therefore paused, and resolved to make no advances, but wait a little longer, and see what the course of events would turn up in his behalf.

Moreover, Sappho was at present the only support of her mother and sister, and if he married one he must marry all the three. This was a matter of serious consideration. What would the old gentleman say? He would have no objections to a daughter-in-law like Sappho. He would even receive her with rapture. But a motherin-law and a sister-in-law as an incumbrance on the estate might make the old gentleman rather preachy, as Edward used to call the grumbling and the counselling humour of his father. It was not to be thought of-not for a moment. Besides, Sappho's sister, Sabrina, was a clever girl, and under training for Sappho's own profession, and would very soon be able to support herself, and mother also, by her pencil. She was in daily practice, and had already executed one or two miniatures, which promised great success at no distant period.

These reasons determined Edward on the line of conduct which he should pursue towards Sappho, but he made no secret whatever of his attachment. It was too strong to be concealed, and Eva, who was the first to perceive it, from her distinct remembrance of the first effects of it on Edward's own manners, did not fail to assure her young friend and companion of the conquest she had made.

The intimation, however, made Sappho melancholy and thoughtful, and she requested Eva to make no further allusion to it. It seemed to terminate the romance and light-hearted elasticity of her girlhood. It checked the

flow of her ideas. Instead of walking deliberately into reveries, she now fell into them. Then, suddenly perceiving the absorption of her mind, she made an effort to conceal it by some pertinent remark, which, however, wanted the point and the interest which she was wont to impart to the language which she employed. Sappho was evidently pleased with Edward, and flattered by his attentions, but his objections were her objections, and to her they seemed insurmountable. Edward's estates were in Scotland. She knew the aversion of the Scotch to her faith and its professors. She was too proud to expose herself to it, in such an equivocal position. She could dare the hatred and hostility of a nation to her faith on the scaffold or at the stake, but not in the arms of a Protestant husband. This to her was the most difficult martyrdom of all, for it threw a suspicion upon her own sincerity, and tipped the arrows of the enemy with a poison against which she could not find an antidote. She was not a bigot; she even went at times with Eva to the Church of England, and her sister accompanied her. She had even taken the communion in a Protestant church, and was willing to do it again and again. But she was a sincere and devoted Catholic, without the persecutive spirit of her Church; and she was resolved to profess herself such at all times, and in all places, where profession was required as a moral duty. Fond, therefore, as she was of Edward, she purposed in her mind to dissuade him from the union should he ever propose it. Meanwhile, she almost hoped that his intended journey to Greece and Rome would give a new direction to his thoughts, and relieve her from the embarrassment.

Thus Love, the little god of good and evil, of blessing and curse, began to terminate the short era of maiden vivacity and hilarity which the two young girls had enjoyed before the arrival of Edward in London. But Cupid's arrows, even when dipped in gall, are always agreeable, they bring a compensation for every pang, and Sappho scarcely wished to restore her mind to its former repose, there was so much to comfort and soothe her even amid the pains and perplexities attending the solution of a love problem. As for Eva, she had evidently something on her mind, to which no one but herself was privy. She was at times isolated, thoughtful, moody, and averse from society and conversation. She made ample satisfaction afterwards by the frankness and cheerfulness of her manner, as well as her listening and attentive habits; but the fit of despondency came over her at times like a spell, and defied every effort she could make to conceal it. And thus all the three were overborne by a load of mental anxiety which they could not shake off, and of which they were all in some degree conscious they were the causes respectively to each other. If the planets have anything whatever to do with the affairs of men and women, they were evidently unfavourable; the moon must have been in square with Saturn, or Venus combust of the sun, or in some very inhospitable house or watery sign. Eva sometimes drooped like a canary that has just been dipped in a basin of cold water. Sappho looked as if she had been off on a sunbeam to some other world; and Edward as if he were asking himself whether he ought not rather to be at Cornlaw House at his father's fireside. When this eclipse came over their minds, the

three creatures might be said to bear a very striking poetical resemblance to a rainy day. Yet they seemed to like each other all the more for this burden which they bore in common. It was a bond of sympathy, and therefore of unity; and, had it even been tenfold heavier, it would probably have only drawn their hearts the closer together. It roused, however, Edward's spirit, and he resolved to be off. Eva also advised him to go. "Besides, you know," said she, "two is company, and three none at all-never mind the grammar, there's a dear! There's no mystery in it. If everything else were as plain, I should not be puzzled as I am.”

CHAPTER LX.

BENJAMIN AT LIVERPOOL-MEETS AN OLD FRIEND.

WE

E must now look after Benjamin. After leaving Spindleton, he resolved to pay a visit to Liverpool-merely for the purpose of seeing the great seaport of the West before his return to London. He sold his horse and gig in Manchester, but he still retained the services of Jim, whose spirit he liked, and whose zeal and honesty had engaged his affection.

He spent several days looking at the docks, and absorbing himself in the mysteries of shipbuilding and. commercial enterprise, and being personally known to one or two men of distinction in the town, he had every facility afforded him for the satisfaction of his curiosity and love of knowledge. However, he loved to stroll alone at times, and study the character of the mixed classes of the population; and, for this latter purpose, he entered several of the houses frequented by the sailors, porters, and other officials connected with the shipping and harbour, and talked about whatever subject they seemed to take an interest in. He loved to chat a few minutes with a weather-beaten old sailor, who had escaped a hundred deaths on the illimitable ocean; or even with a ticketporter, who had lived for half a century within the limited