to leave the room.

"In half an hour I will return with the deed; keep the book till then!"

"No, no, it is here!" cried the General, flushing with shame.

But Harrington had gone, leaving him in a state of humiliation which no
self-complacency could soften or conceal. After he had been left a
little time, the old man went out upon the balcony, for a brilliant fire
made the heat oppressive, cold as the day was; and there was a sensation
of shame at his heart, that made his breath come heavily.

He was gone scarcely more than a minute, but that was long enough for
the mulatto chambermaid to steal out from the bed-chamber, tear half a
dozen pages from Mabel's journal, and creep back again, grasping the
crushed paper in her hand as she glided through the door which opened
behind the curtains of General Harrington's bed. The drapery was yet
rustling from her sudden retreat, when the old gentleman returned to the
library. He found the book as he had left it, and sat down with
something of triumph but more of self-contempt, to await the return of
his step-son.

Directly, James came back with the deed in his hand. The General took
it, read it carefully section by section, folded it with studied
deliberation; and taking up the journal, placed it in Harrington's hand
with a forced smile and a scarcely perceptible bow.

As the book touched his hands, James Harrington grasped it with
violence; a trembling fit seized upon him, and he shook like an aspen
tree while carrying it to the fire. Opening the covers wide, he laid the
fluttering pages down upon the flames, which darted through them like a
nest of fiery vipers, and in an instant devoured poor Mabel Harrington's
secret, over which the vellum covers writhed and curled like living
things given up to torture.

Till the last fragment was consumed, James Harrington stood looking on,
with the light falling upon his pale face, which revealed a depth of
mournful tenderness that touched even that selfish old man with
reverence. It seemed as if Mabel's heart had been given to the flames by
his own hands. When all was consumed he turned away like one in a
painful dream, and without speaking a word, left the room.

Two hours after, he quitted the house.

CHAPTER LXV.

WHO WAS LINA FRENCH?

James Harrington and Lina left the same roof within a few hours of each
other, without warning or explanation. Was it strange that Mabel should
be tortured with wild doubts, or that