advantages and amusements which were denied her in her own home; but she was too proud to visit those whom she had been wont to meet under such widely different circumstances, and her independent spirit rendered her also averse to receiving hospitality which she had no means of returning; and the pitying looks, and kindlyintentioned, though sometimes injudiciously uttered, expressions of sympathy and commiseration which were bestowed on her by the few friends whom she did occasionally meet were so very painful to her feelings, that rather than endure their compassion, she preferred submitting to the dull monotony of her solitary life at Faversham.

She was for a considerable time at a loss to understand why her father, who had formerly shown her nothing but kindness and affection, should now regard her with such evident coldness and mistrust. "Could it be," she asked herself, "that he had really ceased to take any interest in her? or was his strange behaviour merely the result of some mental aberration, which led him to

upon

lose sight of the claims she undoubtedly had his fatherly care and protection ?" Slowly but surely the truth dawned upon her. She could not help noticing that the very sight of her often brought a deeper shadow upon his careworn brow; and a few stray words which one day fell from his lips served to explain the cause.

"Why was she spared," she heard him mutter to himself, while his face wore a look of concentrated sternness, "when others whose lives were of so much more value were taken? Why was she spared," he repeated, pressing his thin lips closer together, "to add to my misery by reminding me of them? She cannot inherit my estates, or perpetuate my name, and yet she is here full of health and vigour; while he, my darling boy-my heir, my pride-is gone. Oh, it is too cruel-too cruel!"

And the poor, misguided man covered his face and groaned aloud, in the bitterness of his spirit; while his unfortunate daughter, of whose presence he was not even conscious, embraced the opportunity of escaping to her own apartment, to muse

over the difficulties of her position, and try, as she had often done before, to devise some means of softening Mr. Faversham's prejudices, and leading him to take a more patient and resigned view of all that had befallen him.

No earthly

Alas! it was of no avail. power could melt that stubborn, rebellious spirit; and after many months of ceaseless anxiety on the part of Ellen Faversham, she was suddenly prostrated by sickness. The strain upon her nervous system had been too much for her, and she was reluctantly compelled to abandon all further exertion, and remain a passive sufferer-the victim of circumstances over which she had no control.

It has been truly said that None are all evil; and Crossley-Mr. Faversham's unprepossessing housekeeper-was no exception to the rule.

Strangely enough she conceived the most extraordinary liking for her young mistress the very first day she saw her; and although she knew that her sentiments were not in the slightest degree reciprocated by the

lady, who would in fact have been delighted could she have succeeded in dispensing with her services, yet this had no effect in lessening her own attachment; and the curious way she sometimes had of testifying her respect and affection for one so much above her in the social scale, reminded Ellen of an ill-natured mastiff, who, while presenting himself in his most savage aspect to every one else, turns with a look of protective fondness to greet his recognised owner.

But for her kind offices, during this season of weakness, poor Ellen would have been sadly neglected; for, after the first careless inquiry as to the cause of her non-appearance, Mr. Faversham relapsed into his usual state of apathetic indifference, and manifested little concern regarding the issue of her sickness.

On Crossley, therefore, devolved everything. She it was who sent off in haste for the village doctor, and devoted herself to the task of carrying out his orders when he arrived. She it was who sat up with the unconscious girl night after night, during the severe attack of brain fever which

followed the first unfavourable symptoms, and it was probably to her unwearied watchfulness and attention, under Providence, that Ellen Faversham owed her life.

Dr. Wilford, too, her medical attendant, was both skilful and intelligent, and, having daughters of his own, could feel for the fair young creature, who had been so early deprived of all that makes life pleasant and desirable, and yet had bravely striven to bear her appointed burden alone, without asking or expecting either help or sympathy from any one.

He plainly saw that there was no prospect of her being perfectly restored to health, so long as she remained within the gloomy precincts of her present residence, and he only waited until she should recover from the more dangerous part of her illness, and be able to travel without risk, before ordering her immediate change of air.

Mr. Faversham strongly objected to this proposal in the first instance, but Dr. Wilford succeeded at length in persuading him into yielding an ungracious assent; and it was finally arranged that Ellen should