quaintance, she blushed deeply, and felt agitated and embarrassed.

Their interview was a long one, Sir John leading her away from the theme of her own sorrows, to speak of his sister; and he probably was never so struck with her charms, as when she poured out her love and her admiration before him. The "eloquent blood" mounted into her cheeks, and the fine feminine enthusiasm of her character was fully displayed. Words, such as woman can alone speak-ideas, such as dwell alone in woman's mind-looks, such as women can alone look-but words, ideas and looks which find answers in man's heart, made Sir John conscious, that the being before him was one full of enchanting grace and tenderness, and he left her, after promising to write her ladyship on the subject of her uneasiness, with a strange mingling of pain and pleasure.

To a man of Sir John's moral temperament a being like Anne would have been, at all times, and under any circumstances, a subject of interestbut now, in his solitude, when abstracted from many of the realities of life, which might have interposed between him and his imagination, and in the peculiar frame of mind generated by seclusion, she came over his spirit as a creature—

There was nothing near him to break the spell, -nothing to call away his attention-nothing to turn away his thoughts, and she became

"Fair as a star, when only one

Is shining in the sky."

If he endeavoured to analyze his feelings, he imputed them to her forlorn and desolate lot, being,

as it were, deprived of the ordinary ties of humanity-a stray waif upon the world's wide common-a fragment detached from the mass of society-but the basis, the principle, was, that she was a lovely woman, and this was enough to account for his anxiety.

He wrote, however, to his sister, urging her to some steps, in order to place Anne near her person, and in the mean time, determined to constitute himself guardian and protector of her innocence.

CHAPTER XIII.

FARTHER TRIALS.

having waste ground enough Shall we desire to raze sanctuary, And pitch our evils there."

Measure for Measure.

On the morning following Sir John's visit to Anne, he was roused from a reverie by the approach of a carriage and four with out riders. În a few minutes he was shaking his friend the Duke of Eversfield by the hand, and welcoming him to Vale Hall. The duke had been one of his town intimates, as they had many tastes in common, and were both members of a particular clique. He was a fine baronial figure, younger than Sir John by some years, and was a noted leader in the circles of fashion.

"Well, Scarsbrook, how in the name of wonder have you contrived to vegetate, in this most uncivilized neighbourhood-I have hardly seen a single habitable spot, for the last twenty miles. Your old hall looks well, and I trust your preserves are well stocked, as I am on a shooting excursion, and so have dropped in to beat up your quarters."

"Why, pretty fair I believe, but you know I am no great follower of the 'feræ naturæ.'"

"We will soon see, my dogs are coming up with Tom, and we will take the field to-morrow." After dinner the duke and his host made their arrangement for the campaign, and for several days they committed havoc in the enclosures of

the estate. His grace was a capital shot, and one of those fine rattling characters, that make excellent field and fire-side companions; he had also a cultivated understanding, had read, travelled and seen the world in more than one of its aspects, so that the time of the baronet hung less heavily-and though not an hour passed without his thinking of Anne, above a week was suffered to elapse before he repeated his visit.

Anne had in the interim undergone a severe trial -news of Sir John's visit having been conveyed to Manford, he used it as a pretext for being angry with her, and as a cloak to cover his own injustice; hitherto he had viewed Anne as something too spotless for suspicion, but now, the venom of continued misrepresentation had done its work; he visited her in company with his wife, and reproaches and charges were rudely made against her, in language, to which happily, she had been long a stranger.

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Hussy," said Mrs. Manford, "that you are, to be sending for Sir John-a pretty thing to be sure, next I suppose he will carry you to the Hall-a nice thing, that nobody but him will serve your turn. Oh, you little hussy!—but we'll turn you out, that we will, my young missis-we'll send you tramping."

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Why, Anne, thee sees," continued Manford, "this is a touch above common-I did think thee was a better girl-hang it, if thee will be bad, why go thy ways, Sir John will, I dare say, find thee a nook somewhere-od's, me! what will her ladyship say?"

În vain Anne wept, in vain she explained, no attention was paid to her, and the Manfords left her drowned in tears, John telling her that if the baronet visited her again, he would turn her out penniless-for friendless she felt already.

The object of this interdiction being utterly unconscious of it, stopped in company with the Duke of Eversfield, at the cottage. They did not alight, as Sir John was only desirous of knowing if she were well, and to express his hopes that he should hear from Lady Lucy in the course of a week. Anne was confused, partly on his account, and partly on account of Manford's threats, which were of such a nature, and on such a subject, that she would not have dared to hint at them, even had he been alone. After they had ridden out of hearing, the duke broke out

"I admire your taste, Scarsbrook-she is a sweet girl-and so the mystery is out—well, never fear, I am an admirer of nature myself-a moderate reader-think occasionally-and with these resources might perhaps manage to rusticate for a month or so, with tolerable grace. But you have found out a natural beauty, which might well reconcile one to a hut and a desert. She strongly reminds me of Mary Harcourt, she has the same delicacy and spiritualized expression of face."

"Why, my lord," answered Scarsbrook, “you surely cannot think that a creature so pure as she is can excite any other emotion in me, but pity for her fate-Lucy is extremely fond of her, and it is on that account only, that I call to see her." And he detailed her history to him.

"My God!" exclaimed the duke, "is it possible that a traffic so infamous exists amongst ourselves, and that this girl has been its victim-I have always hated the very name of 'foundling hospitals,' I detest institutions which hold out inducement for baseness-what a disgrace to a civilized country, to one advanced so far as our own is, in the progress of social refinement; I must see thi girl again-there is a kind of romance about her, that relieves the dull tedium of the lives, actions