es that had been there before, and which had been kept as
antiquarian relics in my brother's present residence, and now, in all
haste, transported back again.

The old woman brought my supper and Arthur's into the parlour, and told
me, with all due formality, that 'the master desired his compliments to
Mrs. Graham, and he had prepared the rooms as well as he could upon so
short a notice; but he would do himself the pleasure of calling upon her
to-morrow, to receive her further commands.'

I was glad to ascend the stern-looking stone staircase, and lie down in
the gloomy, old-fashioned bed, beside my little Arthur. He was asleep in
a minute; but, weary as I was, my excited feelings and restless
cogitations kept me awake till dawn began to struggle with the darkness;
but sleep was sweet and refreshing when it came, and the waking was
delightful beyond expression. It was little Arthur that roused me, with
his gentle kisses. He was here, then, safely clasped in my arms, and
many leagues away from his unworthy father! Broad daylight illumined the
apartment, for the sun was high in heaven, though obscured by rolling
masses of autumnal vapour.

The scene, indeed, was not remarkably cheerful in itself, either within
or without. The large bare room, with its grim old furniture, the
narrow, latticed windows, revealing the dull, grey sky above and the
desolate wilderness below, where the dark stone walls and iron gate, the
rank growth of grass and weeds, and the hardy evergreens of preternatural
forms, alone remained to tell that there had been once a garden,--and the
bleak and barren fields beyond might have struck me as gloomy enough at
another time; but now, each separate object seemed to echo back my own
exhilarating sense of hope and freedom: indefinite dreams of the far past
and bright anticipations of the future seemed to greet me at every turn.
I should rejoice with more security, to be sure, had the broad sea rolled
between my present and my former homes; but surely in this lonely spot I
might remain unknown; and then I had my brother here to cheer my solitude
with his occasional visits.

He came that morning; and I have had several interviews with him since;
but he is obliged to be very cautious when and how he comes; not even his
servants or his best friends must know of his visits to Wildfell--except
on such occasions as a landlord might be expected to call upon a stranger
tenant--lest suspicion should be excit