welfare; and if ever her heart was surprised into a momentary feeling of tenderness, it was when listening to the anxious inquiries of Emily for her husband;-when listening to those aspirations for his safety and happiness which, when mingled with every subject in conversation, tell more plainly than even a rising prayer, the fervor of the heart's sincerity; it was when she watched in Emily the flow of those fresh and pure affections which, break forth from every deep vein of feeling in the bosom, and imbue all things with their color.

Adrian had been frequently absent; and whenever he returned, he brought with him an accession of dislike to the partner of his home. They had met in silence and coldness; but now he seldom came into her presence without sarcastic reflections on her faith. If he was abroad, she lived deserted by peasant and menial. If he visited Barguy for a few hours, she heard only words of bitter contumely. But she had learned to possess her soul in patience-she had a grace beyond the reach of poetry. never told her truth: she could have refuted every error, and triumphed over every accusation; and shewed, with that simplicity which is

She

the attribute of a religious mind, that her faith was without spot or blemish, or any such thing; but she would not expose her secret and solemn worship to the judgment of scorn,-she would not display the empearled doctrines of evangelical truth to the eye of the blind. She would have read or listened, and counted it almost too great happiness, could she have hoped that the Divine Scriptures should be the test and standard of their mutual religion; but now she uttered neither complaint nor expostulation. Though not hopeless as the convicted, she was dumb as the guilty. She looked forward to a future time;-she treasured these things in her heart, which it would have been premature to speak with her tongue;—the dove was resting in the ark until the waters were assuaged. She prayed for her husband, not as an object of pity and compassion, but as for one who should be restored to her soul,-as for one who, through her own gentle and faithful ministry, should be reclaimed from unkindness, and become a virtuous and happy disciple of the Church of Christ. To her he was like one not seeing the sun for a season; and she looked to the hour almost in faith, as if the change had been

secretly imparted to her, in which the scales should fall from his eyes, and there should shine around him a light from heaven. She knew little of the part Adrian had taken in the rebellion; but the disturbed state of the country had brought every man to what he considered his own station of peril. When Emily and Monica met, they could not but at times advert to the melancholy results which must follow, whatever might be the fate and fortunes of the insurrection. The great families of the country were equally divided in the struggle; and the sad alternative appeared to be, whether true men should perish by the brutal pike, or traitors suffer on the scaffold. Whilst Emily was expressing her hope that their absent friends were in England, a messenger brought a packet to Mrs. Clifford. She read it, became unusually silent, and they parted for the night.

CHAPTER IX.

WHEN Mr. Clifford woke to the horrors which surrounded him, his first thought was of his children and their mother. For himself he had few fears-few regrets; and the one reflection that had embittered his domestic life came over his mind with a balmy solace. None would mourn his fate; at least, if any flower of memory should hereafter grow by his grave, it would not be planted by his own family. Still could he not repress the rising sigh-he could not forget the little flock of which he had been the shepherd. In that home-cold, cheerless as it had lately been, lived all his hopes-lay all his treasure; and if he had none there that would return his feelings, he had no interest in life elsewhere. He had often indulged the idea that the love and blessing which were despised as a gift, would be cherished as a legacy. And

now, trembling for the safety of those who were dear to him, he awaited with breathless impatience the return of a faithful servant who had found the way to his dungeon, to obey his master's last and dying commands. When that messenger came in breathless haste, and in so short a time that he must have rode to Barguy on the wings of life;-when Clifford saw the fidelity and hope on the cheek of the poor Protestant boy who had hazarded existence and liberty to save him, if possible; and if not, to be with him and serve him as none other would serve him in this world; he almost wished, if it might be for his natural portion of the earth, and its years and beautiful seasons, that the hand which ministered his daily bread in captivity might be free from the ungrateful servitude of a stranger, and that the heart which had so felt for him might be saved from oppression.

He inquired, and that eagerly, if the lad had seen and spoken to his mistress? On hearing that she was well, and apparently happy, he broke the seal, and proceeded to examine the contents of her reply. The cover inclosed only one letter; it was his own returned! In a line with