open upon Mrs. Harrington's desk. She must
have forgotten it there after her fainting fit this morning. I am sure
she has no secrets from her husband, and so bring it to you, as it may
excite her to be disturbed, and I have no key to her desk."

The General reached forth his hand, struck by the vellum binding and
jewelled clasp, for he was a connoisseur in such matters, and the effect
pleased him.

"What is it?" he said, opening the book and leaning towards the light,
"some illuminated missal, I fancy, or rare manuscript. Oh--ha, my lady's
journal--let us see."

He had opened the book at random, and with a gratified smile, but
directly the expression of his face hardened, and his lips parted with
surprise. He turned the open volume toward Agnes, who stood leaning upon
the table opposite; placed his finger sternly upon a passage of the
writing, and demanded whether she had read it.

"You insult me with the question," said the lady, drawing herself up, "I
did not expect this," and before he could speak Agnes glided from the
room.

CHAPTER XIX.

THE LOVER'S CONFESSION.

Ralph dared not confide in his brother James, as he had proposed to
himself, and the elder Harrington was so occupied with his own
conflicting thoughts that the momentary annoyance expressed by the youth
had passed from his mind. He did not even remark that Ralph avoided any
conversation with him, or that Lina was paler than usual, and from time
to time looked anxiously in his face, as if to draw some reassurance
from its expression that might bring her back into the bosom of the
family from which she felt all at once inexplicably repulsed. The
General was absent, or remained in his own room, sending down word that
he was occupied, and that the business of the day must go on without
him.

Mabel was not yet well enough to leave her own immediate apartments.
Thus it happened that a silent and uncomfortable meal followed every
reunion of the family for some days after the storm, which seemed still
brooding blackly over the household. James Harrington went forth again
and again from the breakfast room, without regarding the anxious looks
of his brother, or the tearful eyes of poor Lina, and both these young
persons held him in that awe which is always felt when reserve and
secrets creep into bosoms warmed with kindred life.

Poor Lina. She felt, in that splendid mansion, like Eve wandering
through the bowers of paradise after the sentence of