home.
'You cannot go without making a disturbance,' said Robert; 'besides, I
think you ought to stay with Miss Charlecote. Lucilla is of no use to
her; and this unlucky Owen is more to her than all the world besides.
You may comfort her.'

Phoebe had no more to urge. She could not tell her brother that looks
and words of Owen Sandbrook, and in especial his last farewell, which she
was at that time too young and simple to understand, had, with her
greater experience, risen upon her in an aspect that made her desirous of
avoiding him. But, besides the awkwardness of such recollections at all,
they seemed cruel and selfish when the poor young man was coming home
crippled and shattered, only to die, so she dismissed them entirely, and
set herself to listen and sympathize.

CHAPTER XXVIII

Old isle and glorious, I have heard
Thy fame across the sea,
And know my fathers' homes are thine,
My fathers rest with thee.--_A Cleveland Lore_

'R. M. Fulmort to Miss Charlecote.--The carriage to meet the 6 P.M.
train.'

That was all the intelligence that reached Woolstone-lane till the
court-gates were opened, and Robert hurried in before the carriage.
'Much better,' he said 'only he is sadly knocked up by the journey. Do
not show yourselves till he is in his room. Which is it?'

Honora and Lucilla hastened to point it out, then drew back, and waited,
Honor supporting herself against the wall, pale and breathless, Lucy
hanging over the balusters, fevered with suspense. She heard the tread,
the quick, muttered question and answer; she saw the heavy, helpless
weight carried in; and as the steps came upwards, she was pulled back
into the sitting-room by Honor, at first almost by force, then with
passive, dejected submission, and held tight to the back of a chair, her
lip between her teeth, as though withholding herself by force from
springing forward as the familiar voice, weak, weary, and uncertain, met
her ear.

At length Robert beckoned; and she flew at first, then slackened her
pace, awestruck. Her brother lay on the bed, with closed eyes. The form
was larger, more manly and robust than what she had known, the powerful
framework rendering the wreck more piteous, and the handsome dark beard
and moustache, and crisp, thick curls of hair made the straight, well-cut
features resemble an old picture of a cavalier; nor had the bright,
sunburnt complexion lost the hue of health; so that the whole