Godfrey been saying
to you?"

"Miss Juliet will not listen to anything that I can say to her," said
Godfrey gloomily.

"Pshaw!" returned the old man. "A lover must look out for squalls; his
bark is seldom destined to sail upon a smooth sea. If she will not go
ahead against wind and tide, you must try her upon another tack."

He turned to Juliet, and found her in tears.

CHAPTER X.

Would that the dewy turf were spread
O'er this frail form and aching head;
That this torn heart and tortured brain
Would never wake to grief again.--S.M.

When Anthony entered the study next morning, he found his cousin
traversing the floor in great agitation.

"Anthony, you are just the person I wanted to see. My father is, I fear,
a ruined man."

Anthony recoiled some steps.

"It is but too true. I have been talking to Johnstone, the steward. The
account that he gives of our affairs is most discouraging. My father, it
seems, has been living beyond his income for some years. The estates
have all been heavily mortgaged to supply the wants of the passing hour,
while no provision has been made for the future by their improvident
possessor. Creditors are clamorous for their money, and there is no
money to answer their demands. Mr. Haydin, the principal mortgagee,
threatens to foreclose with my father, if the interest, which has been
due upon the mortgage for some years, is not instantly forthcoming. In
this desperate exigency I can only think of two expedients, both of
which depend entirely upon you."

Anthony had never questioned the state of his uncle's affairs. He had
deemed him rich, and this distressing intelligence fell upon him with
stunning violence. He begged Godfrey to explain in what manner he could
render his uncle the least assistance.

"It is not merely of my father I speak; the service is to us both, but
it needs some prefacing."

Then stepping up to the astonished Anthony, he said in a quick abrupt
manner--

"Do you love Miss Whitmore?"

"You have taken me by surprise, Godfrey. It is a question which, at this
moment, I can scarcely answer."

"If your feelings towards her are of such an indefinite character, it
will require no great mental effort to resign her. To me she is an
object of passionate regard. A marriage with Miss Whitmore would render
me the happiest of men, and retrieve the fallen fortunes of my house.
Nor do I think, if you were absent, that she would long remain
indif