True, he was a successful man, was in the road to preferment, had made himself many and good friends, but he was very dull, very lowspirited. He had been grievously disappointed, nay, worse than disappointed; for had he found an opportunity to speak or even look a thought of love to Clara, and had it been met by the coldness of distaste, he would have had then only to divert his thoughts, and to fill his mind with other subjects. He then would have known what it was that he had to trust to. But now, poor man, all was uncertainty, perplexity, and suspense. He knew not whether Clara was totally indifferent or not, and he had no means left to ascertain the fact. It was clearly his own fault that he had not sooner made up his own mind, and ascertained his own feelings; for that he reproached himself, but his reproaches availed nothing.

Still farther meditating on the perplexing affair, he came to the unpleasant conclusion, that, if there had been on the part of Clara any feeling of regard and attachment towards him, she must now necessarily conclude that he had

no especial regard for her, or he would not have left England without declaring himself, or at least without giving some intimation of the state of his mind. But no sooner had he arrived at this conclusion, which ought at once to have put him out of suspense, than he flew back from it again; and instead of sorrowing only for himself, he began to feel great compassion for Clara, on the gratuitous supposition that her heart was partly if not entirely lost to him, and lost in vain; and, thereupon, he reproached himself for having behaved unkindly towards

her.

Thus ingeniously did the young gentleman torment himself till past midnight, till his fire was extinct for want of stirring, and his candles were like torches for want of snuffing. Cold and cheerless he retired to rest, and there remains on record no memorial of his dreams.

CHAPTER XIX.

"And if thou ever happen that same way
To traveill, go to see that dreadful place."
SPENSER.

THE following day dawned brighter. Though it was November, the sun had strength to struggle through the clouds; and much of the heavy weight that lay on Markham's mind the preceding day was alleviated by brighter hopes and better thoughts. There was a pleasant re-action in his spirits, and he wondered how it was that he had been so depressed on the

previous evening. He was cheerful and lighthearted in giving his orders concerning the removal of his luggage, and when he went aboard the vessel which was destined to convey him from England, he met with so flattering and complimentary a reception from the captain, that all the world seemed bright about him, and he trusted that he should not lack friends in a distant land. His thoughts rushed impetuously forward to the new scene which was about to open upon him, and he was pleased to think how many valuable introductory letters he possessed, and he hoped that acquaintances would, many of them, become valuable friends and agreeable companions. But we have no intention of accompanying our young friend on his voyage. Suffice it to say, that he sailed in good spirits, that the wind blew variously as it often does on a long voyage, and that he reached his port in safety.

We must return now to old Mr. Martindale and his family. His attachment to his family was continually increasing. He was more than pleased with his daughter, he was absolutely

proud of her. He always spoke of her emphatically as my daughter. He consulted her wishes in every thing, and was always guided by her opinion, the least intimation of which was law to him. With all his oddities, and he had not a few, he had discernment enough to see that Signora Rivolta was really a person of solid understanding and of clear judgment. He only wondered how it was that a woman of such good sense should adopt the Roman Catholic religion; but on this subject he seldom touched, for he found that he could make no impression. With the Colonel, however, he would occasionally enter into an argument, and not unfrequently did he fancy that in these discussions he had the advantage. Colonel Rivolta was not a very zealous believer in the infallibility of His Holiness. He had never paid much attention to theology as a matter of argument or reflection; he did not know enough of his native religion to be converted to any other, though the side which he had taken in politics rendered him not very bigoted to the religion established in Italy, In religion be