Willie! It is
impossible he should ever be happy with Isabel."

And Gertrude's sympathising heart mourned not more deeply over her own
griefs than over the disappointment that Willie must be experiencing, if
he had ever hoped to find peace in a union with so overbearing,
ill-humoured, and unreasonable a girl.

Wholly occupied with these and similar musings, she walked on with a
quickness she was scarcely herself aware of, and soon gained the shelter
of the heavy pines which bordered the entrance to the cemetery. Here she
paused to enjoy the refreshing breeze that played beneath the branches;
and, passing through the gateway, entered a carriage-road at the right,
and proceeded slowly up the ascent. The place, always quiet and
peaceful, seemed unusually still and secluded, and save the occasional
carol of a bird, there was no sound to disturb the perfect silence and
repose. As Gertrude gazed upon the familiar beauties of those sacred
grounds which had been her frequent resort during several years--as she
walked between beds of flowers, inhaled the fragrant and balmy air, and
felt the solemn appeal, the spiritual breathings, that haunted the holy
place--every motion that was not in harmony with the scene gradually
took its flight, and she experienced only that sensation of sweet and
half-joyful melancholy which was awakened by the thought of the happy
dead.

After a while she left the broad road and turned into a little bypath,
and then again to a narrower foot-track, and gained the shady and
retired spot which had recommended itself to her choice. It was situated
on the slope of a little hill; a huge rock protected it on one side from
the observation of the passer-by, and a fine old oak overshadowed it
upon the other. The iron enclosure, of simple workmanship, was nearly
overgrown by the green ivy, which had been planted there by Gertrude's
hand, and the moss-grown rock was festooned by its tendrils. Upon a
jutting stone beside the grave of Uncle True Gertrude seated herself,
and after a few moments of contemplation sighed heavily, emptied her
flowers upon the grass, and commenced weaving a graceful chaplet, which,
when completed, she placed upon the grave at her feet. With the
remainder of the blossoms she strewed the other mounds; and then,
drawing forth a pair of gardening gloves and a little trowel, she
employed herself for nearly an hour among the flowers and vines with
which she had embowered the spot. Her work