of such an engagement. His
father had ever since solemnly held him to it, and had appealed to
his sense of honor in order to make him faithful. But now the father
was dead, the son was a mature man, tried in a thousand scenes of
difficulty and danger--one who had learned to think for himself, who
had gained his manhood by a life of storms, in which of late there
had been crowded countless events, each of which had had their weight
in the development of his character. They had left him a calm,
strong, resolute man--a man of thought and of action--a graduate of
the school of Indian affairs--a school which, in times that tried
men's souls, never failed to supply men who were equal to every
emergency.

[Illustration: "He Sought Out His Father's Grave, And Stood Musing
There."]

At the very outset he had found out the condition of Mrs. Hart. The
sight of his loved nurse, thus prostrated, filled him with grief. The
housekeeper who now attended her knew nothing whatever of the cause
of her prostration. Lord Chetwynde did not deign to ask any questions
of Hilda; but in his anxiety to learn about Mrs. Hart, he sought out
the doctor who had attended his father, and from him he learned that
Mrs. Hart's illness had been caused by her anxiety about the Earl.
The knowledge of this increased, if possible, his own care. He made
the closest inquiry as to the way in which she was treated, engaged
the doctor to visit her, and doubled the housekeeper's salary on
condition that she would be attentive to his beloved nurse. These
measures were attended with good results, for under this increased
care Mrs. Hart began to show signs of improvement. Whether she would
ever again be conscious was yet a question. The doctor considered her
mind to be irretrievably affected.

Meanwhile, throughout all these days, Hilda's mind was engrossed with
the change which had come over her--a change so startling and so
unexpected that it found her totally unprepared to deal with it. They
met every day at the dinner-table, and at no other times. Here Lord
Chetwynde treated her with scrupulous courtesy; yet beyond the
extreme limits of that courtesy she found it impossible to advance.
Hilda's manner was most humble and conciliatory. She who all her life
had felt defiant of others, or worse, now found herself enthralled
and subdued by the spell of this man's presence. Her wiliness, her
stealthiness, her constant self-control, were all lost and forgotten.
S