewhere in London, and was traced by means of a letter that was addressed to him."

"That will spoil Aunty's story," said Miss Dalton.

"I am extremely glad the man's found," said Sir James; "for, to say the truth, I had heard of this piece of malice of Lady Eastlake's, and was debating whether Rivers ought not to be informed of it before it spread further."

"But you don't mean to say Lady Eastlake would countenance such a calumny, do you?" said Lady Lorton.

"I'm afraid she can't be altogether exone"I've reason to

rated," replied Sir James. believe that she made some attempt, in the first instance, to direct suspicion to that quarter; but the magistrates, of course, wouldn't hear of it."

"That old woman's tongue ought to be stopped," said Lord Lorton; "I mean the nurse.'

"If you can find any recipe for stopping an old woman's tongue," said Mr. Grenville, "you'll deserve well of your country, Lorton."

"If Lionel's news is correct," said Lady Lorton, "the scandal will die away of itself."

"Yes, if this man proves to be the real murderer," said Lady Dalton.

"He must be," said her daughter.

"There

doesn't appear the slightest grounds for suspecting anybody else, since young Graham was acquitted."

"Oh, no; he's the man, beyond all doubt,” said Sir James. "I'm very glad they've got him."

VOL. II.

CHAPTER XXXV.

"Die Zeit bringt Rosen."

"Sweet country life, to such unknown,
Whose lives are others', not their own!
But serving courts and cities, be

Less happy, less enjoying thee."

HERRICK.

WHEN Elias Longfellow awoke one morning, and found himself a visitor at Eastlake Castle, he felt like some peasant swain, who, in the days of good fairyhood, suddenly saw himself translated into a prince; and when sweet Mary Rivers smiled upon him and encouraged him, the hand of the beneficent fairy seemed still more visible, and the delusion more perfect; for that such a change of scene and circumstances should have been brought about by any natural concatenation of events, seemed to

him impossible. He, the neglected, the despised, the poverty-stricken, the ungainly, the shame-faced that he should find himself the guest, and the cherished guest, of the affluent, the elegant, the beautiful, the refined, seemed too much to believe. Instead of his low-roofed garret and his truckle bed, he was surrounded by all the splendours and luxuries that wealth and art can furnish, and instead of the dingy atmosphere and noisome street, which were wont to meet his eyes, he looked out on velvet lawns and beds of sun-lit flowers! And here he dwelt in this paradise, from day to day, and from month to month! He was engaged to take an interminable series of views.

At first, he was very awkward, very shy, and very uneasy; but his improvement in these particulars, was much more rapid than could have been anticipated. His awkwardness and his shyness had been the result of an over-sensitive nature, feeling itself misplaced and undervalued. As we observed on his first introduction, he had been always conscious that there was something in him which was stifled and depressed by ill-fortune, but which a more genial atmosphere might have brought out; and accordingly, he was no sooner re