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The tear trickled on the eyelid of Mrs. Hawkins as she said, "God has made all our hearts for love, and we all crave it. In his own good time he will give to each one his share; I am willing to wait. But you must not talk any more, dear; it will hurt you." Her voice quivered with emotion as she uttered these words, and Fanny was silent. The whole of her past life now became present, painfully present to Fanny's recovered mind. She was still too weak to discuss any painful subject; and her husband's only object was to calm and cheer the present moment. It was with mingled pain and pleasure that he heard her continually repeat, "You do then love me, William ? "

"Better than my own life, dear Fanny," he would answer.

"And you will not leave me?"

"Never while you wish me to remain with you."

"How is my dear Amy? has nothing been heard from her?" asked Fanny, "I pray that her precious life may have been spared; if she had been able to come she would have been with me in that terrible fever, I know." Her husband told her that the day after she was taken ill, he had received a letter

from his friend Selmar, announcing the birth of a daughter, and that Amy and her child were doing very well.

"How long ago was that?" asked Fanny. "Five weeks, my dear Fanny."

"Then it is now spring, and Amy promised me to come and see me in the spring, if she should be the happy mother of a living child."

"And she is coming in a fortnight,” replied her husband, "if you are well enough to bear the excitement of seeing her."

"Oh joy! joy!" exclaimed Fanny; "I will be well enough. I am sure I shall be quite strong by that time, never fear, dear William; write to her directly to come, and her husband, and baby: oh beautiful! To see Amy would seem to me like gathering heartsease again in my mother's garden, when she and I were children, and used to dress ourselves up and play ancient statues. She was fond of playing Flora, and I Minerva, and it was then that I first saw you William, a great raw school-boy; and how you laughed at the owl on my head. Oh if Amy had always been with me I should have been a better wife to you."

"Let us remember the sorrows and mistakes of the past, only that we may take care

to avoid them; and let us cherish the recollection of all its pure pleasures, as a pledge and promise of what is in store for us. We will call up again those sweet dreams of our early days, dear Fanny, by returning to that child-like trust and unquestioning love which then made us so happy. But you must not talk any more, your pulse is much too quick; while we have been talking, it has beaten faster and faster, till now I can scarcely count it. You will not be able to see Amy in a fortnight, if you do not keep quieter than you have been for these last few minutes."

“Oh but I will be very still, so quiet, and so good that you shall not believe it is I; only write to Amy to come, and tell her that I shall be quite well, and so tranquil and good that even she will scarcely know her old friend."

After a few moments of thoughtful silence, Fanny suddenly said, "I think, William, I should like to write to Amy myself.”

"But you are hardly able to write, Fanny." Fanny insisted very earnestly that she was able, and that it was only a few lines that were necessary. Her husband proposed that she should dictate and he write.

"No, no, I must write myself; give me some paper, and pen, and ink."

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SKETCHES OF MARRIED LIFE.

"Presently," replied her husband, "when you are rested I will;" but he looked as if he would rather not. When Fanny wrote her letter which was very short, she folded and sealed it as soon as it was finished. Her husband was sitting by her, and it was with rather an effort at gaity he said, "you asked for no message from me, Fanny, but have hastily sealed up your letter as if it contained treason." Fanny blushed and looked disturbed.

"One always looks like a fool when showing a letter of one's own writing, and I can never forget a lady's telling me when I showed her a letter which she asked to see, 'It's a very good letter, but if I had been you I would not have shown it.' "

Mr. Roberts was evidently disappointed; his reserve which had lately been dissipated by Fanny's frankness and tenderness began to creep over him again. Both were silent. It seemed as if some mysterious invisible evil presence had suddenly disturbed their peace.

CHAPTER XIX.

"There is a rose-lipped seraph sits on high,
Who ever bends his holy ear to earth,
To mark the voice of penitence, to catch
Her solemn sighs, to tune them to his harp,
And echo them, in harmonies divine,
Up to the throne of grace."

MASON.

WE return to Edward and Amy. When the bustle and trouble of moving were over, and they were all established in their very comfortable but less elegant house, Edward and Amy came to the conclusion, that, as far as their individual happiness was in question, they were better off than before; as their present style of living left them more time for reading and for the enjoyment of each other's society. Mr. Weston prophesied that the men of property and standing in society would now forsake them entirely; that the world would never forgive such a departure from its own principles; and he thought that, in some respects, they deserved the censure and neglect that they would surely encounter.

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