CHAPTER XVI.

I have sold all my trumpery; not a counterfeit stone, not a riband, glass, pomander, brooch, table, book, ballad, knife, tape, glove, shoe-tye, bracelet, horn, ring, to keep my pack from fasting; they throng who shall buy first; as if my trinkets had been hallowed, and brought a benediction to the buyer: by which means, I saw whose purse was best in picture; and what I saw to my own use I remembered.-SHAKSPEARE.

What man art thou, that thus bescreen'd in night,
So stumblest on my counsel ?

SHAKSPEARE.

TIME passed on; Viola was daily acquiring strength; and we were, to all appearance, the same as we had been before that hapless episode. We were sitting at breakfast one morning; Mrs. Sidney was attentively perusing a printed circular; interrupting herself every now and then by joyous exclamations of:

"Well, I never read any thing so cheap; rich satin at 3s. a yard, wide blonde at 1s. 8d., chintzes at

7s. the dress, latest patterns. 'Pon my word, these are bargains; let me see the name, 'Fleeceall and Co., Cheapside.' Cousin Dorothy, you must go there to-day for me; should you be tired, you can take a coach one way, either there or back; but, as you are a good walker, I think it will be only a pleasant trip for you. The younger girls want regularly rigging, for the summer: Viola's wardrobe is well stocked"—and Mrs. Sidney sighed deeply. "If you go early, you will be home in time for dinner. Only make a bargain with the people, that they shall send home the things; it will be quite worth their while, and it will save your taking a coach."

Mrs. Sidney furnished me with a long list of articles, that were quite indispensable. She prudently added a few things that might be wanted at some future period, and which I was, on no account, to let slip through my hands, if I could but secure them at reasonable prices; and she invested me with full powers to purchase any article of any genus, species, or variety (whether or not I could discover the use to which, either presently or remotely, it might be applied), if the same were but offered me as a very tempting bargain.

Mrs. Sidney, however, had the precaution to furnish me with a stated sum, which I was strictly forbidden to exceed. Thus accredited, I set forth on my mission; and arrived at a dark, dingy,

pestiferous shop, lumbered with articles, whose colour, texture, and quality, were alike indiscernible, in the "chiaro scuro of a semiblockaded window, and cumbered with shopmen, who rushed about in tumultuous confusion. as though in momentary dread of an execution, Alas! long before the indispensable articles were purchased, my stock of cash, like the days of Barbauld's beggar, was dwindling to its shortest span; the cheap satins turned out to be nothing more than thin Persians, the blonde had been all bought up, and the chintzes proved cottons of the coarsest description, that a maid of all work would have scorned. In one thing only I was successful: the men promised to send home the goods I had purchased; and, sick and faint from the closeness of the atmosphere, my head aching with the deafening clamours, I left the shop. It was not till I got into the street, that I perceived the day was rapidly drawing to a close. I walked very fast, but it was dusk ere I reached my own neighbourhood, and the lamps were not yet lighted.

This is the most unpleasant of all hours for a woman to walk alone; when, in the dim and partial light, age and ugliness may be mistaken for beauty, and a rusty black gown and yellowishwhitish swan's-down tippet, may be exalted into the "purpled, ermined robes of royalty." Accord

ingly, I felt that I had, for some time, been dodged. I walked on yet faster, but the footsteps gained on me. At length, in very despair, I stood still, and threw back my veil; for I thought, if my pursuer can but a gain a glimpse of my face, I am safe from all further molestation.

Quickly he advanced. I knew him well; he knew me, too. I would have fled, but retreat was now impossible.

"Yes, it is you," said Mr. Lyndham; "I thought I could not be mistaken. Do not hurry on so; I must speak with you”—and he forcibly put my arm within his. “She has been dying, has she not? Will you not answer me? I know you hate me; I knew you always hated me; but she used to say, that the wretched had ever claims on your sympathy; and where will you find one more wretched than I ?"

"Mr. Lyndham," I replied, "you are unwise to detain me, you have done mischief enough already; would you yet work more? What is the use of your thus pursuing her, thus hovering near the house. Mr. Sidney will never listen to you,

He interrupted me. "I know it, for I wrote to him mentioning my affection for his daughter, and soliciting an interview; I wrote to him in the humblest terms; I demeaned myself before him;

I crouched in the dust, and I received an answer,— such an answer! A man whose soul is in his purse; cold, calculating, mercenary."

"Hush!" I said, "Mr. Lyndham, I cannot, will not listen to this."

I strove to free myself from his grasp, but he said, "Have patience, Madam, I shall not detain you long; I have but to make one request, it is the last favour I shall ever demand at your hands; you will not then I think refuse to grant it. I am going away for years."

"I am very glad indeed to hear it," I exclaimed; "it is the best thing you can do."

"Thank you," he said, bitterly. "Tell me, why have you taken such a dislike to me? or rather, why, from the first moment I saw you, did you regard me with looks of defiance and mistrust; why have you constantly rejected my every proffered civility? Was it a crime to love her? Say rather, how could I have steeled my heart against such peerless excellence, such unrivalled fascination?"

I had by this time arrived in my own street; I bounded forward, and attained the steps of the door.

"Take this," said Mr. Lyndham, thrusting a letter into my hands; "it contains only my farewell." I was such a soft-hearted fool that I had already