servants to say to her mistress that Coit would

immediately be at her bidding.

It was

not strange that the impression

Eliot left on Mrs. Archer's mind was that of

the most beautiful personation of celestial energy and mercy.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Ignomy in ransom, and free pardon,

Are of two houses.

Ir is reasonable to suppose that the disclosures which occurred in Sir Henry Clinton's library, would be immediately followed by their natural consequences: that love declared by one party, and betrayed by the other, would, according to the common usages of society, soon issue in mutual affiancing. But these were not the piping times of peace, and the harmony of events was sadly broken by the discords of the period.

The conflict of Mr. Linwood's political with his natural affections, at his eventful meeting with his son, was immediately followed by a frightful attack of gout in the stomach-a case to verify the theories of our eminent friend of the faculty, who locates the sensibility in the mucous tissue of that organ. Isabella, afflicted on all sides, and expecting her father's death at cvery moment, never left his bed-side. In vain Meredith besieged the house, and sent her message after message; not he, even, could draw her from her post. 66 My life depends on you, Belle," said her father: "the doctor says I must keep tranquil-he might as well say so to a ship in a squall—but my child, you are my polar star-my loadstone-my sheet-anchor my every thing; don't quit me, Belle!" She did not for an instant.

"Bless me! Mr. Meredith," said Helen Ruth

ven, on entering Mrs. Linwood's drawing-room,

and finding Meredith walking up and down, with an expression of impatience and disappointment, "what is the matter-is Mr. Linwood worse?"

"Not that I know."

"How happens it that you are alone, then ?" "The family are with Mr. Linwood."

"The family! the old lady surely can take care of him; is Isabella invisible?—invisible to you?"

"I have not seen her since her father's illness." "My Heavens! is it possible! well, some people are better than others."

"I do not comprehend you, Miss Ruthven."

My meaning is simple enough; a woman must be an icicle or an angel to hang over an old gouty father, without allowing herself a precious five minutes with her lover."

"Miss Linwood is very dutiful!" said Meredith half sneeringly, for his vanity was touched.

"Dutiful!—she may be-she is undoubtedly

a very, very sweet creature is Isabella Linwood; but I should not have imagined her a person, if her heart were really engaged, to deny its longings and sit down patiently to play the dutiful daughter. I judge others by myself. In her situation-precisely in hers,” she paused and looked at Meredith with an expression fraught with meaning," I should know neither scruple nor duty."

There was much in this artful speech of Helen Ruthven to feed Meredith's bitter fancies when he afterwards pondered on it. "If her heart were engaged!" he said, "it is, I am sure of it-and yet, if it were, she is not, as Helen Ruthven said, a creature to be chained down by duty. If it were!-it is-it shall be-her