l smile I ever saw on mortal
lips breaking over his mouth.

"'Mother, mother!' he said, coming toward Mrs. Harrington, with both
hands extended. 'I rose at midnight, and have ridden fast ever since, in
order to surprise you at the breakfast-table.'

"Mrs. Harrington started up; a flush stole over her face, and for once
her eyes sparkled before they filled with pleasant tears. This arrival
was, indeed, a surprise to her.

"As he was about to release her hands from his clasp, she drew him
towards me, and said pleasantly:

"'This is Mabel Crawford--the General's ward.'

"He took my hand, and an expression of surprise or interest rose to his
face as he felt my poor fingers quiver in his; while my face was burning
with a consciousness of feelings more tumultuous by far, than the
occasion could warrant. He held my hand a moment longer than was
necessary to a cordial welcome, and, for an instant, seemed to wonder at
my perturbation; then his features relaxed into the most kindly
expression I ever saw, and some words of welcome fell upon my ears, but
to this hour I cannot recollect what they were; the sound entered my
heart, and that was enough.

"General Harrington seemed to watch us closely, for I saw a smile creep
over his face, as if my awkwardness rather amused him; while his lady
stood by, regarding us with her soft, brown eyes, which were beaming
with a thousand affectionate welcomes.

"I think it was from that moment this strange happiness of heart
commenced, which has made Neathcote seem so much like a pleasant corner
of paradise to me. I never knew what companionship was before. If I
wish to read, he seems ever to have the book uppermost in his mind that
meets my own thought. If I am restless--and this mood grows upon me of
late--he is ready to gallop by my side down to the quarters, where I am
never weary of watching the queer little negroes at their play, or
through the magnolia groves that envelope us with a cloud of perfume as
we sweep beneath their branches. In fact, I have no wish from morning to
night, which Harrington does not either share or anticipate; no brother
could be more kind; and yet it gives me a strange pang to feel that all
this----

CHAPTER XXXIV.

AMONG THE WATER LILIES.

"I left off with a half-finished sentence. Mrs. Harrington's maid broke
in upon me at the moment with a message from the young master, as she
calls him. In a hollow among the hills he has found a pond of
wa