The carriage drew up at the station.. The steps were let down; there was no time for further explanations. Mr. Edwards, the steward, took charge of the luggage; Lord Wentworth handed Florence into the ladies' carriage. The bell rang; Florence held out her hand,"Dear Lord Wentworth, good-bye. Give Cecilia and Evelyn a hundred kisses."

66

you,

Nay, then, I claim a couple for my own share,” was his lordship's laughing response. He pressed his lips to her forehead; uttered a hasty "God bless Florence!" waved his hand, and was gone. The train moved on, and Florence's tears flowed forth afresh. There were three ladies in the carriage, to whom our heroine immediately became a personage. They were returning home from a visit to L duly impressed

with the grandeur of the noble family at the castle. They were prodigal of attentions to our heroine; arranged her packages, offered to change seats with her, &c. &c. Florence was so little acquainted with the vulgar error which attaches indiscriminating prestige to rank or wealth, that she attributed these signs of the times to peculiar kindness of heart. She conquered her emotion, and readily entered into conversation with her fellow-travellers.

Mrs. Cole, the oldest of the party, asked, whether it were true that a double marriage was about to be celebrated in Lord Wentworth's family. "I hear that

Lady Elizabeth Beauclerk is to be married to my Lord Glenorme, on the wedding-day of the Marquis of Ullswater and Lady Geraldine Percival."

"Oh, dear, no!" said Miss Dudley, unable to repress a smile.

"But his lordship is engaged?"

"I believe he considers himself so."

This was the

nearest approach to equivocation of which our heroinc had ever been guilty. "Have you visited Wentworth Castle?" she enquired of the younger ladies.

"We have been over the state apartments; the private suite is not shown to visitors."

"That is unfortunate; the finest pictures are in the private apartments, but the north wing of the castle is the most interesting in a historical point of view." "It is a pity the old rooms are not refurnished." "La, mamma! You have no soul!"

Florence smiled maliciously. Mrs. Cole looked discomfited. She threw an indignant glance at her daughter and resumed her queries,-" Pray, ma'am, is it true that the Countess has made a vow that none of the young ladies shall marry a commoner, unless he be as rich as Crœsus ?"

• Florence smiled wickedly. She found infinite amusement in mystifying the good lady.

"You see, my dear madam, it is necessary to rise in the social scale. An earl's daughter is married to a marquis; a marquis's daughter is married to a duke

"And a duke's daughter ?" suggested Miss Cole. "Marries as she pleases-a foreign prince or a private gentleman."

"Really now!"

"I do not see the inference !" said Miss Cole, pertly. Florence looked out of the window to conceal her merriment; she was sorry when her amusing companions left the carriage. They were succeeded by two ladies, who, unconscious of the halo which rested upon our heroine, thanks to her recent contact with aristocracy, honoured her with a very small share of notice. At four o'clock in the afternoon Florence alighted at the station, where, nine years before, she had taken the train with her father under such trying circumstances. She was greatly agitated; she could not restrain her tears as she drove through the village and passed the lodge at the Wilderness. Mr. Edwards, Lord Wentworth's steward, saw and respected her emotion; he discreetly turned his head another way. They reached. the Rectory; the door flew open at the boisterous summons of the driver. Dr. Leicester was in the act of crossing the hall; he stopped in silent bewilderment.

Florence ran up to him. receive an unbidden guest?"

"Dear Doctor, will you

The Doctor folded her in his arms. "Welcome to your old friend's roof-tree!" he cried, emphatically. Florence smiled through her tears, and followed him to the library, where she was cordially welcomed by Mrs. Ward.

DR. LEICESTER'S surprise at the unexpected advent of Miss Dudley was not diminished by the contents of Lord Wentworth's letter. His lordship stated that imperative reasons hastened Miss Dudley's departure, but that he trusted at no very distant date to welcome her at the castle, as a member of his family. There was a tone of chivalrous feeling, better far, of paternal kindness, in the expressions, which, brief as they were, showed the high estimation in which Miss Dudley was held by the writer. Dr. Leicester had his own conjectures upon the mystery. His curiosity was piqued; but he was too thoroughly the gentleman to seek to gratify it by look, word, or deed.

Mrs. Ward was not equally discreet. Unfortunately, the ladies had a prolonged tête-à-tête in the drawingroom after dinner. Dr. Leicester was detained in his study by important parish business. Mrs. Ward crossquestioned her companion, with considerable skill, upon the sayings and doings of the noble family at Wentworth Castle. Florence chatted about the great people she had met, the gaieties in which she had participated, and the splendour of the establishment. She mentioned Lord Wentworth and Cecilia in enthusiastic terms of love and gratitude, nor was the gentle Evelyn forgotten. Of Lady Wentworth and Geraldine she said not one

word. This omission was not disregarded by Mrs. Ward; by degrees that lady trenched upon dangerous ground.

"I have been informed that Lady Geraldine Percival is the most beautiful girl in the kingdom," she said, fixing an enquiring glance upon our heroine's animated countenance. "Wherever she appears, whether at court, Almack's, in town or country, she is the belle, par excellence."

"The fair Geraldine is peerless," cried Florence, warmly. "Her face and figure are the perfection of beauty."

"Is it not remarkable that such a lovely creature should be sacrificed to a man old enough to be her father, even if he be a marquis and the happy possessor of £100,000 a year?"

"I believe such alliances are not uncommon among the great," was Miss Dudley's prudent reply.

"Hem! we are cautious. There was a whisper that the young lady's heart would not accompany her hand, but you are right not to let out the secrets of the prisonhouse."

Florence was silent; she played with a screen she held in her hand.

"How do you like Lady Wentworth?" said Mrs. Ward, abruptly, bending an inquisitive look upon Florence as she spoke.

"Her ladyship is beautiful, fascinating, accomplished, but too much the fine lady to suit my taste," said Florence, in a constrained voice.

Mrs. Ward smiled; she had found the clue to the mystery; she proceeded, with admirable patience, to unravel the tangled skein.

"You have not mentioned Lord Glenorme."

Florence coloured; she could not help it. She remembered having heard Lady Wentworth reprimand Cecilia upon her foolish habit of blushing. She had thought her ladyship unreasonable in her strictures; now she fully appreciated the value of the advice. She