st, and proposed to go to London privately for the
purpose. But Astraea strongly resisted that proceeding. She did not care
to obtain any information. How would it help us? _Suppose he was dead?_

The course she took upon this subject gave me some uneasiness. I echoed
in my own heart the question she so frequently started, but which I
could never answer. _Suppose he was dead?_ I could only suppose it; I
could not follow the speculation any further. Astraea may have
conjectured that all was mist and storm in my mind beyond that point,
and was therefore indifferent about clearing up our present position.
She thought it better to leave things as they were, than to open new
sources of embarrassment--perhaps of sorrow and bitterness!

This was the main topic between us. We talked over it perpetually, and
used to sit up long past midnight, weaving foolish webs of things that
might never be, and unweaving things that had been, for the sake of
fancying how differently we might have woven them had we had the threads
from the first in our own hands! One night--a gusty, dry, cold
night--while we were thus engaged, as usual, in a kind of waking dream
over the fire, a sudden knock at the door startled the whole house. It
was a very small house, or cottage, and the sound ran all up the little
stairs, and seemed to enter bodily every one of the little rooms. It was
a peremptory and nervous knock. The circumstance was extraordinary in
itself, particularly at that hour; and before the owner of the house,
who occupied the rooms below, could make up his mind to open the door,
he thought it necessary to take my opinion and counsel on the subject.

"If it be for you, sir, what am I to say?" cried the man, looking a
little pale and terrified.

"For me? That is very unlikely--very. But if it should be--"

"At home, of course," said Astraea. "If it be any body for us, show them
up."

We listened anxiously, as the landlord went down stairs. Astraea was
quite collected, and sat opposite the door of our apartment, so that
whoever entered should see her at once. Presently the bolts were
withdrawn, and the chain dropped--for in these small houses they adopted
precautions in the winter season, when the poor, like the birds, were
starved out, and are occasionally compelled to commit depredations for
food. A stranger entered the hall. We heard the tramp of his boots, and
could distinguish clearly that there was but one person. There was a
flutte