brief, having once come, be came constantly.
He had moved, two days before you went to
Derval Court, from his hotel to apartments in
Mr,——'s house, just opposite. We could see
him on his balcony from our terrace; he would
smile to us and come across. I did wrong in
slighting your injunction, and suffering Lilian to
do so. I could not help it, he was such a comfort
to me—to her, too—in our tribulation. He
alone had no doleful words, wore no long face;
he alone was invariably cheerful. 'Everything,'
he said, 'would come right in a day or two.'"

"And Lilian could not but admire this young
man, he is so beautiful."

"Beautiful? Well, perhaps. But if you
have a jealous feeling you were never more
mistaken. Lilian, I am convinced, does more than
dislike him; he has inspired her with repugnance,
with terror. And much as I own I like
him, in his wild, joyous, careless, harmless way,
do not think I flatter you if I say that Mr.
Margrave is not the man to make any girl
untrue to you—untrue to a lover with infinitely
less advantages than you may pretend to. He
would be an universal favourite, I grant; but
there is a something in him, or a something
wanting in him, which makes liking and admiration
stop short of love. I know not why; perhaps,
because, with all his good humour, he is so
absorbed in himself, so intensely egotistical—so
light; were he less clever, I should say so frivolous.
He could not make love, he could not
say in the serious tone of a man in earnest,
'I love you.' He owned as much to me, and
owned, too, that he knew not even what love was.
As to myself—Mr. Margrave appears rich; no
whisper against his character or his honour
ever reached me. Yet were you out of the
question, and were there no stain on his birth,
nay, were he as high in rank and wealth as he
is favoured by Nature in personal advantages,
I confess I could never consent to trust him
with my daughter's fate. A voice at my heart
would cry 'No!' It may be an unreasonable
prejudice, but I could not bear to see him touch
Lilian's hand!"

"Did she never, then—never suffer him even
to take her hand?"

"Never. Do not think so meanly of her as to
suppose that she could be caught by a fair face, a
graceful manner. Reflect; just before, she had
refused, for your sake, Ashleigh Sumner, whom
Lady Haughton said 'no girl in her senses
could refuse;' and this change in Lilian really
began before we returned to L——; before she
had even seen Mr. Margrave. I am convinced
it is something in the reach of your skill as
physician—it is on the nerves, the system. I
will give you a proof of what I say, only do not
betray me to her. It was during your imprisonment,
the night before your release, that I was
awakened by her coming to my bedside. She
was sobbing as if her heart would break.
'Oh, mother, mother!' she cried, 'pity me, help
me—I am so wretched.' 'What is the matter,
darling?' 'I have been so cruel to Allen, and I
know I shall be so again. I cannot help it. Don't
question me; only if we are separated, if he
cast me off, or I reject him, tell him some day—
perhaps when I am in my grave—not to believe
appearances; and that I, in my heart of
hearts, never ceased to love him!'"

"She said that! You are not deceiving me?"

"Oh no; how can you think so?"

"There is hope still," I murmured; and I
bowed my head upon my hands, hot tears forcing
their way through the clasped fingers.

"One word more," said I; "you tell me that
Lilian has a repugnance to this Margrave, and
yet that she found comfort in his visits—a comfort
that could not be wholly ascribed to cheering
words he might say about myself, since it
is all but certain that I was not, at that time,
uppermost in her mind. Can you explain this
apparent contradiction?"

"I cannot, otherwise than by a conjecture
which you would ridicule."

"I can ridicule nothing now. What is your
conjecture?"

"I know how much you disbelieve in the
stories one hears of animal magnetism and
electro-biology, otherwise——"

"You think that Margrave exercises some
power of that kind over Lilian? Has he spoken
of such a power?"

"Not exactly; but he said that he was sure
Lilian possessed a faculty that he called by
some hard name, not clairvoyance, but a faculty,
which he said, when I asked him to explain, was
akin to prevision—to second sight. Then he
talked of the Priestesses who had administered
the ancient oracles. Lilian, he said, reminded
him of them, with her deep eyes and mysterious
smile."

"And Lilian heard him? What said she?"

"Nothing; she seemed in fear while she
listened."

"He did not offer to try any of those arts
practised by professional mesmerists and other
charlatans?"

"I thought he was about to do so, but I
forestalled him; saying I never would consent
to any experiment of that kind, either on
myself or my daughter."

"And he replied?——"

"With his gay laugh, that I was very foolish;
that a person possessed of such a faculty as he
attributed to Lilian, would, if the faculty were
developed, be an invaluable adviser. He would
have said more, but I begged him to desist.
Still I fancy at times—do not be angry—that
he does some how or other bewitch her,
unconsciously to herself; for she always knows when
he is coming. Indeed, I am not sure that he
does not bewitch myself, for I by no means
justify my conduct in admitting him to an intimacy
so familiar, and in spite of your wish; I
have reproached myself, resolved to shut my
door on him, or to show by my manner that his
visits were unwelcome; yet when Lilian has
said, in the drowsy lethargic tone which has
come into her voice (her voice naturally earnest
and impressive, though always low), 'Mother,
he will be here in two minutes—I wish to leave