you both satisfaction for the wrongs you have
endured; but it must choose its own means of doing so, and its own
time."
"It _hath_ chosen the means, and the time is coming quickly," cried the
Puritan, his eye again kindling with fanatical light. "'The Lord will
cut off from Israel head and tail.'"
"These things are riddles to me," observed Jocelyn, who had listened to
what was passing with great uneasiness. "I would solicit an
explanation?"
"You shall have it, my son," Hugh Calveley replied. "But not now. My
hour for solitary prayer and self-communion is come, and I must withdraw
to my chamber. Go forth into the garden, Jocelyn--and do thou attend
him, Aveline. I will join you when my devotions are ended."
So saying he quitted the room, while the youthful pair went forth as
enjoined.
CHAPTER XVIII.
How the promise was cancelled.
It was a large garden, once fairly laid out and planted, but now sadly
neglected. The broad terrace walk was overgrown with weeds; the stone
steps and the carved balusters were broken in places, and covered with
moss; the once smooth lawn was unconscious of the scythe; the parterres
had lost their quaint devices; and the knots of flowers--tre-foil,
cinque-foil, diamond, and cross-bow--were no longer distinguishable in
their original shapes. The labyrinths of the maze were inextricably
tangled, and the long green alleys wanted clearing out.
But all this neglect passed unnoticed by Jocelyn, so completely was he
engrossed by the fair creature at his side. Even the noise of the May
Games, which, temporarily interrupted by Hugh Calveley, had recommenced
with greater vigour than ever--the ringing of the church bells, the
shouts of the crowd, and the sounds of the merry minstrelsy, scarcely
reached his ear. For the first time he experienced those delicious
sensations which new-born love excites within the breast; and the
enchantment operated upon him so rapidly and so strongly, that he was
overpowered by its spell almost before aware of it. It seemed that he
had never really lived till this moment; never, at least, comprehended
the bliss afforded by existence in the companionship of a being able to
awaken the transports he now experienced. A new world seemed suddenly
opened to him, full of love, hope, sunshine, of which he and Aveline
were the sole inhabitants. Hitherto his life had been devoid of any
great emotion. The one feeling latterly pervading it had been a sense of
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