justly."

"My dear brother--"

"No, no, John, I was wrong to accuse you. I should have better known
your nobleness. Henceforth let us stand on equal ground; I do not want
an unwilling bride, and if you can win her love from me, take her,
though it drive me mad."

A gleam of pleasure passed over Sir John's countenance as he replied,

"Be it so, my brother, it is but honorable; yet will I at once resign
all hope, and leave the country if you but will it so."

"Sir John, have you reason to think that Helen loves you?"

"She has never said so, but I did not think she looked coldly upon
me."

"She is 'false, false as hell!'"

"My dear William, however this suite terminate, any thing in my power
shall be done for you. If the estates were not entailed, I would at
once give you a deed for half of them, and then I should have no
advantage over you in wealth or position. Here is an order for a
hundred thousand pounds."

"Sir John I will accept nothing; if I lose Helen, I shall have no more
to live for, and I warn you, if I become mad from disappointment, do
not cross my path, or I know not the consequence."

"You do not threaten me."

I felt the turbulent passions of my nature rising within me, and
fearing that I should lose all self-command, I rushed from the room,
and entering the silent park, I wandered from grove to grove till the
cool air of the night had calmed my raging spirit, when I sought my
own chamber.

I had never told the worthy curate of my love for his daughter, and
Helen had never been accustomed to depend on him for advice or
consolation. It was to her mother that she had always turned for both,
and that mother had died but a year before the return of my brother.
Mr. Burnett was a quiet student, passionately fond of his books, as
innocent of the world as a child, only fretful and peevish when any
thing occurred to disturb the quiet monotony of his existence, and
apparently unconscious that his little Helen had grown from a child
to a woman. His mind was wholly wrapped up in his studies, even at his
meals it was abstracted, and he retired hastily to his closet. Helen
had no inclination to disturb the serenity of his life, until it
became absolutely necessary that he should be made acquainted with her
engagement to me; and I had been too thoughtless of all but my own
happiness to intrude upon his privacy, confident that his sanction to
our marriage would not be refused whenever demanded.

I had y