in her bosom, that she remained in a perplexed and agitated silence, utterly unable to give vent to her emotions. After a brief interval, Edith, in whose mind the most anxious thoughts had been rapidly revolving, suddenly exclaimed

"In Walter's unfortunate affair nothing can at present be done; all must depend upon the decision of the Court Martial; to whatever penalties you or my father may be exposed, and I will not believe that any have been incurred, they cannot be averted by any immediate act of mine; for myself I care not; but I must apprize the Sheltons of the danger that menaces them that they may either withdraw from it, or prepare to encounter it. I was the original cause of the perilous dilemma in which they are placed, and I ought not to lose a moment in warning them of its nature. I will go over instantly to Hales Court."

"Do so, my child!" said Mrs. Colyton, willing to withdraw her daughter from the contemplation of her own misery by occupying her thoughts with the Sheltons-" Do so; they are wise, discreet, and friendly people, who may

perhaps suggest some means of extrication, both for themselves and us, and in the mean while I will endeavour by my prayers to avert the wrath of Heaven-I will supplicate its protection for our menaced and afflicted house."

On her arrival at Hales Court, Edith was presently closeted with her friend Agatha, to whom, after preparing her by intreating that she would not be shocked or agitated at the alarming intelligence she had to communicate, she revealed the unhappy plight in which Walter was placed, the discoveries made by Seagrave, and the full particulars of his audacious proposition, kindling with indignation as she reached the latter part of her statement, until she visited the object of her wrath with still more unmeasured abuse than she had bestowed upon him in conversing with her mother. Passion and strong excitement seemed, indeed, to sustain her, for she betrayed little of that lassitude and exhaustion which the harassing events of the day might have been expected to produce in so sensitive a mind and a frame so delicate.

"In spite of your friendly premonition, I

will not deny that I am much distressed by your startling tidings," said Agatha-"but surprised I am not, for from the moment that I learnt our house was beset by a nightly spy, I felt assured that we should ultimately be brought into trouble. How we shall act in this emergency is a matter for consultation; that we shall confront it resolutely and, perhaps, successfully I have, however, little doubt, because we have that inexhaustible courage which springs from the approval of our own conscience, and consequently a just dependance upon that supreme Power which can free our hands from chains, and deliver our feet from the snare, even were we ten times more sorely beset. I feel for you rather than for myself; for not only have you more complicated trials to endure, but less of the health and bodily strength, and forgive me if I add, less also of the mental fortitude which might fit you to struggle with them.”

"Alas! I know that I am in every respect a poor weak creature," sighed Edith.

66

Nay, there you wrong yourself most fla

grantly, and me, too, if you impute any such meaning to my words. Methinks, indeed, I already perceive a strange alteration in you; for whereas I have ever hitherto seen you patient, mild, and gentle, you are now inflamed with passion, your eyes sparkle, your bosom heaves, and in speaking of Seagrave, you call him nothing less than the execrable wretch, the atrocious, remorseless, blood-thirsty villain, and other such opprobrious terms, which, although they may be merited, seem but little suited to the soft and mild-looking mouth that utters them. Whence comes this sudden bitterness of ungovernable animosity ?"

"It is not simple hatred, for I always disliked the man; nor is it altogether my detestation of his recently developed baseness; but when I think of him as one who aspires to become my husband, an irrepressible rage seems to fire my very brain, and my heart, my gorge heaves with an unutterable loathing and abhorrence, because-because-." She blushed deeply, broke off, and appeared by her gasping respiration to be struggling with some powerful

emotion that for the moment completely deprived her of speech.

"Because what, my little blushing, panting friend?" inquired her companion.

"Oh, my dearest Agatha ! do not despise me, do not hate me-do not look down with contempt upon your unfortunate Edith. I told you I was a poor weak creature, but you cannot have suspected the nature of my weakness. I can no longer conceal the secret of my heart from myself, and it may, perhaps, afford some solace to my overburthened bosom, if I may confess it to you. Know, then, that I abhor, I execrate Seagrave, not only upon his own account, but because I fear-I feel-Oh, Agatha, dearest Agatha! I love, passionately love, Stanley Forester !"

As she uttered these words, she buried her crimsoned face in her friend's bosom, burst into tears, and continued sobbing with an almost hysterical vehemence.

A momentary thrill electrified the heart of Agatha, as she heard this unexpected declaration of attachment to a man, upon whom she