till moved.

'Thank you, Sir, yes; I've been down here twice when the sun was out,' he
said, as if it were a grand undertaking; but then, with a sudden smile,
'and poor Caesar knew me, Sir; he came right across the road, and wagged
his tail, and licked my hand.'

'Good old Caesar! You were his best friend, Paul.--Well, Mrs. King, this
is a blessing!'

Mrs. King looked sadly worn out with nursing, and her eyes were full of
tears.

'Yes, Sir,' she said, 'indeed it is. My poor darling has been so much
afraid he was too much set on your coming home, and yet so patient and
quiet about it.'

'Then you ventured to wait?'

And Mr. Cope heard that the attack of inflammation had given way to
remedies, but that Alfred was so much weakened, that they could not raise
him again. He was sustained by as much nourishment as they could give
him: but the disease had made great progress, and Mr. Blunt did not think
that he could last many days. His eldest sister had come for a fortnight
from her place, and was a great comfort to them all. 'And so is Paul,'
said Mrs. King, looking for him kindly; 'I don't know what we should do
without his help up-stairs and down. And, Sir, yesterday,' she added,
colouring a good deal--'I beg your pardon, but I thought, maybe, you'd
like to hear it--Alfred would have nobody else up with him in morning
church-time--and made him read the most--of that Service, Sir.'

Mr. Cope's eyes glistened, and he said something huskily of being glad
that Alfred could think of it.

It further appeared that Alfred had wished very much to see Miss Selby
again, and that Mrs. King had sent the two sisters to the Grange to talk
it over with Mrs. Crabbe, and word had been sent by Harold that morning
that the young lady would come in the course of the afternoon.

Mr. Cope followed Mrs. King up-stairs; Alfred's face lighted up as his
sister Matilda made way for the clergyman. He was very white, and his
breath was oppressed; but his look had changed very much--it had a
strange, still sort of brightness and peace about it. He spoke in very
low tones, just above a whisper, and smiled as Mr. Cope took his hand,
and spoke to him.

'Thank you, Sir. It is very nice,' he said.

'I thank God that He has let you wait for me,' said Mr. Cope.

'I am glad,' said Alfred. 'I did want to pray for it; but I thought,
perhaps, if it was not His Will, I would not--and then what you said. And
now He is making it all happy.'