g the past--the old story told him by his
mother--he seemed to see such another wedding scene as Merland church
had once before witnessed. But no; he thought he would be far away,
chained by duty to his vessel; and he should return at last, a
broken-hearted, aimless man. He would not blame her, for she would, he
knew, be forced into it, and there was no help--none!

An hour must have passed away as he stood there that dark night,
thinking of his journey on the morrow, and of his utter distaste now for
the sea life he had loved so well. Promotion, the hope of commanding
his own vessel, all the ambition of his nature, had given place to the
passionate love which pervaded his soul; and at last, after an intense,
longing gaze at the dark mass of buildings seen against the sky in
front, he was about to turn and leave the shadow of the clump of trees
that overhung the palings where he stood, when he started, and his heart
began to beat heavily, he knew not why, at the unwonted sound of a heavy
step coming down the lane. For this was but a by-way, and no one but a
keeper, or a late-returning servant from the village, would be likely to
take that path so late at night.

"I had better not be seen," thought Brace, and his face flushed with
annoyance at having to play such a hiding role, as he drew farther back
into the shade.

The step came nearer, and then suddenly grew indistinct, as the
new-comer stepped on to the turf at the lane side; but there was a faint
rustling amongst the fallen leaves, which told of whoever it was coming
nearer and nearer.

"One of the servants," muttered Brace; and then as his thoughts wandered
to the morrow--"could I not prolong my stay? could I not get increased
leave of absence? To torture myself more bitterly," he muttered the
next instant fiercely; and then he was brought back to the present by
the footsteps becoming more audible, and at last stopping close by where
he stood.

Brace Norton remained motionless, as from the shade he could
indistinctly make out the figure of a heavy-looking, muscular man, in
rough clothes, pressing forward, as it were, and gazing right in his
face.

"Discovered watching here," he thought, bitterly, "and all to be
conveyed to the baronet and my lord, as a means of disparagement, in her
hearing. Shall I bribe the scoundrel to be silent? No," he thought, "I
will not. Let him bear his pitiful news; and, if it comes to her ears
that I was watching, like a