e trees, while the long grass rustled under the tread of many
feet.

Lord Earle and Hubert Airlie were together. Kindly hearts knew not
which to pity the more--the father whose heart seemed broken by his
sorrow, or the young lover so suddenly bereft of all he loved best.
From far and near friends and strangers gathered to that mournful
ceremony; from one to another the story flew how beautiful she was, and
how dearly the young lord had loved her, how she had wandered out of
the house in her sleep and fallen into the lake.

They laid her to rest in the green church-yard at the foot of the
hill--the burial place of the Earles.

* * * * *

The death bell had ceased ringing; the long white blinds of the Hall
windows were drawn up; the sunshine played once more in the rooms; the
carriages of sorrowing friends were gone; the funeral was over. Of the
beautiful, brilliant Beatrice Earle there remained but a memory.

They told afterward how Gaspar Laurence watched the funeral procession,
and how he had lingered last of all in the little church-yard. He
never forgot Beatrice; he never looked into the face of another woman
with love on his own.

It was all over, and on the evening of that same day a quiet, deep
sleep came to Lillian Earle. It saved her life; the wearied brain
found rest. When she awoke, the lurid light of fever died out of her
eyes, and they looked in gratified amazement upon Lady Dora who sat by
her side.

"Mamma," she whispered, "am I at home at Knutsford?"

Dora soothed her, almost dreading the time when memory should awaken in
full force. It seemed partly to return then, for Lillian gave vent to
a wearied sigh, and closed her eyes.

Then Dora saw a little of wild alarm cross her face. She sprang up
crying:

"Mamma, is it true? Is Beatrice dead?"

"It is true, my darling," whispered her mother, gently. "Dead, but not
lost to us--only gone before."

The young girl recovered very slowly. The skillful doctor in
attendance upon her sad that, as soon as it was possible to remove her,
she should be carried direct from her room to a traveling carriage,
taken from home, and not allowed to return to the Hall until she was
stronger and better.

They waited until that day came, and meanwhile Lady Dora Earle learned
to esteem Lord Airlie very dearly. He seemed to find more comfort with
her than with any one else. They spoke but of one subject--the loved,
lost Beatrice