have grown old at once; her very caresses appeared to burn. She
lingered and lingered, and still he kept her there; and when it was no
longer possible for her to go without disturbing the house, he led her
to a secret spiral stairway, which went from attic to cellar of that
stately old mansion, and which opened by one or more doors on each
landing, as his keen eye had found out. Descending this, he went forth
with her into the dark and silent night. The mist hung around the house;
the wet leaves fluttered and fell upon their cheeks; the water lapped
desolately against the pier. Philip found a carriage and sent her back
to Mrs. Meredith's, where she was staying during the brief absence of
John Lambert.

These concealed meetings, once begun, became an absorbing excitement.
She came several times, staying half an hour, an hour, two hours. They
were together long enough for suffering, never long enough for soothing.
It was a poor substitute for happiness. Each time she came, Malbone
wished that she might never go or never return. His warier nature was
feverish with solicitude and with self-reproach; he liked the excitement
of slight risks, but this was far too intense, the vibrations too
extreme. She, on the other hand, rode triumphant over waves of passion
which cowed him. He dared not exclude her; he dared not continue to
admit her; he dared not free himself; he could not be happy. The privacy
of the concealed stairway saved them from outward dangers, but not from
inward fears. Their interviews were first blissful, then anxious, then
sad, then stormy. It was at the end of such a storm that Emilia had
passed into one of those deathly calms which belonged to her physical
temperament; and it was under these circumstances that Hope had followed
Philip to the door.

XX. AUNT JANE TO THE RESCUE.

THE thing that saves us from insanity during great grief is that
there is usually something to do, and the mind composes itself to the
mechanical task of adjusting the details. Hope dared not look forward
an inch into the future; that way madness lay. Fortunately, it was plain
what must come first,--to keep the whole thing within their own walls,
and therefore to make some explanation to Mrs. Meredith, whose servants
had doubtless been kept up all night awaiting Emilia. Profoundly
perplexed what to say or not to say to her, Hope longed with her whole
soul for an adviser. Harry and Kate were both away, and besides, she
shrank