Notices to Correspondents.

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CLAUD Amherst took leave of his parents when the time came for the steamer to quit Galatz, in the highest possible spirits. Without giving them the least hint of the share which his sister had in his hopefulness, he simply assured them in general terms, that the prospects before him were brilliant, and that they need feel no anxiety about him. This was a great relief to them both, and Mrs. Amherst, who shared in her son's sanguine temperament, threw off completely the weight of care which their losses had brought upon her, and talked as if only the brightest future was in store for them all. Her husband's views invariably took their colouring from hers, so that Frances had the comfort of seeing her father and mother quite restored to happiness, as the immediate result of her self-sacrifice, and this was so great a pleasure to her that she herself became merry and gladsome as a child, during their long voyage up the Danube. She could not share their confidence that Claud's troubles were at an end, for she knew that his hopes were founded simply on the possession of the one sum of money she had promised to give him, and she had too often seen many similar sums engulfed in his speculations as completely as if the sea had swallowed them up, to feel much reliance on the golden fruit which he assured her would be borne by her little fortune for them all. Her modest hopes went no further than that it might prove the beginning of some means

of livelihood for Claud, but she never for a moment expected that it would be returned to her as her brother promised, she quietly looked forward to the possibility of having some day to work for her living, and she did not pretend to herself that the idea was a pleasant one, but she was well satisfied with the compensation she already derived from it, in the peace of mind it had brought her parents.

Frances was however somewhat seriously troubled by the strong mistrust of her cousin Thorold, which Claud had planted in her mind, she shrank from the idea of living in the same house with him, of even seeming to be in any way indebted to him; she had scarcely any recollection of him, for she had been in the nursery when he lived in her father's house, and as he was nearly fifteen years older than she was, her remembrance of him was merely that which a child may have of a grown man, seen only occasionally; she could not therefore herself judge at all of his character, but the prejudice she had taken against him in consequence of Claud's words, was a good deal strengthened by a conversation she had with her mother, on the evening of the day when her brother had taken leave of them. Mrs. Amherst had been speaking of her delight at seeing him so happy and hopeful, and said, that she could now look forward quite cheerfully to their own residence in England.

I do not think Claud much likes the idea of our living in Thorold's house," said Frances, "did you know, mother, what a great dislike he has to him?"

"Yes, he often talked of him to me, and very unfavourably too, when the whole management of our affairs was put into his hands, but I begged the dear boy not to say anything openly, because your father has such a high opinion of his nephew, and just at present we cannot afford to quarrel with him. To tell you the truth, Francie, I never liked Thorold myself, I always thought him a hard, stern man, and he used to worry me dreadfully by trying to persuade your father that we were spoiling Claud, and that we were living too extravagantly ourselves."

Mrs. Amherst had never known what it was to want money in her life, till the crash came, which brought the whole family to the verge of ruin; her father had been a man of large fortune, and her husband had a good income when she married him, so that it seemed to her an impossible condition of existence, to be without the means which had always been forthcoming for the supply of all her wants. She had seen the papers which proved, in tangible figures, that all Mr. Amherst

possessed, with the exception of a trifling annuity of her own, had been swallowed up by his liabilities on behalf of Claud, but still she managed to maintain the belief in her own mind of an imaginary reserve fund, on which she relied for their all regaining, gradually, their former position of ease, and comparative wealth; her ideas on the subject were of the vaguest possible kind, but she spoke of them to Frances as if her gratuitous assumptions were founded on a knowledge of solid facts.

"I do not know what motive Thorold had for persuading your father to believe so thoroughly that our whole means are gone, excepting my wretched little pittance: it is all nonsense, I am sure, we have plenty of money. I suppose he took this unjustifiable way of inducing us to be economical till we have made up for poor dear Claud's heavy losses, or else his own self-interest is somehow concerned in it. Why, his statement is absurd on the face of it: if we were as completely shorn of everything as he pretends, he would have not only to lend us his house, but to support us altogether, and I can never admit that he intends to do that. Thorold is a dull commonplace man who has no romance or enthusiasm in his disposition, and is not in the least likely to sacrifice either himself or his money in any way. I have not disturbed your father in his belief for the present, because we really are completely at Thorold's mercy, so far as our immediate wants are concerned, and I said nothing to you for the same reason, but since Claud has opened your eyes a little, I may as well tell you what I feel, especially as I do not expect you to like Thorold any better than we do."

"But mother, if we happily have any means of our own still left to us, must we really go to live in Thorold's house? I always thought it painful to be under such an obligation, but I shrink now from the very idea of companionship with him."

"I am afraid we cannot help it, for some time at least, we are entirely in his hands, and we do not even have a penny of ready money excepting what he chooses to dole out to us: your father has given him absolute control over our affairs, and over ourselves in consequence. I did not oppose his doing so at the time of our great disaster, because there was really no other way out of the terrible difficulties which so nearly killed him, but I never meant that we should remain under any obligation to Thorold: I intend, so soon as I can see my way a little, to arrange that we shall pay him rent so as to make the house ours, and not his, and he can simply board with us. Do not speak of all this

to your father, Francie, he is quite cheerful and contented, now that he has seen Claud provided for, and I do not want his mind disturbed in any way."

"No fear of my speaking to him of anything disagreeable, mother, it is such a happiness to see him so bright and merry, as he often is when we are all together on deck; Philippa Conway is quite charmed with him, she says his courteous manners make her feel like a princess to whom he might be doing all honour, and he has such pretty playful ways with her, too, when she sets herself to amuse him with all sorts of nonsense."

"I think he is enjoying the long voyage up the river very much, he is delighted with the splendid scenery, and the insight he is gaining into the condition of this part of Europe, and you are enjoying it too, are you not, my Francie ?”

Oh, indeed I am, there is so much to see that is new and striking, now we can go on shore sometimes. I have been able to sketch some lovely landscapes, but my chief pleasure is in the society on board, I never was with such attractive people before, indeed, I hope dear Philippa is my friend for life."

"And Lancelot seems never to quit your side, Francie; do you find him agreeable too?" said Mrs. Amherst, looking at her, inquiringly. 'Yes, I like him extremely," said Frances, so simply and naturally, that her mother saw she was still quite unconscious of his admiration for her, very evident as it was to every one else," and M. de Lunville interests me too, very much, he has told me a good deal of his private history, and I feel so sorry for him.”

"He has a wife, has he not? your father heard he was married the first day he met him."

"Yes, but that is just the chief source of his misery; it has been a very unhappy marriage, she is older than he is, and I imagine very uncongenial to him; he travels a great deal, and she always refuses to go with him."

In fact the French savant had taken a great fancy to the pleasant English girl, with her fresh pure ideas and poetic temperament, and he had very speedily detected the strong element of sympathy in her character, which enabled him to render himself interesting to her, by exciting her compassion for sorrows which it was very easy to evoke out of the circumstances of his life for her special benefit, although in reality few men enjoyed existence more than he did. He knew how to