ervant. You are under obligations to
her fidelity and attachment in your father's time, as well as in your
own; and if you _can_ quiet the anxieties which seem to be driving this
unfortunate woman mad, I really think you ought to come here and do so.
Your leaving Mrs. Noel Vanstone is of course out of the question.
There is no necessity for any such hard-hearted proceeding. The admiral
desires me to remind you that he is your oldest friend living, and that
his house is at your wife's disposal, as it has always been at yours.
In this great rambling-place she need dread no near association with
the sick-room; and, with all my uncle's oddities, I am sure she will not
think the offer of his friendship an offer to be despised.

"Have I told you already that I went to Aldborough to try and find a
clew to your whereabouts? I can't be at the trouble of looking back to
see; so, if I have told you, I tell you again. The truth is, I made
an acquaintance at Aldborough of whom you know something--at least by
report.

"After applying vainly at Sea View, I went to the hotel to inquire
about you. The landlady could give me no information; but the moment I
mentioned your name, she asked if I was related to you; and when I told
her I was your cousin, she said there was a young lady then at the hotel
whose name was Vanstone also, who was in great distress about a missing
relative, and who might prove of some use to me--or I to her--if we knew
of each other's errand at Aldborough. I had not the least idea who she
was, but I sent in my card at a venture; and in five minutes afterward
I found myself in the presence of one of the most charming women these
eyes ever looked on.

"Our first words of explanation informed me that my family name was
known to her by repute. Who do you think she was? The eldest daughter of
my uncle and yours--Andrew Vanstone. I had often heard my poor mother in
past years speak of her brother Andrew, and I knew of that sad story
at Combe-Raven. But our families, as you are aware, had always been
estranged, and I had never seen my charming cousin before. She has
the dark eyes and hair, and the gentle, retiring manners that I always
admire in a woman. I don't want to renew our old disagreement about
your father's conduct to those two sisters, or to deny that his brother
Andrew may have behaved badly to him; I am willing to admit that the
high moral position he took in the matter is quite unassailable by
such a miser