o men, and above
all, the known identity of the Franciscan, satisfied Heathcote as
fully as anything short of complete publicity could have done. And his
conviction was not a mistaken one.

Dwyer, before he took his leave, impressed upon Heathcote the necessity
of keeping the affair so secret as to render it impossible that it
should reach Colonel O'Mara's ears, an event which would have been
attended with ruinous consequences to all parties. He refused, also,
to permit Heathcote to see his daughter, and even to tell him where she
was, until circumstances rendered it safe for him to visit her.

Heathcote was a harsh and sullen man; and though his temper was anything
but tractable, there was so much to please, almost to dazzle him, in the
event, that he accepted the terms which Dwyer imposed upon him without
any further token of disapprobation than a shake of the head, and a
gruff wish that 'it might prove all for the best.'

Nearly two months had passed, and young O'Mara had not yet departed
for England. His letters had been strangely few and far between; and in
short, his conduct was such as to induce Colonel O'Mara to hasten his
return to Ireland, and at the same time to press an engagement, which
Lord ----, his son Captain N----, and Lady Emily had made to spend some
weeks with him at his residence in Dublin.

A letter arrived for young O'Mara, stating the arrangement, and
requiring his attendance in Dublin, which was accordingly immediately
afforded.

He arrived, with Dwyer, in time to welcome his father and his
distinguished guests. He resolved to break off his embarrassing
connection with Lady Emily, without, however, stating the real motive,
which he felt would exasperate the resentment which his father and Lord
---- would no doubt feel at his conduct.

He strongly felt how dishonourably he would act if, in obedience to
Dwyer's advice, he seemed tacitly to acquiesce in an engagement which
it was impossible for him to fulfil. He knew that Lady Emily was not
capable of anything like strong attachment; and that even if she were,
he had no reason whatever to suppose that she cared at all for him.

He had not at any time desired the alliance; nor had he any reason to
suppose the young lady in any degree less indifferent. He regarded it
now, and not without some appearance of justice, as nothing more than a
kind of understood stipulation, entered into by their parents, and to
be considered rather as a matter of