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lord Burton and Charles returned home; and there they had a tale to tell to those they had left behind, which once more set the whole party in tears.

Frederic was bound by his promise to set off early the next morning for Northallerton; but he knew he left his Louisa, of whose affection he now had no doubt, in the hands of those who would fulfil all his wishes towards her.

As soon as her brother was gone, Mary flew to the fair prisoner, and at once welcomed her as a sister; but a shadow instantly came over Louisa's face." Oh, lady Mary," said she, with a sigh, "do not speak of that! It would have lowered your noble brother sufficiently to have given his hand to a governess; but after all the ignominy I have suffered, indeed, indeed it cannot, it ought not to take place."

"And if it does not," replied Mary, “ Į will never forgive you. It is not suffering, but guilt that creates ignominy. None

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can doubt that you are innocent. Frederic's happiness is at stake. Louisa, you cannot deny that you love him; and if you practise any such unfeeling delicacy with regard to him, I shall certainly change my nature, and become very revengeful."

Lady Mary had not much difficulty in gaining, at least a silent assent from Miss Travers; but Charles in the mean time had a more troublesome 'part to play with her father-it was to persuade him to accept that temporary pecuniary assistance of which he rightly judged he must stand in need he felt sure, that if he proffered it straight-forwardly, it would be at once refused; but he did not scruple to have recourse to a ruse to effect his purpose. Mr. Travers had lost all his property, which he still declared rightfully to be his, by a suit in Chancery, and Charles found means to persuade him that it was lord Burton's wish that he should try it again.

It was Mr. Travers's weak point; and without

without seeing Mr. Melville's object, he at once accepted a supply of money for

this

purpose, as a loan, to be repaid when he had recovered his property.

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CHAPTER XIII.

"Thus all things end-their being is a dream,
That hangs and hovers in a thousand shapes,
Changes from hour to hour, and lingers on
Through the long night. Their end is but a point,
The long perspective where all objects join."

The Conclusion.

LIFE is like a stream, which gushing from a hilly source, at first winds on amongst the mountains, small and insignificantthen enlarged into a torrent, it dashes in busy tumult from rock to rock, and from precipice to precipice, till at length it reaches the plain, still running, at first with the rapidity it had gained in its

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early progress, but gradually becoming slower and more encumbered, as it flows onward to that wide expanded oceán, in whose bosom it is at length lost for ever. And Charles Melville, as he led his beautiful and happy bride to the altar, hoped (and with every reason to do so), that his life had now passed over the rocks and precipices of youth, and that its future course would be directed calmly over the plain, till it too should sink into the sea of eternity!

On the same day Louisa Stanhope gave her hand to lord Burton, who could now cast his eyes on every side, with unalloyed pleasure, turning from present delight only to look forward to hope in future, while the past offered no remorse to memory. Affection smiling on him at home, and fortune giving him the means of making others happy, domestic pleasure, and external peace, all contributed to form for him a state which few enjoy.

Those who have followed lord Burton through

through this history (and it is not a character of imagination), cannot suppose that his happiness would be complete, while any of those he loved were in sorrow and misfortune. Lady Jane Malcolm slowly but entirely recovered from the accident she had suffered. Her father, lord Ainsfield, in the great danger in which he found her at Northallerton, forgot every thing that had passed, but his affection for her, and granted to her and her husband his entire pardon; and indeed, during her illness, he had so much opportunity of seeing captain Malcolm's devotion to his wife, and many other amiable traits in his character, that by the time lady Jane had recovered, he had taken quite a dif ferent view of their marriage, and was very ready to receive them in form, taking care, at the same time, to make such an addition to their fortune, as would enable his daughter to move in that station of life to which she had been always accustomed.

Sir

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