CHAPTER XVIII.

"A picture hath ruined souls, or raised them to commerce with the skies."-TUPPER.

IN the course of the next few days he felt his way with Sir Henry, gradually acquainting him with the various discoveries he had made of Mr. Wilson's plotting to deprive him of all those tried friends on whose integrity he could rely. He made a point of remaining much with the old man, and furnished him with amusement and intelligence of all that was going on, thus giving Mr. Wilson no opportunity of regaining his sway over the invalid. At Sir Henry's request he looked into his money affairs, which were not only in much confusion, but also proved the wisdom of Mr. Mauley's remonstrances; that gentleman was recalled, and all matters of business again placed in his hands; the misunder

standing between Sir Henry and his old medical friend was also removed, and he reinstated in his office. The Wilsons viewed, with consternation, the reforms which were gradually but steadily taking place under Edward Leslie's auspices, but still clung to the hope that when the Atlantic Ocean rolled between them, their waning power might yet be in some degree regained.

Sir Henry hailed with delight the tidings which his nephew communicated to him one morning, of a longer respite. Every day he became, to Edward's satisfaction, more averse to be left with the Wilsons, and deplored piteously the hardship of having to part with his nephew and only remaining comfort, at his advanced age, and in his shattered state of health.

On his return from a drive, one day, he broached the subject now uppermost in Edward's mind.

"Since you have procured this low, easy carriage for me, Edward, I quite enjoy my daily drives in the Park; I wonder why I was so stupid as never to have tried to get one before. Do you think it would be possible for me to get

to the Exhibition, with your assistance? I know it would not have been feasible had you been gone," inquired the old man.

"Certainly, uncle; I see no obstacle to prevent it. I should advise you, however, to wait till after the first few days, when the gallery is generally the most crowded, and also to choose the hours when most people are at luncheon," replied his nephew.

On his return from a walk to Westbourne Villas, on the third of May, where he had been to congratulate Adeline and Louis on the latter's triumphant success, Sir Henry exclaimed

"I must go to-morrow to the Exhibition! indeed, if I could have gone without you, I think I should have played you false, and done so to-day. Some acquaintances who have been calling here, give such a flaming account of it, especially of two pictures, about which all London is raving. The name of the artist is not known; some reports give the honour to an Englishman, and others to a foreigner."

"Yes, so I have heard to-day, sir; but I should think the painter will not long care to conceal himself," replied Edward Leslie; "and I agree with you, that we must no longer re

main behind the rest of the world. I hope we shall have as bright a day as this; the weather very much increases or impairs the effect of a painting. I hear the best of the two, or at least, the favourite, has already had many bidders, and is sold for a large sum.”

The following day was as clear and bright as could be desired by the interested parties, and Sir Henry was eagerly awaiting his carriage at noon. With the assistance of Edward's arm, he mounted the stairs ascending to the gallery, and several friends of his nephew being present, a seat was procured for him at last, after some difficulty, opposite the works of art.

The subject of the favourite one was "Jeptha's Vow," and the picture was certainly very striking. The other was an historical piece, representing Marguerite of Anjou, the unfortunate Henry the Sixth's queen, presenting her young son to the Robber of Hexham, and claiming protection for his youthful sovereign. The incidents afforded considerable capabilities, and had not been neglected by the artist. The whole effect was good and pleasing to the

eye.

The old man's delight was unbounded, and

VOL. I.

his vexation in proportion, when he found neither of the paintings were attainable; for he had already a very fair collection, was a good judge, and longed to possess one of the pictures which had created such a "furore" in the critical world. His thoughts could rest on no other subject for the remainder of that day; in the course of the evening, when Edward thought him asleep, he heard him sigh deeply, and presently he said, "There were several sweet faces in those paintings, but the expression of the girl haunts me; and what a lovely, princely air, the boy in the other had, not unlike what I remember you, Edward, when your poor father died."

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"Yes," replied his nephew, “I have seldom, ever, seen two more striking illustrations of the power of the painter. The stern warrior's illsuppressed woe, the mingled remorse and selfreproach in his eye, tells so forcibly the tale of the heavy desolation he has called down on his own head, by his rash, heedless vow. By his own deed deprived of the sunshine of his home, the hope of his house, and the solace of his old age, the firmness of the mouth shows the too well known hopelessness of his case; his child