liked not that he should wound the gentle
Edwin, whom she dearly loved. Mr. Lovell, on the other hand, laughed at
the lads' faults; and, when he could not laugh, winked at them: "Edwin was
a milk-sop, and Harold and Jocelin fine, high-spirited, handsome fellows,
who would grow wiser as they grew older." Mrs. Priestly "hoped so"--she
"prayed so; and Jocelin was so clever and handsome, that a little
steadiness was all he needed; there was nothing else amiss." So argued the
blind mother; and, next to Harold, his uncle Lovell's affections were
lavished on this nephew.

When these two youths made their appearance at the castle, Edwin
frequently retired to the western turret, where he could read and meditate
alone, and enjoy the lovely landscape. Here he was resting on a projecting
stone, which served as a bench, part of the edifice screening him from
view, when Jocelin Priestly appeared on the summit with a telescope in
hand, and, with boyish recklessness, jumped on the low parapet, balancing
himself on the extreme verge, as he applied the glass to his eye. In
another moment Harold came leaping up the turret-stairs, boiling with
furious passion; and, darting forward, he clutched at the glass,
screaming, as he did so, "How dare you take my telescope, sir, when you
know I forbade you?" There was a struggle, a violent thrust, succeeded by
a scream of horror and despair, and Edwin beheld his brother Harold alone
on that dizzy height.

All this had passed in a moment a of time apparently. Harold looked round
with a wild, terrified glance, and fled, Edwin's limbs refusing to sustain
him in his efforts to reach the parapet, as he lost consciousness, and
swooned. Jocelin Priestly's fall had been noticed by a gardener, who gave
an instant alarm; but the ill-fated lad expired in his distracted mother's
arms, after articulating, "I am murdered."

Edwin was found on the summit of the western turret, his incoherent
exclamations and agitation being considered proofs of guilt by his father
and tutor. He solemnly asseverated his innocence, but refused to enter
into particulars until his brother Harold returned, for Harold was absent,
it was supposed, in the adjacent woodlands, where he ofttimes resorted to
practice with his gun. When he did return, Harold with well-acted surprise
heard the dreadful tidings, and demanded, in a careless manner, where
Edwin had been at the time? When informed that he was found on the summit
of the tower, and