r!' replied Sir John,
pointing to Lady Corbet, who had sunk nearly lifeless on a sofa.

"The sight appeared to rouse Sir Henry. He flew to her, and, by the
tenderest appellations, endeavoured to recall her senses. Recollection
soon returned, when, clasping his hand--

"'Oh, Harry!' she cried, 'I needed not this last instance of your
indifference to show how little claim I had to your regard. The ties to
a mother with you are now forgotten; it once was otherwise: but Corbet
will follow the steps of his father!'

"Sir Henry regarded her wildly--'My father, Lady Corbet!----' he
stopped, his lip trembled, and quitting her, he paced the room with
agitated steps. Lady Corbet burst into tears--.

"'Harry, do not, I entreat you, torture me with this behaviour, I have
not merited it. To you I have looked for that consolation and support
which, as a widow and a mother, I had a right to expect. How it has been
rendered, I need not say. Silence and mystery have been the return to
my solicitude--your desertion in the hour of sorrow, the reward of my
tenderness!'

"Sobs impeded her utterance--she could not proceed; but Sir John, with
great strength of reasoning, endeavoured to convince Sir Henry, how
wrong his conduct had been, and to persuade him to act consistently with
the duty he owed his mother, and to his own character, in the eyes of
the world. The young gentleman listened to him some time in silence; a
sigh only now and then swelled his bosom. At last, on Sir John urging
him to return to Wales, with his mother, he looked earnestly in his
face, and with a tone of voice highly impressive, pronounced the simple
denial--'I cannot, Sir John, return to the seat of my forefathers!'

"'No!' said Sir John. 'Whither then would you go?'

"Sir Henry waved his hand--. 'The world is before me!'

"I had been, during this time, endeavouring to soothe Lady Corbet; but
on hearing the replies of her son, she again hastened to him, threw her
arm round his neck, and, leaning her head on his shoulder, wept in
silence. Sir Henry gently disengaged himself, and reconducting her to
the sofa, seated himself by her.

"'Why, my mother,' he said, 'do you wish my return to Corbet Hall? Do
not, I conjure you, thus wantonly seek to plunge me into greater
unhappiness. Of my wretchedness you have been a witness: of what I have
suffered in my mind, you can form no idea! To me, the spot where my
father expired is a place of horror--of distraction! to w