confidence into a hope that, by
his example, and under his guidance, she should be enabled to surmount
her failings. He shared this hope with her; pledged himself to her and
to himself to forbear as he would be forborne; to aid her, and to honour
her efforts; and he frequently declared, for his own satisfaction and
hers, that all must be safe between them while such generous candour was
the foundation of their intercourse,--a generosity and candour in whose
noble presence superficial failings of temper were as nothing. He
admitted that her temper was not perfect; and he must ever remember his
own foreknowledge of this: but he must also bear in mind whence this
foreknowledge was derived, and pay everlasting honour to the greatness
of soul to which he owed it.

An early day in December was fixed for the marriage, and no cause of
delay occurred. There happened to be no patients so dangerously ill as
to prevent Mr Hope's absence for his brief wedding trip; the
work-people were as nearly punctual as could be expected, and the house
was all but ready. The wedding was really to take place, therefore,
though Mrs Rowland gave out that in her opinion the engagement had been
a surprisingly short one; that she hoped the young people knew what they
were about, while all their friends were in such a hurry; that it was a
wretched time of year for a wedding; and that, in her opinion, it would
have been much pleasanter to wait for fine spring weather.

As it happened, the weather was finer than it had been almost any day of
the preceding spring. The day before the wedding was sunny and mild as
an October morning, and the fires seemed to be blazing more for show
than use. When Mr Hope dropped in at the Greys', at two o'clock, he
found the family dining. It was a fancy of Mrs Grey's to dine early on
what she considered busy days. An early dinner was, with her, a
specific for the despatch of business. On this day, the arrangement was
rather absurd; for the great evil of the time was, that everything was
done, except what could not be transacted till the evening; and the
hours were actually hanging heavy on the hands of some members of the
family. Morris had packed Hester's clothes for her little journey, and
put out of sight all the mourning of both sisters, except what they
actually had on. Sophia's dress for the next morning was laid out, in
readiness to be put on, and the preparations for the breakfast were as
complete as th