of healing might prove of use to the victims
of the prison house on their release.

For the sisters and Dalaber those days were happily passed, despite
the anxiety they felt as to what might be passing in Oxford. To
them it seemed as though the clouds of peril which had hung so long
in their sky were rolling fast away. Dalaber was relieved from that
burden of remorse and bitter humiliation which had been weighing
upon him. Humble and contrite for past errors, past weaknesses, he
was, and would remain; but he had delivered his soul by his frank
admissions to the cardinal, and he could respect and admire the
dignity and clemency of that powerful man, and be grateful to him
for both.

Freda was his own, as she had never been before--her mind at rest,
her heart satisfied, her old esteem and admiration and trust
restored. Together they wandered through orchard, meadow, and
woodland, speaking to each other from the bottom of their hearts,
unveiling their most sacred thoughts and feelings, and sharing
every aspiration, every hope, every plan for present or future. The
world for them was a pure Arcadia; they almost forgot for the time
being the more troublous world without.

It was like a green oasis in their lives, like a haven of rest and
peace after driving storms and perilous hurricanes. They lived in
the sunshine, and thanked God in their hearts, and received that
rest and refreshment of body, soul, and spirit of which both stood
rather sorely in need.

Then on the fifth day, as the sun was drawing towards its setting,
Dr. Langton returned. They pressed eagerly round him to learn the
news. His face was thoughtful and very grave.

"They are bringing Master Clarke. He is not more than a few miles
distant. He will be here before dark. I have come to make all ready
for him."

"Is Arthur with him?" asked Magdalen, whose hands were clasped
about her father's arm.

"Yes; he is riding at a foot pace beside the litter. We have had to
carry him thus all the way, and by very gentle stages. At the first
I doubted if he could bear the journey. But he was himself desirous
to see Poghley once again, and we decided to risk it. He has borne
the journey almost better than I had feared."

"And now we will nurse him back to health and strength," cried
Magdalen, with earnestness. "Alas that so good a man should have to
suffer so sorely!"

Freda observed that her father turned his head slightly away. She
felt a sort of constrictio