one another; nay, do not turn away, Charlotte; there
ought to be no shame in confessing a virtuous attachment to a worthy
object.'

"Charlotte raised her eyes, moist with tears, and tried to smile; but
her head sank back to its resting place, and her blushing face was
hidden on his knee.

"'Now I am perfectly satisfied of the warmth and sincerity of your
affections, and will do all in my power to bring them to a happy issue;
but there are some difficulties in the way which must first be
surmounted, before you can hope to realize your wishes. You have
wealth, Philip, and moral worth; these ought to be sufficient to
satisfy the objections of the most fastidious. But your birth is
obscure, and your connexions not such as most old families would wish
to incorporate with their own. You will ask me how I came by this
knowledge. It does not matter; for these worldly objections have no
weight with me. It was, however, told to me by one well acquainted with
your history--who, as a guardian to Charlotte, will, I fear, never
consent to your marriage.'

"'There are few persons with whom I am sufficiently intimate to obtain
this knowledge,' I cried. 'His name--tell me his name.'

"'Robert Moncton--Sir Alexander's cousin and man of business.'

"I felt a cold shudder thrill through me. The hopes lately so gay and
buoyant shrunk back faded and blackened to my heart. 'Yet why should I
fear this man?' I argued; but I did fear him--like the ghost of the
dead Caesar in the camp of Brutus: he was my evil genius. I turned very
faint and asked for a glass of water.

"Charlotte gave it to me with a trembling hand. The brother and sister
exchanged glances of surprise; suspicion was aroused by my emotion.

"'Strange!' said Charlotte, musingly: 'he was always kind to my brother
and me. What have you to say against him?'

"'Not much; but I have a secret antipathy, a horror of this man, though
I never saw him but once, and that when quite a boy. I had a quarrel
with his son when a lad, which produced a rupture between Sir Alexander
and me, and neither father nor son ever forgave the imagined injury.'

"Charlotte looked thoughtful. It was evident that she was fond of her
guardian; while Cornelius continued the conversation, which was to me
both painful and embarrassing.

"I know Mr. Moncton to be implacable when he takes a dislike, and
considers himself ill-used, but we always have regarded him as a just
and honest man. The circumstance