ney was a very long one, and we were all weary enough before
the close of it. It was far into the night when we reached the town of
L--, and still we were seven miles from our journey's end; and there was
no more coaching, nor any conveyance to be had, except a common cart, and
that with the greatest difficulty, for half the town was in bed. And a
dreary ride we had of it, that last stage of the journey, cold and weary
as we were; sitting on our boxes, with nothing to cling to, nothing to
lean against, slowly dragged and cruelly shaken over the rough, hilly
roads. But Arthur was asleep in Rachel's lap, and between us we managed
pretty well to shield him from the cold night air.

At last we began to ascend a terribly steep and stony lane, which, in
spite of the darkness, Rachel said she remembered well: she had often
walked there with me in her arms, and little thought to come again so
many years after, under such circumstances as the present. Arthur being
now awakened by the jolting and the stoppages, we all got out and walked.
We had not far to go; but what if Frederick should not have received my
letter? or if he should not have had time to prepare the rooms for our
reception, and we should find them all dark, damp, and comfortless,
destitute of food, fire, and furniture, after all our toil?

At length the grim, dark pile appeared before us. The lane conducted us
round by the back way. We entered the desolate court, and in breathless
anxiety surveyed the ruinous mass. Was it all blackness and desolation?
No; one faint red glimmer cheered us from a window where the lattice was
in good repair. The door was fastened, but after due knocking and
waiting, and some parleying with a voice from an upper window, we were
admitted by an old woman who had been commissioned to air and keep the
house till our arrival, into a tolerably snug little apartment, formerly
the scullery of the mansion, which Frederick had now fitted up as a
kitchen. Here she procured us a light, roused the fire to a cheerful
blaze, and soon prepared a simple repast for our refreshment; while we
disencumbered ourselves of our travelling-gear, and took a hasty survey
of our new abode. Besides the kitchen, there were two bedrooms, a
good-sized parlour, and another smaller one, which I destined for my
studio, all well aired and seemingly in good repair, but only partly
furnished with a few old articles, chiefly of ponderous black oak, the
veritable on