im, she started on the commencement of her operations.

She knew that John Bold was in London, and that, therefore, the scene
itself could not be enacted to-day; but she also knew that he was soon
to be home, probably on the next day, and it was necessary that some
little plan for meeting him should be concerted with his sister Mary.
When she got up to the house, she went, as usual, into the morning
sitting-room, and was startled by perceiving, by a stick, a greatcoat,
and sundry parcels which were lying about, that Bold must already have
returned.

"John has come back so suddenly," said Mary, coming into the room; "he
has been travelling all night."

"Then I'll come up again some other time," said Eleanor, about to beat
a retreat in her sudden dismay.

"He's out now, and will be for the next two hours," said the other;
"he's with that horrid Finney; he only came to see him, and he returns
by the mail train tonight."

Returns by the mail train tonight, thought Eleanor to herself, as she
strove to screw up her courage;--away again tonight;--then it must be
now or never; and she again sat down, having risen to go.

She wished the ordeal could have been postponed: she had fully made
up her mind to do the deed, but she had not made up her mind to do it
this very day; and now she felt ill at ease, astray, and in
difficulty.

"Mary," she began, "I must see your brother before he goes back."

"Oh yes, of course," said the other; "I know he'll be delighted to see
you;" and she tried to treat it as a matter of course, but she was not
the less surprised; for Mary and Eleanor had daily talked over John
Bold and his conduct, and his love, and Mary would insist on calling
Eleanor her sister, and would scold her for not calling Bold by his
Christian name; and Eleanor would half confess her love, but like a
modest maiden would protest against such familiarities even with the
name of her lover; and so they talked hour after hour, and Mary Bold,
who was much the elder, looked forward with happy confidence to the
day when Eleanor would not be ashamed to call her her sister. She
was, however, fully sure that just at present Eleanor would be much
more likely to avoid her brother than to seek him.

"Mary, I must see your brother, now, to-day, and beg from him a great
favour;" and she spoke with a solemn air, not at all usual to her;
and then she went on, and opened to her friend all her plan, her
well-weighed scheme for saving h