Seem floating thereupon;
All, all my fond heart cherished,
Ere death had made it lone.

"Mournfully, O, mournfully,
This midnight wind doth swell!
With its quaint, pensive minstrelsy,
Hope's passionate farewell:
To the dreamy joys of early years,
Ere yet grief's canker fell
On the heart's bloom--ay, well may tears,
Start at that parting knell!"

On the following morning, Mr. and Mrs. Aubrey proposed riding to the
village, and expressed a wish to have Fostina and Rineldo accompany
them. It was with great reluctance that she gave her consent, thinking
that it would be placing herself in the society of her cousin, whose
company she wished to avoid.

At an early hour the carriage was brought to the door, and Mr. Aubrey
and his wife seating themselves, their son hastily stepping forward,
and taking the hand of Fostina, pressed it gently to his lips, while
with the other he raised the trembling girl to the carriage, and taking
a seat by her side, drove rapidly away.

They soon arrived at the village, where they stopped at the residence
formerly owned by Mr. Aubrey; but since his removal to the Mountain, it
had been occupied by a distant relative.

When they arrived at the residence of their friend, they were kindly
welcomed by the family, who appeared much delighted on seeing Fostina.
The day passed on very pleasantly, without any important occurrence,
and after bidding adieu to their friends they again returned home.

That evening Fostina retired at an early hour, feeling as if her
troubles were increased, and that instead of finding friends, she saw
herself placed among those, who she had every reason to believe would
seek to destroy her happiness. The unceasing attention of her cousin,
and the encouragement which he received from his parents to forward his
advances, after she had made known to them her engagement with Lewis
Mortimer, deeply wounded the feelings of the gentle and loving Fostina,
who now felt as if she was alone, as it were, without a friend to cheer
her in her forlorn situation. She felt that she could no longer repose
confidence in those whom she had once considered friends, and to whose
care she had been entrusted by her absent brothers.

As soon as Mr. and Mrs. Aubrey observed the cool indifference
manifested by Fostina towards their son, their former kindness seemed
changed to hatred and revenge. All feeling of love and sympathy, which
had