rom her lips. Her head settled upon his shoulder; her light brown hair,
loosened from the comb, fell over it in silky masses. Her eyes closed,
his arms still encircled her, and the whole world was forgotten in a
moment;--when the door opened, and a third party entered the room in the
person of Colonel Colleton.

Here was a catastrophe!

CHAPTER IV.

A RUPTURE--THE COURSE OF TRUE LOVE.

Colonel Colleton stood confounded at the spectacle before him. Filled
with public affairs, or rather, with his own affairs in the public eye,
he had grown totally heedless of ordinary events, household interests,
and of the rapid growth and development of those passions in youth which
ripen quite as fervently and soon in the shade as in the sun. These
children--how should they have grown to such a stature! His daughter, at
this moment, seemed taller than he had ever seen her before! and
Ralph!--as the uncle's eyes were riveted upon the youth, he certainly
grew more than ever erect and imposing of look and stature. The first
glance which he gave to the scene, did not please the young man. There
was something about the expression of the uncle's face, which seemed to
the nephew to be as supercilious, as it certainly was angry. Proud,
jealous of his sensibilities, the soul of the youth rose in arms, at the
look which annoyed him. That Edith's father should ever disapprove of
his passion for his cousin, never once entered the young man's brain. He
had not, indeed, once thought upon the matter. He held it to be a thing
of course that the father would welcome a union which promised to
strengthen the family bond, and maintain the family name and blood in
perpetuity. When, therefore, he beheld, in his uncle's face, such an
expression of scorn mixed with indignation, he resented it with the
fervor of his whole soul. He was bewildered, it is true, but he was also
chafed, and it needed that he should turn his eyes to the sweet cause of
his offence, before he could find himself relieved of the painful
feelings which her father's look and manner had occasioned him.

Poor Edith had a keener sense of the nature of the case. Her instincts
more readily supplied the means of knowledge. Besides, there were
certain family matters, which the look of her father suddenly
recalled--which had never been suffered to reach the ears of her
cousin;--which indicated to her, however imperfectly, the possible cause
of that severe and scornful expression of e