The pursuit indeed was active, but, misled by some deceptive indications, it had taken a different course. As morning broke, a council of war was held. Jane was so sure of again falling into her brother's clutches, if once he discovered her retreat, that she urged them above all things first to secure that. "When once we are married," she said, "you, as my husband, will have a stronger claim than he can have; but till that, he can, in the name of the law, take me from you, and by declaring me to be insane, and by showing the certificate of my having been in a madhouse, every magistrate will assist him. Bill remembered that he knew an excellent widow, who held a small farm within three miles of, the town to which they were driving, and that there she might better remain concealed for a few days than in the town itself, where active inquiries would be sure to discover her. To Mrs. Simpkin's farm they drove, and fortunate it was they did so. PART III.-"NONE BUT THE BRAVE DESERVE THE FAIR." HARRY, on finding that Miss Templeworth could be carefully concealed at Mrs. Simpkin's, and after promising to return and see what further assistance he could render on the following day, jumped again into the cart, and proceeded with Bill to —, there to consult a lawyer. They had not arrived ten minutes in the town, when the squire's butler suddenly appeared before them, seized the horse's head, and ordered Harry to descend. "What's all this about?" said Harry. "You know well enough, so get down and follow me." "A joke's a joke, old fellow; but unless I understand yours, I shall cut you over the head, for stopping me on my way to business." "Don't oblige me to call for assistance! "I shall oblige you with a lash of my whip if you don't explain." A crowd collected. "Where is Miss Templeworth?" shouted the butler. "Miss Templeworth? How should I know?" "You know too well! " "Why, you're mad; what have I to do with your mistress? I am not her servant.' "It is you who helped her to escape! " "Ha ha! ha! “You 'll find it no laughing matter, I can tell you ! “Ha! ha! ha! Escape... what, then, she has escaped? I'm glad of it.” "You did it." "Did I? What proof have you of that? ' This question posed the butler. He saw that he had no evidence to bring forward, and that no magistrate would accept a mere accusation unaccompanied by the slightest proof. He resolved to change his mode of operation, and to watch Harry's movements. "Tell me honestly; give me your word of honour that Miss Templeworth is not with you-is not in any house belonging to your friends or relations, and I shall be satisfied." "I declare solemnly that she is not." "Then, good day. Excuse my having suspected you." Harry drove to the lawyer's. Having laid the whole case before him, this was the advice he received: Let "After all, Miss Templeworth may be insane, and it is right for us to assure ourselves of that, in order that we may defeat the brother. Your marriage would be annulled, if it could be proved that she was not sane at the time of its being contracted. me call upon her, in your name, and I will see how the matter really stands. Meanwhile, do you return to Aston, and pursue your business as usual; for I am convinced the butler is watching you, and wherever you go he will suspect that Miss Templeworth is concealed. Give me a note to her, informing her of your plans, and I will write to you as soon as all is ready.' Harry sat down to write. The thought then occurred to him, that it would be ungenerous to insist upon her fulfilment of the promise of marriage, so he inserted this final paragraph :— "As to what was talked of in the way of recompense, allow me to say, Miss, that I consider myself already paid for any trouble, by having safely got you away from the Hall. I have done but my duty. Marriage between us is out of the question. The more I think of it, the more I see that such a thing cannot be. You were not meant for such as me. You could blush for your husband, and I should be miserable. If ever I marry, and have children, I will ask you to be godmother, and a very good thing it be for me, I'm sure." This note he showed the lawyer, and asked him what he thought of it. "You 're a noble fellow!" said the lawyer, pressing his hand. In another hour Harry was again on the road with his friend; and in the afternoon was at work in his shop at Aston, as if nothing had happened. Watched he was; but all suspicion seemed to be foiled, and it was at last thought, that if he really had assisted the escape (which few doubted), he had so planned it, that she must have already found an asylum at a considerable distance, to which no clue at present existed. Three days after, a little boy came with a message to him, saying that a gentleman wanted to see him in the parlour of the "Blue Lion." He went and found the lawyer, who slipped into his hand a note. It contained these words: "Noble heart! The debt must and shall be paid. I have no fears. To refuse me would be to make me miserable, and it would undo all that you have done." The lawyer was more precise. He explained to Harry that it was really very desirable Miss Templeworth should have a husband to protect her, and that she was bent on marrying her deliverer. "It was the delicacy of a good and true man which made you refuse; and the refusal has made you still more estimable in her eyes. But to refuse now would be false delicacy.' Harry, as may be supposed, allowed himself to be persuaded. In a very short time Jane Templeworth became Mrs. Meadows. The struggle, however, with the brother was yet to come. Having established his right to demand in his own name a restitution of the property, he told the lawyer to procure a copy of the will; and, armed with that, he wrote a calm firm letter to the squire, intimating that unless the restitution were made peaceably, he should carry the matter into court, when the squire would have to answer other charges than that of simple withholding of property. He received no answer. Again he wrote, and this time more strongly. His letter was sent back unopened. Furious at this treatment, he called at the Hall in person, to confront the haughty villain, and to bring him to some decided explanation. Arrived there, he could not gain admittance. "The squ're is dying," said the butler, "and you have killed him." "Dying! "Yes. Ever since Miss Templeworth's escape he has been fast sinking; the idea of its being known that a Templeworth is insane preyed upon his spirits; and when he learned that she was married, and to whom, he exclaimed, My cup is full.' From that moment he has been confined to his bed.” "You are not deceiving me?” "Deceiving you for what purpose?" "To prevent my seeing your master." "Wait half an hour and Dr. Watson will be here; then ask him." It was too true. Shame was killing the miserable man. Harry understood the violence of his remorse when he came to reflect upon all that had transpired. 66 If," said he, "the mere consciousness of his crime made him so miserable while he kept his sister in his own power, what must be the effect of knowing her not only out of his hands, but his secret on the point of being published to the whole world! "" In ten days the news of Templeworth's death reached them. Except a few legacies to servants, the whole of his property was left to Jane. Harry now found himself the husband of a beautiful and accomplished woman, to whose cheeks health and happiness rapidly restored their bloom and freshness, and found himself, moreover, the possessor of a splendid estate. But he could not forget, nor could his neighbours forget, that Squire Meadows had been the Aston glazier; and he very soon quitted Ridley Hall, for a tour on the continent, with his wife, whom he worshipped. Perhaps the reader expects that I am going to wind up this tale with the received announcement that the hero and heroine had several children, and "lived very happily all their days." But as this is more like the conclusion of a fiction than that of a real story, I must disappoint him. 535 THOUGHTS ON VISITING HIGHGATE CEMETERY. A PLACE of pleasant walks, and grassy slopes, In grave-yards of our cities, rich and poor, Against admission to spare poverty. Man equals man, in dust laid side by side, But rich and poor here close in union lie, As tomb and tablet and the hillock tell; Wept for the dead the living loved too well; How glorious the prospect !—and, how far It spreads around, till blending with the sky, "Twixt which is seen, cloud-crowned, vast London Town. Upon a sloping bank, where you might look Of one tall tree and bowering shrubs, a nook Is seen with its sweet flowers, where late was laid That she-how true !-was a devoted wife. Devotion was her passion, and the power Melt into one another drops of dew. |