. Good God! to allow a girl to influence me like this, day after
day, till I am jealous of her very brother. A lady's dependent, a waif,
a helpless thing entirely at the mercy of the world; yes, curse it; that
is just why it is; that fact of her being so helpless against the blows
of circumstances which renders her so deliciously sweet!'

He paused opposite his house. Should he get his horse saddled? No.

He went down the drive and out of the park, having started to proceed to
an outlying spot on the estate concerning some draining, and to call at
the potter's yard to make an arrangement for the supply of pipes. But a
remark which Miss Aldclyffe had dropped in relation to Cytherea was
what still occupied his mind, and had been the immediate cause of his
excitement at the sight of her brother. Miss Aldclyffe had meaningly
remarked during their intercourse, that Cytherea was wildly in love with
Edward Springrove, in spite of his engagement to his cousin Adelaide.

'How I am harassed!' he said aloud, after deep thought for half-an-hour,
while still continuing his walk with the greatest vehemence. 'How I am
harassed by these emotions of mine!' He calmed himself by an effort.
'Well, duty after all it shall be, as nearly as I can effect it.
"Honesty is the best policy;"' with which vigorously uttered resolve
he once more attempted to turn his attention to the prosy object of his
journey.

The evening had closed in to a dark and dreary night when the steward
came from the potter's door to proceed homewards again. The gloom did
not tend to raise his spirits, and in the total lack of objects to
attract his eye, he soon fell to introspection as before. It was along
the margin of turnip fields that his path lay, and the large leaves of
the crop struck flatly against his feet at every step, pouring upon them
the rolling drops of moisture gathered upon their broad surfaces; but
the annoyance was unheeded. Next reaching a fir plantation, he mounted
the stile and followed the path into the midst of the darkness produced
by the overhanging trees.

After walking under the dense shade of the inky boughs for a few
minutes, he fancied he had mistaken the path, which as yet was scarcely
familiar to him. This was proved directly afterwards by his coming
at right angles upon some obstruction, which careful feeling with
outstretched hands soon told him to be a rail fence. However, as the
wood was not large, he experienced no alarm about fi