ed off afterwards
to pour out his vexation to Robert Fulmort. Poor Robert! what an
infliction! To hear of such a step, and be unable to interfere; to
admire, yet not approve; to dread the consequences, and perceive so much
alloy as to dull the glitter of the gold, as well as to believe his own
stern precipitation as much the cause as Owen's errors; yet all the time
to be the friend and comforter to the wounded spirit of the brother! It
was a severe task; and when Owen left him, he felt spent and wearied as
by bodily exertion, as he hid his face in prayer for one for whom he
could do no more than pray.

Feelings softened during the fortnight that the brother and sister spent
together. Childishly as Owen had undergone the relations and troubles of
more advanced life, pettishly as he had striven against feeling and
responsibility, the storm had taken effect. Hard as he had struggled to
remain a boy, manhood had suddenly grown on him; and probably his
exclusion from Hiltonbury did more to stamp the impression of his guilt
than did its actual effects. He was eager for his new life, and pleased
with his employer, promising himself all success, and full of enterprise.
But his banishment from home and from Honor clouded everything; and, as
the time drew nearer, his efforts to forget and be reckless gradually
ceased. Far from shunning Lucilla, as at first, he was unwilling to lose
sight of her, and they went about together wherever his preparations
called him, so that she could hardly make time for stitching, marking,
and arranging his purchases.

One good sign was, that, though hitherto fastidiously expensive in dress
and appointments, he now grudged himself all that was not absolutely
necessary, in the endeavour to leave as large a sum as possible with Mrs.
Murrell. Even in the tempting article of mathematical instruments he was
provident, though the polished brass, shining steel, and pure ivory, in
their perfection of exactitude, were as alluring to him as ever gem or
plume had been to his sister. That busy fortnight of chasing after the
'reasonable and good,' speeding about till they were foot-sore,
discussing, purchasing, packing, and contriving, united the brother and
sister more than all their previous lives.

It was over but too soon. The last evening was come; the hall was full
of tin cases and leathern portmanteaus, marked O. C. S., and of piles of
black boxes large enough to contain the little lady whose n