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CAROLINA SPARTAN From Blackwood's Magazine. HESTER BENFIELD. chapter 1. Stretched upon lite pebbly beach wliicl fringes one of our southern counties, a man whose appearance indicated that lie belong ed to what are termed the "higher classes,' watched, or rather seemed to watch, on j loveiy auernoon in August, uiu progress o f the incoming tide, of which the waves, a: they followed with a pleasing sound, ap preached liiin more nearly at every rush. He did indeed hut seem to watch, foi the abstracted look told plainly the spirii was far away, and had no part in tlu strange intenlness with which he leaned forward and endeavored, by using his stick to draw towards him a portion of pink sea weed, each time as the rippling watei washed it almost to his feet, and as quickl) bore it back, until, at length, he with earn Cat vehemence beat the mass to pieces, am scattered here and there the clinging trails parent leaves, which a moment before, hat floated so lightly befoiu him. George Maldon Asleigh was one of For tune's favorites*, heir to a title, and possess ?d of means buflicieul to procure for hin everything that wealth could purchase, 1 had been rare for him to find a wish tin gratified. Sufficiently good looking, am Sifted with talents above the average. In ad been courted until life seeiued one loin sunshine. Naturally of an easy temper he could bo capable of acts of kindness am r generosity in cases where bis own interest! or whims were not in question; but, liko ? poilt child?as the crudied sea weed i 11 us trued ? his best energies were lo<> fiequetilh exerted in the pursuit of objects which, whei Mliailieil, Mfic in i nti lt! ??., vmIiiwl?>?e, iot. Hnee.lilv forirutiHii. An.I mill ~r j o a* il in it V (vein, if ever a puie and true at feClion wanned the lieait of in an since tin days of our great forefather, il Ituil hurim within hi* bosom for one who, believing him to be in all thing* tickle, ha<>t all the gift* showered on him by a boutiti ful Providenco as worthless now. Ilis humor altered from despair to nngrv Oetiauce; al one moment the desire to cm a life now so aimless was upp< rmost, al another the wish for retaliation took in place. Jle woula marry, ami wound liei thus?yes, marry at once the person In thought she would like least; that wouk pierce her woman's head. A victim t< such feelings, and shunning society, he li t' Sought refuge in a distant village on tin douiheru coast of England, where we firs fill J hi in. The sea-weed completely demolished am scattered to the winds, he look his wai dreamily across the common, until the on for help in a woman's voice aroused him and turning hastily, ho petceived at a shor distance a girl running wildly along, follow ed by a sailor, whoso unsteady movement told plainly how the morning had beet spent. "Protect mo, sir, for Heaven's sake!" sin screamed, and, lolteiiug forward, fell faint ing on the ground, while a blow from As leigh at tlio same moment arrested lie pursuer's progress. Asleigh looked round for assistance, bu do one was to be seen, and to leave tin fainting girl there was impossible, llei drunken persecutor,after giving utterance it some innocent abuse, and making severa ineffectual attempts to lisc, lay where lit had fallen, and seemed to bu already set tling himself to sleep. Nothing could bt done but to endeavor to restore animation as be^t he might; and Asleigh, after loosen ing her bonnet and shawl, tan (o the beach And dipping his. handkerchief in the sen water, returned to place it on her pale fore head; and as ho chafed her cold hands, fas? lidious as lie was, their whiteness and sym nietry struck him, notwithstanding that one first finger bore marks of the needle. Hut when returning consciousness brought back it.- i-_ i i i- i . . viio cumr in uer cneeK, lit) wilt astonished at the beauty of I ho young creature so un expected ly thrust upon his notice. With the instinctivo feeling of n gentleman, he endeavored to lessen liis companion's confusion, as he conducted her across the common, until perceiving her to grow uneasy as they approached the village, he gently look leave of her, and turned toward* the house which for ihu time ho called hi* home. He occupiud himself that evening in speculating upon what his new acquaintance would turn out to bo, where she lived, dkc. She was certainly very lovely, and her language not ill chosen; hut she could scarcely be in the rank of a lady; her printed gown and common shawl belonged to a different class; nnd yet the delicate soft bands bore tostimony to no rough work: she must, ho thought, have occupied a higher station in life than her plain dress indicated; what could she he? Iieador, Hester Honfield?for such was her name?was a sewing girl, and an orphau: ber father had died d .-ring her oariy jv'uunuvi o??v ???vi UUI OV^CIJHJ* IU3 mother, to whom she owed the tea and high ]>ritici(>le which had hii caused her to he as much rcs|?ecle her blameless life, as admired for her beauty; she had but a short time 'll 1 ously come to the village of W I the purpose of learning millinery, he lc 1 sire being first to obtain initiation in I mysteries of bonnet making, and then " ! ceed to London, that city of fabled g j pavements, wheie alone she believe*. J tunes were to he made. Asleigh quickly discovered Hester's ' ing and place of business, and freqi " waylaid her in the evening. on her r to her solitary lodging. At first, cur J and mere idleness induced him to seel then, piqued by the coldness of her mi and resolute endeavors to avoid Itit | became more earnest; lastly, inform ' which reached him from the inetropo newed the idea that his marriage, and a marriage, would of all things most !y wound the woman who L;Td rejected and thus it - ended, that on one Oc 1 evening, when, an usual, lie. had been ? ing for Hester, and at length in the tlx I iiiix signi 01 ner ngiit figure li ing across the common, he joined Iter ' em long hud declared liiinself her s | eliciting in teluiti from her quivering 4 the assurance that site loved liiin. She knew nothing of her lovei's real ' :tnd it pleased him lo think how great v r 1 ho her (tupprise when sonfe day she si 1 find herself a countess elect. There was n ' however, lo do in the meantime. Gi ' Asleigh's wife must he educuUd as as beautiful, and this he resolved to u take himself. She was not wanting ii r cut and delicacy rf tttsic. and tv year < ' ted to study would woik womlers; would come bis hour of triumph. I > thought the newly-affianced husband, parted from the trembling gill destine 1 | an evil foilune to bo his wife. And they were married- not in th ' lage, tho place of their first mceiiii) I diil not wish it sliould ho so, ami no 1 the friends she had made at \V 1 | of the step she was about to take. - | marriage was ceiebiateil in a distant I I 'and Asleigh convi'ved his loido them ^ a pretty residence ho had clioseti, w J both being unknown, lie intended . 1 should remain imtil such time as i I | please him to ro appear in the woild s : the lovely companion he had chosen. Ilestei had heeti a wife little more tl foituight; when one moiniug A-leigl ' lered the loom suddenly, to tell her business of a pressing nature require* I iintric*lift?e ptw.uiicM in London, and til ' i tnusl leave her for a few days. "I liave maiked your studies, I Teste ' shall finish the Temp'St together, de I 1 when 1 return; he stiro to write out : portion of Milton daily; God bless I good by"?ami he was gone. 1 The cause of her husband's hurii* ' i parluie, w hich Hester guessed not, wa J a paragrapli in the morning papers r | met his eye, announcing the dangeroi . I r .i" * r %> *. > ! Iiuv< UI lilts i-.lll Ol JVUUIUI1U, Hi Ills l.?M 1 | low II. nord lift]land was A?leigh's unci* ! guardian. li:i*l been almost | n C? ' I >**u to llits old in tti, and fondly had I . 11opts*I lie would in vary it u:)i tn-coin I I Hut such w.is not to l?e: had she not d * him from her? And now a hairier r otlwi-cn them. which Asleigh smiled I. | ly its he thought upon?poor Hestei! I ' lie reached town to find his uncle i * I extremity of illness, and his con tin I interesting in her grief than he Itatl J j thought her in her brightest days. I | was a timidity in her manner towards self which touched him more thai I | other reception could have done. A )' I lime he had believed she loveu him; ' : it he possible that he had mistaken when lately she had refused to allow i t so? The doubt almost distracted him his agony was complete, as his uncle, > rant of what had passed between I joined their hands, and blessed his chil I 1 lien he would have tied, hut the old 3 j eluag to the society of his nephew, d iug ha fell always heller when Ge*?rg? b\, and in truih he seemed so. Wit r aU'eclttSiiate garrulity lie would spe the union of his children when lie si t he woll again. "Helen,'* ho said, "icq ? a protector;" and though Helen would i deeply, she did ir>t dissent. >' It was at night, when in solitude the I of conscience spoke loudest, that lieorg * fered most. iJnriug the day lie could ** ly he said to struggle against the fa tion of his cousin's society: and it wh i ! slight ordeal; fur Helen, although ?ho her faults, whs very lovable; her chief , iug being pride?that ol> her hand, ihe contents of which wcro as with | follows: "Helen, my dearest cousin, wo may tan a never meet again on this cnith. An in>uri en- mountablo barrier siaiul- in the way of otir that union. I daie not meet y?u igain, rt*?r rati 1 his I fuitlier explain inv c.tnduct, which I know j iat he must appear incomprehensible and fickle. I Forgive mo, I be.s. ech von, and l?. lie? e t; we only that, whatever i may seem, 1 iove, } arest. ; and shall over love, you hotter than life ? your j better than all, save honor. I shall have you; j <|iiiiu 1 li gland eteyou receive th's, it may I be to return no mere. Fuigive me. Kared de- | well. G. M. A." >lbis; How the proud Lady Helen suffered in unw ^ I'lci no mortal wits permitted lor? the payment of their hills, they answered t was |,y kiiiiIch which cut her to the quick. , and Gradually, to liquidate as far as possible '{J110 what was duo, Hester parted with everythem, tiling site possessed hut a few articles of idren. clothing; she grew pale ? was soon to bom.m coiny mother?wlial to do, or where to ecl ir- iuri)j ?|lt, tll0W not: friendless and aione, ^ was f,Uuru U;ls dark indeed for her. ' j. It transpired one day in the town that l( ( l(, Hester had disappeared. No one know wired ' whilher the poor deserted gitl had bent blush 'U'f l',e hard-hearted laughed, and :.aid they had always suspected something wrong; and those inure kindly disposed ^ ^ pitied while they blamed, adding, they feared, indeod they feared, it was the "old 1 tale," so often told, cma)S ,,0 CHAPTER II. had On the night before his departuro from fail- Kngland, Asleigh wrote to his wife,and en ride, closed an order lor money, telling her at as a the saino time whore to apply for a yearly lercd allowance. He gave lio reast?n for desert illtal- ino ht'l lull urnl'in.f f..? I f n -- r"v "'h ,WI ,,r| lilted and applying to himself every epithet of op Lady probiiuni, bade her farewell. The letter bv time some accident never readied Iter?for tiled t<> nately perhaps?for the shock might have that hewn fatal ii the delicate stale of her health, for to while the "hope deferred," even though it buiiied hut faintly within, still sust .Hied > his her, in a measure, and encouraged the atlove tempt Hie had resolved to make of followis ho ing her husband to London, on lite chance ml at of discovering him. mled L tlu in the month of May, footstore and f the weary, Hester had arrived within a stage i her. or two of the metropolis. She had walked ill* in the last few miles, and now, with leelda three limbs and tottering steps, entered the yard folly, of a wayside inn, and sitting down in the le lie porch of the long low building, asked w hen jvent the next mail tor L mdon would pass, lies. The kindly landlady was bustling out I dry with some refreshment for the "poor dear," nstre as she called Hester, when a carriage drove a the up, and while fresh horses were prepared, liich an old gentleman, looking like an invalid, | ?w? and, supported on tlio arm of a lady who oved accompanied him, begun to pace slowly, in ;row- the warm sunshine, iu front of the door of the inn. tring | The Udy was young, and Hester, who rrite;1 oast a furtive g!%nee at bor, when she oo.ild do so unperceived, thought she had never neen u face more beautiful. On the oilier hand, Lady Helen?for she it whs?equally struck with Hester's nppearatice, iiad drawn Lord Kedland's atteu- : tiou to her, as, tired of exercising in the , yard, lie passed through the porch to enter j the inn. Little did these two women guess the se- i cret sympathy which, perhaps, caused them ' thus to he attracted towards one another. "Yes, my lady, she only just arrived hefore you and my lord; she is a pretty dear, my ladv, hut seems pooilv enough; she is i going on to Loudon hy the next mail, your ladyship." " Thank you, landlady; sho is very interesting, poor thing; 1 winder if i might , up.uk to lier." "Oh, i*111 sure, my lady, sho would he very proud. 1*11 go and tell her your ladyship lias something to say to her." "Oh do not on any account. Thank you, that will do;" and as the hostess retired courtsying, Lady Helen returned through the porch, in which Hester still sat. Playing for a minute with flowers which clung about the trellis, Lady Helen, addressing Hester, said, "What lovely and enjoyal le weather it is! will you have one of those?" offering her at the same time a sp'ig of jessamine. "Thank you, miss." "You are going to lunidon, are vou not? You must he sorry to leave the country while everything is so beautiful; I aiu so! happy at finding myself in it again." lea's tilled Hester's eve*. No place ! looks beautiful now to me, miss;" and then sho hesitated and stopped. "How so? "It is sad to henr one so J young as you are speak thus. i see by the ling you wear that you aie married: is your husband in business in town?" *'I don't know, mis*; 1 am going in search | of him; he has left me these i iaiiy mouths past, and I do nut know whether lie is dead or alive. "Pu r thing, poor thing! have you fiieuds in Loud- n?" "Niilltr* rotkli...) ??. ? ? .v, . ..m .? j'.M M III i| i.%1'1% V?ML'U. "llave you ever been tiieiw before?" "No," in a voice still fainter, llclen paused, and then Lending down. , said, "My poor gill. aie you well provided \ with money? 1 fear not: do take this." , Hester's wan f.tco Hushed crimson a*, gently putting aside Lady Helen's hand, site answered, "You mean Ltndly, tni*s, I am sure, hut I have never n-ked or received ; charily, ami cannot accept ii now." "I do not mean it as chaiity," persisted Helen; "you shall tepay me ? hen voji can. See," she said, taking a card from her ieti 1 cule, "when \ou rind vour ' : hand, which ticxl giant y ?u in ?y soon do. you can re- ] mil 1110 little loan I have made to you; the ' address is written here. I wish I could assist you further," and she placed a hanknote in Hester's trembling hand. The cntri ige was by this time readv, and L -rd Hedland, seated in it, wailed for his daughter. Hester had scarcely recovered siillicieiit composure to utter her thanks, when her benefactress was gone. It had not been Hester'? intention to take an inside place, but the henry of the | weather having tempted most of the passengers to travel outside, she found herself, as tlio mail drove tip. Compelled, against her | will, to incur an expense too great f a her scanty means; but a kind I'roviJencc was again watching over her, and providing another fiiend fv?r the lonely giil. An old lady, the only occupant of the coach with Hester, interested in her appearance, entered into conversation with her, and listened with the deepest cotnmiscialioii to the story she presently unfolded. A vci V discerning old lady she was, or one very unsuspicious, for neither doubt, nor fear of imposition, seemed to enter her mind to Jeter her from li<,r charitable pur j>n e, when, having icachod Londo i, she bade ITe.ster enter the hackney-coach she ha?l provided, unrri M? l?? say. < Mi, if women were no so ready to fall hi love and many, and ? that s.,it. of thing, how in ich hotter oil would they be. Look at ll|e, Hester; 1 do not believe there is faith or tiutli in any ; man living-?but one; well, I must except hiiii; 1 do think l'octor Thornton a tunliearted man. I had oncu other notions, but. lliaiik H wen, I have outlived them. "Hester, Hester lUnfi with a stress on the surname, "resume the name under which you were happiest?the honest name which never celled a blush to your cheek and let vein s.ui be called by it likew ise. Now weep lie re, my poor one, but let in not speak more oil this sa l subject;" ami H sler's arms weie thrown around the old ladv's neck, and her sobs hushnd on her sVlilpalhi/ing bosom. Frank Bciiti-1 1 was a line boy of seven veais of age. when one day a q'liet paitV, decorated with a few white favors, set out \i - \I .. 1 i * ' ?"iaa .*i .TMiii .\-v UJrV Sli'jlp- 1 inl>? the which had been hired fur l!ie occasion, you might have recognised in the hiide elect no otliei tlian our Itietil Hotter, Mlili li in Lome, hut very ?1 itt'cr<>nl Innii the Ib-ster of e o iicr dov->. A 1>> >k of decision and self-reliance li id ienlaced the expression of Ousting timidity which lind been llie cliaracleiistic ol her voiilliful beau lv. and a seiious earnestness pervaded L>*r countenance. Sao was about to give lie* band -Iter heat I bad been bis for iu?u\ a da\ ?to llie one llunoiablo mail tlie woild contained, according to llie idea of Iter ben efaclress, Miss Moms?to lb. Thornton. He was indeed very estimable, and ibis marriage delighted llie lie n I ol tins old ! i l\. I* tank, loo, she prophesied, ivas I > ^m .i up another "only man to be trusted;" so that though his predecessor might bo dispose ! of, the world was ii"t to be lell without some one in who u to put tai.h, when ail others were proved unstable. And where, meanwhile, was the Lady Helen! Ilv astiati^ecoi ciJence, bcr mar riago was solemnized on the same dav as Hester's, though hi a far more splendid m inner. Hester read id the festivities which had attend*' i t;ie celebration ol tiie nuptials of the lovely Lid* Helen MaKluii. an I piixcd fervenily f.ir I er happiness. She told Iter husband, teaifullv, of the kunl n. ss she ba*l re wived at the bands of L i lv Helen, when, fiien*lle?v ai *1 poor, she was making bet w*arv way towards ], >nd<*n. Die debt in m *iic\ h >*1 been long repaid, be s;?i |, but '.lie debt of gratitude she owed c niM never be obliterated. (ieorge Asleigb, sli 1 a wanderer on the face ot llie eatlli, had huiried from place to place, seeking the repose of mind which no I'll >SI I>lln |*.|||LI lutn.r III! Ituuiii.i W """ (? '? "? travelled through Greece tliiJ E^vpl, lie j?>nrnev?nl oti t?? Imli.i. lie had e\|>?*cled upbraiding, froin hi* wife, in answer to the | letu-i lie li.t l sent lier on leaving England, or, at any rate, dial slio would have drawn iho allowance placed at her disposal. Find ing neiihet to he the c.ec, lie wiole, at die end of twelve mouthy to hit man of hud n?M, requesting that inquitie* might ho mftdo aratut a lady with w'.iooi bo hxd to44p sided in shire. The answer lie receiv- i p od to tliis letter was to the eirect that she tl had disappeared, no one knew whither. e< The writer added that her health had, prior ti to her disappearance, been much impaired, si and that in all probability alio was wince \ dead, especially us no inquiry had ever been ti inadc at the banker's w ith whom the money i> left for her maintenance had been placed, o Asleigh's sufferings and remorse were in- H creased fourfold alter this. Oh, if the past tl could he but his once mote!?but there was a now no remedy, no?none. Ho could not d present himself before his cou>iti, the wo- 1 inau still so dearly I -ved, for adaik rnysle b ry hung over his wife's fate, and all his ef- j forts to clear it ? way were baffled. With f< anxious eye did he search the newspapers, tl dreading to see the announcement of Lady ' ti Helen's marriage, but for very long he was it spared this additional pang. At length. ; c when seven years had passe I over the head j c of the sell exiled man, he learned that she had pledged her faith to another. h He could remember her husband, one t! worthier than lie had himself ever been to ' 11 possess the treasure he had lost. [ si Alter passing two years longer in India, ( the climate began to tell seriously on As- | t< leigb's health, and, little caiiug where he m went, he retraced his steps through Egypt, ' b and over the well-known beaten track I o through the Continent, until he respited t t< Paris. While idling in that capital,during b the lentli year of his banishment, tidings e reached him of his uncle's death; and si business rendering it necessary that lie * should now return to England, the new earl s< once more set foot on his ualive land. i n Helen cotil I not avoid an involuntary start as she read "that the Karl of llcdland had, after ail absence of some year*, arriveJ s< in London;" hut slie had tutored h rself i] perlectlv. Had she not torn his unworthy image from her heart, with a merciless hand i i] made strong by wounded pride? She could ! r< long since have ui?-t liiin any where, with- n out h?-r color deepening a shade or the | I quickening of a pulse. And now, as a wife and mother, she would indeed have scorned * herself had it been otherwise. ! g "I s,-e my cousin liedlnnd has relumed," j a she said, in her coldest accents, when she u met her husband, Colonel Allenby, at din- ti net. 1 I 11 "Oh, indeed! 1 wonder lie has not come |j to see you. I must call on Kim to-morrow." n "No, if you please, do not: we quarrelled many years ago, and I should not wish my |i husband to seek him " a "Surely it is tune now, dearest, to forgive u atid forget," Colonel Allenhy remonstrated, half laughing, hut the way in which his e wife utteied the word "never," ended the s conversation. ? ( f Helen piqued herself on being a good wife, and her husband's devotion to her ad- | milted of no question. If her exhausted heart li td been iucap.tble of loviug again, }t still her admiration and respect for the part- t ncr she had chosen were most genuine, and t enabled her to do her duty towards him |] cheerfully and well. Alicnbv remembered ; t ?though he had never exchanged a word ' p with Ins wife on thosuhject?that the world j i had once given Lady Helen to her cousin, j u Lord Kedland, and he refrained from any i v further teniaik about him, believing he ful- ' r lv understood her reasons for speaking as y -ho had ju-t done. ; It w,.s fated that Lord Kedland should ; s soon go through the ordeal lie most dread- ! v oil, and which he had yet, in a manner, f - night?a meeting with his cousin Helen, j \ It was only when her black eyes rested on t h. earc worn face for an instant, and wore i withdrawn with an expression on them of t Co!] unforgiving disdain, that lid fell how j* ninoli lie luitl miscalculated ilie ell'ccl uf the ] inflnetice of old recollections. ' * lie liad s.tillered m.1 much?such dreary c years of remorse 11 ;il been hi>, that it see ill- j e?l lo hint sis M slit) and all (ho world should ^ have ht-eii aware of tins, and. instead of t si .thlii ii ? still m >ro deeply, liar . placed I ho | linger of lovo and pity on the \ el open | w-muds, and hid them close, and lliroh no | hi ne. II- left the hi!! room in wnieh they I had litot, to i tinneived to he ir society, and | wandered through the streets to his lonely c In mi". How changed was the aspect of all things | t > lite cliil . whose hiuh fortune had luno j in w itii g.hieti hells. 1 j, Ho tried lirst one thing, and then another; still the old I tiI ii-_j of instability seem- i ed to h .t ii ii l hi 111. hut now it was not from \ tick cness of purpose. Want of lieait in | | i-vi-iv pur uit rendered Ii hi incapable ofper- t fuming, as Ire ought, the duties required of ( him, "in! a sense of no'ot, in many inswtn- ; m s, in.t ie tii-orge Adeigh give up wh it lie . j felt he could ih> with ?(> little earned nos*. ? Thus the two tir-l years, after Ins letiirn to ' j K igl rati, we e devoted l? politics. On en- j lei ing the arena, cheered by his friends, and ^ excited for a while hv rjueslio s which we e i c it th.it time the interesting topics of tire I _ day. lie seeitie I to have end aside forever 1 | the apatli) lliev ha i so d"j>l ?red, an.I hi- ( taleli's, vat i?- I ail< I itiiliaiit.ftli one ft>rl!i and caused the c amity to reckon him amongst ] her ii-ing sla'esin-m. I til I llie highest of. c fers were made to hint in vain. Sick of r puhlic life, where all w is empty as the Void t within Ins own warning head, he dotei- I mined - ii buiving liimsell in the country, | and seeking llie-e f ?r the pen at of niirid . I ,?l. I... I r .il. . l. . .. I -i i ' I.-* ti M.i t iiiiiinin iMTM it hum nun. Worn in miii< 1 and hodv, Iti^ health had *I-.i ?av, and before leaving I >vvi?, c hi*. >%i ili*? m?!i it .lion-. of soma of ln> oldest ? friend*, agreed to a?k the advice of one of * the great inebeal authorities?iiouo other I, lli hi Do.-l'jr Thornton, now an established i mail. a llo-tur'R hi)-.band hail mounted, step by ? step, the ladder of eminence, ami, re-pected 1 I?v all who knew him, |> ?s*e.v?ed <>l a store i ?*f this world's* goods, ami of licllci hopes j I beyoml, her lot with hi in was indeed ail ( enviable otid. Their union was b! o-.se d | I wiili throe children, of which number one, j t a little girl, alone survived; and how Ilea li ler loved this (lea. one, many mothers may " tell. lit Har son, Fiank Bonfio'd, now a fine remising I.id ??f twelve years, whs, through .? good Doctor's liberality, pursuing kit location under a clergyman in the cuuuy, prior to entering the army, the profcl; oil lie had chosen, and for which Mist (orris had expressed her intention of fitno hiin out; for, still as kindly interested i Hester and her ton ?s of yore, their good Id friend had settled her little fortune on tank?"her boy." as she called him; and jus all was bright and prcisjHsrous in and bout the house of the once friendless and escrled girl. " " ' Hester was in her dining-room, her child y her side, dressed (or her morning's walk, "There, darling, go to nurse," mid thu >iid mother, piercing a kiss on the hps of ie little upturned lace. "Shall mamma ike you to her?" ami catching up the child i her aims, she Carried her from the rootn, ailing as she went, "Here, nurse, take your barge." The nur-e was standing without at the ail door, through which, at the moment, lie man servant was Hd.liilting a gentleinn. by whom, ere Hester Could escape, he foor.d herself accosted. In some little con fusion, she begged hitn ? walk in, adding that Doclf one who never wronged your' "You mistake my purpose in coining to Itia house, Hester, though seeing you hat elieved me from h load of misery and relorso. 1 came to visit Doctor Thornton, low is it that I Hud you heie?" "I am ? I ain?his wifr.!'' she almost lirieked; and then, dropping on her kneet, !a?ped her hands, and said in a voice scarce uJilde, "OR, for the lore of Heaven, tell ue. George Asleigh, tliat I was never yonrs; ell me I was wronged, deceived?anything, ml not that I am your wife. My child, ruy illle Mary, think of her." "Tlie infant I saw in your arms but iow?" "Yes, yes, she is dearer to mo than my ife. Oli, Asleigh, iu mercy tell ine it was ,11 as they said, false, and that you deceived ne." "J did not deceive you, Hester, as regardd our marriage, nor did I wish to do so ubsequently. A letter from me, did il not each you I" "N'one?oli, none; and God knows U'ow ong I sought for and trusted you." "And now you hate me?is it not so? I ,m detestab'o in your eyes. Listen, Keaer, while 1 explain the past. Accident hrew us in each other's way; at the time 1 net you I war smarting from what I believed o he my rejection by the woman I loved leyond all else on earth. You wero beauiful, and the thought seized upon my mind if making you my wife, in the hope of rounding the pride of one who had so laceated mine. I meant to do my duty by 'oil. I saw you were not indifferent to me, ,n.l it was in my power to raise you to a photo much above that in which you iLeu lore. This, perhaps, 1 looked ujK>n assufioiont compensation ( :;?l'so your death." "And. George A*le gh, you iit-ver loved ne, and \el I aiy your wife. Oh! great leaven*, he merciful; it cannot he that I mi bound t > ibis man." Hester, hu?l>! There is hill little lime o spate; we may l>e interrupted. Listen el again. I can make you this sole re* nation; no one knows of our marriage? ?o one need know, if you can keep your i*ii secret, of my existence; my uaine even ias b? < i. changed *>i:iCe we last met. Hear ue: 1 -o'.einnly swear, by all I hold most acicd, never to molest yon more by mv rcsence. inn to reveal anything that may blow light on the past. Let us make this ompact: swear with me that the events of mi earlier days shall he Lmied in oblivion ?sweat;" and their bands were j >inetl oiico n<>re n> register :i vow, how ditfatonl froiu lie Gist! "Ami now, farewell for ever; l>o iMiicul to my memory; pity me while vou oiuleinn, tor 1 am a wanderer nn the face if (lie earth," anil, turning from her, he left lit] loom, the nounj of tho closing of (ho i:t|| door telling her the next moment that io wn< genu. [to ni: cosru'dkn nkxt week] A Wahniko io l'uvaicuxs.?Dr. Lo? ock, the Queen'* p!i\>iei.ii), hat been |hmv mptorily dismissed fioin further ntlelidutua hi the iovi'.I family, wlium h? ha* been >ilhcrl>c'k'k wm given to tm? much talking, and hat though she told PrinO Albert that )ii? iahlt of sleeping between the hlatikels was a vulgar, dirty Dutch pracli?"e,** ?he did lot care to have it >!d abroad. ' liverpnrif P^t.