imself at a distance, and
listens to the sound of her voice, as she utters the
responses. This is Robert Harding; he visits the poor she
visits; he hears the blessings they pour upon her; he talks of
her to Mrs. Tracy; and he hopes that the time will come, when
he may conceal his love so well, that she will speak to him
familiarly again, as in the days of their childhood.

As time went by, its soothing effect told upon these mourners;
those sorrows which had at first driven them to solitude as a
refuse, when their acuteness was past, drew them together
again. That mute sympathy which the heart can scarcely value
during the first bitterness of its grief, became to each of
them a source of consolation. Mrs. Middleton was to Edward and
to Alice an object of tender solicitude. How often _he_ felt
that when they spoke together of things indifferent, or
listened to music, or looked upon the beauties of nature, the
same thought was in their minds, the same image before their
eyes. On these occasions she sometimes pressed his hand in
silence, and both felt, without saying it, that their treasure
was in Heaven.

In Mrs. Middleton's features, in the tone of her voice, in the
expression of her face, Alice found a resemblance to the
husband of her youth, which gave her an interest in her eyes
which no other human being could have had; and in the tender
and earnest affection which united them, both found their
highest earthly comfort. They had learnt--one, after striving
for it long and vainly,--the other, on the threshold of
life,--that happiness is not the portion of earth; but they
looked beyond it; and found, in the meantime, that each
returning day, even to the deepest mourner, brings new
blessings in the shape

"Of perils past, of sins forgiven,
Of thoughts of God, and hopes of Heaven."

THE END.

PRINTED BY BERNH. TAUCHNITZ JUN.

Typographical errors silently corrected:

Chapter 4: =inlcined to= replaced by =inclined to=

Chapter 5: =Middleton, You must speak= replaced by =Midleton.
You must speak=

Chapter 5: =up all may courage= replaced by =up all my
courage=

Chapter 8: =I ventured to approch= replaced by =I ventured to
approach=

Chapter 8: =This book was the "Christan Year;"= replaced by
=This book was the "Christian Year;"=

Chapter 8: =hetwixt you and me= replaced by =betwixt you and
me=

Chapter 10: =to say before Alice: that= replaced by =to say
before Alice that=

Cha