s.
'I don't wonder at you,' she said; 'I wish I could do the same.'

'I wished it at first,' he answered; 'but I could not have gone without
a heavy heart.'

'Are you young enough to expect to go to any gaieties without a heavy
heart?'

'I am sorry for you,' said he, in his peculiar tone: 'I suppose I am
your elder.'

'I am almost twenty-_four_,' she said, with emphasis.

'Indeed! That must be the age for care, to judge by the change it has
worked in Jem Frost.'

The words were prompted by a keen, sudden desire to mark their effect;
but he failed to perceive any, for they were in a dark part of the
entry, and her face was turned away.

'Fitzjocelyn,' said the Earl, on the way home, 'do not think it
necessary to look at me whenever you receive an invitation. It makes
us both appear ridiculous, and you are in every respect your own
master.'

'I had rather not, thank you,' said Louis, in an almost provokingly
indifferent tone.

'It is full time you should assume your own guidance.'

'How little he knows how little that would suit him!' thought Louis,
sighing despondingly. 'Am I called on to sacrifice myself in
everything, and never even satisfy him?'

CHAPTER XVIII.

REST FOR THE WEARY.

Therefore, arm thee for the strife
All throughout this mortal life,
Soldier now and servant true,
Earth behind, and heaven in view.
REV. I. WILLIAMS.

The first impression on arriving at Northwold was, that the danger had
been magnified. Mrs. Frost's buoyant spirits had risen at the first
respite; and though there was a weight on Mary's brow, she spoke
cheerfully, and as if able to attend to other interests, telling Louis
of her father's wish for some good workmen to superintend the mines,
and asking him to consult his friends at Illershall on the subject.

Lord Ormersfield came down encouraged by his visit to the invalid, whom
he had found dressed and able to converse nearly as usual. She begged
him to come to dinner the next day, and spend the evening with her,
promising with a smile that if he would bring Louis, their aunt should
chaperon Mary.

When the Earl went upstairs after dinner, the other three closed round
the fire, and talked in a tranquil, subdued strain, on various topics,
sometimes grave, sometimes enlivened by the playfulness inherent in two
of the party. Aunt Kitty spoke of her earlier days, and Louis and Mary
ventured questions that they would have ord