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was his habit to regard in somewise as a superior creature; and it had been a real delight to him to hear Mr. Saltram's warm praises of Marian.

Looking back at the past to-day from a new point of view, he wondered at his own folly. What was more natural than that John Saltram should have found his doom, as he had found it, unthought of, undreamed of, swift, and fatal? Nor was it difficult for him to believe that Marian-who had perhaps never really loved him, who had been induced to accept him by his own pertinacity and her uncle's eager desire for the match-should find a charm and a power in John Saltram that had been wanting in himself. He had seen

too many instances of his friend's influence over men and women, to doubt his ability to win this innocent inexperienced girl, had he set himself to win her. He recalled with a bitter smile how his informants had all described his rival in a disparaging tone, as unworthy of so fair a bride; and he knew that it was precisely those qualities which these common people were unable to appreciate that constituted the subtle charm by which John Saltram influenced others. The rugged power and grandeur of that dark face, which vulgar critics denounced as plain and unattractive, the rare fascination of a manner that varied from an extreme reserve to a wild reckless vivacity, the magic of the deep full voice, with its capacity for the expression of every shade of emotion-these were attributes to be passed over and ignored by the vulgar, yet to exercise a potent influence upon sensitive sympathetic natures.

6

How that poor little Anglo-Indian widow loves him, without any effort to win or hold her affection on his side!' Gilbert said to himself, as he walked back to Lidford in the darkening November afternoon, brooding always on the one subject which occupied all his thoughts; and can I doubt his power to supersede me if he cared to do so-if he really loved Marian, as he never has loved Mrs. Branston ? What shall I do? Go to him at once, and tell him my suspicion, tax him broadly with treachery, and force him to a direct confession or denial ? Shall I do this? Or shall I bide my time, wait and watch with dull dogged patience, till I can collect some evidence of his guilt? Yes, let it be so. If he has been base enough to do me this great wrong mean enough to steal my betrothed under a false name, and to keep the secret of his wrongdoing at any cost of lies and deceit-let him go on to the end, let him act out the play to the last; and when I bring his falsehood home to him, as I must surely do, sooner or later, yes, if he is capable of deceiving me, he shall continue the lie to the last, he shall endure all the infamy of his false position.'

And then, after a pause, he said to himself,

6

And at the end, if my suspicions are confirmed, I shall have lost all I have ever valued in life since my mother died-my plighted

wife, and the one chosen friend whose companionship could make existence pleasant to me. God grant that this fancy of mine is as baseless as Sir David Forster declared it to be! God grant that I may never find a secret enemy in John Saltram!'

Tossed about thus upon a sea of doubts, Mr. Fenton returned to Lidford House, where he was expected to be bright and cheerful, and entertain his host and hostess with the freshest gossip of the London world. He did make a great effort to keep up a show of cheerfulness at the dinner-table; but he felt that his sister's eyes were watching him with a pitiless scrutiny, and he knew that the attempt was an ignominious failure.

When honest Martin was snoring in his easy-chair before the drawing-room fire, with the red light shining full upon his round. healthy countenance, Mrs. Lister beckoned her brother over to her side of the hearth, where she had an embroidery-frame, whereon was stretched some grand design in Berlin wool-work, to which she devoted herself every now and then with a great show of industry. She had been absorbed in a profound calculation of the stitches upon the canvas and on the coloured pattern before her until this moment; but she laid aside her work with a solemn air when Gilbert went over to her, and he knew at once what was coming.

Sit down, Gilbert,' she said; and her brother dropped into a chair by her side with a faint sigh of resignation. I want to talk to you seriously, as a sister ought to talk to a brother, without any fear of offending. I'm very sorry to see you have not yet forgotten that wicked ungrateful girl Marian Nowell.'

'Who told you that I have not forgotten her?'

Your own face, Gilbert. It's no use for you to put on a pretence of being cheerful and light-hearted with me. I know you too well to be deceived by that kind of thing-I could see how absentminded you were all dinner-time, in spite of your talk. hoodwink an affectionate sister.'

You can't

'I don't wish to hoodwink you, my dear,' Mr. Fenton answered quietly, or to affect a happiness which I do not feel, any more than I wish to make a parade of my grief. It is natural for an Englishman to be reticent upon such matters; but I do not mind owning to you that Marian Nowell is unforgotten by me, and that the loss of her will have an enduring influence upon my life; and having said as much as that, Belle, I must request that you will not expatiate any more upon this poor girl's breach of faith. I have forgiven her long ago, and I shall always regard her as the purest and dearest of women.'

'What! you can hold her up as a paragon of perfection after she has thrown you over in the most heartless manner? Upon my word, Gilbert, I have no common patience with such folly. Your weakness in this affair from first to last has been positively deplorable.'

'I am sorry you disapprove of my conduct, Belle; but as it is not a very pleasant subject, don't you think we may as well avoid it now and henceforward?'

'O, very well, Gilbert,' the lady exclaimed, with an offended air; of course, if you choose to exclude me from your confidence, I must submit; but I do think it rather hard that your only sister should not be allowed to speak of a business that concerns you so nearly.'

'What good can arise out of any discussion of this subject, Belle ? You think me weak and foolish; granted that I am both, you cannot cure me of my weakness or my folly.'

'And am I never to hope that you will find some one else, better worthy of your regard than Marian Nowell ?'

'I fear not, Belle. For me there is no one else.'

Mrs. Lister breathed a profound sigh, and resumed the counting of her stitches. Yet perhaps, after all, it was better that her brother should cherish the memory of this unlucky attachment. It would preserve him from the hazard of any imprudent alliance in the future, and leave his fortune free, to descend by and by to the juvenile Listers. Isabella was not a particularly mercenary person, but she was a woman of the world, and had an eye to the future aggrandisement of her children.

She was very kind and considerate to Gilbert after this, carefully avoiding any farther allusions to his lost love, and taking all possible pains to make his visit pleasant to him. She was so affectionate and cordial, and seemed so really anxious for him to stay, that he could not in common decency hurry back to town quite so soon as he had intended. He prolonged his visit to the end of that week, and then to the beginning of the next; and when he did at last find himself free to return to London, the second week was nearly ended.

THRONES FOR THREE

THAT first sunny day by the sea,
Away in the Welsh little bay,
When we wander'd, the happiest three,
So careless and buoyant and gay!

Even Maud, with the seventeen years
She had managed at last to attain,
Protested she felt like a child,

Quite joyous and playful again.
And Minnie agreed, though severe,

As one who propriety' play'd—
She was older than Maud by a year,
And of course must be frigidly staid.

We waited the tide's going down,

Till the rosy wet sand it had clear'd;
Then, through the skein foam of the waves,
Three green little islands appear'd.

Then the girls, with a cry of delight,
Would each have an isle of her own-
Would be queen in her absolute right.

I might take the third isle for my throne.

What slippery kingdoms they were,

With seaweed all slimy and green!

It was pleasant enough to get there;

But to stay was too much for each queen.

To abdicate both were disposed;

But I, as the neighbouring state,

Must of course have my word about thrones,
And forced them to wait and to wait.

At last, when of fun we'd enough,

My forces I blandly withdrew;
And Maud own'd that the island for her
Must at least be an island for two.

Of that mind she has ever remain'd,
Time could not the mood overwhelm ;
For years we together have reign'd,

And Home is the name of our realm.

WILLIAM SAWYER.

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