d made his choice of
a wife. He knew she would oppose a marriage most strenuously. What the
effect of such opposition upon Ellen would be, it would be impossible
to tell;--it might, he feared, lead her to decline his offer. For this
reason, he urged an immediate union; and wished it to take place
without his parent's knowledge. Ellen opposed this earnestly, but was
finally induced to yield. They were married, and started the next
morning to visit Mrs. Linden. Two days before, Charles had written to
inform his mother of what had taken place, and of his intended return
home, on a short visit, with his bride.

"My dear mother," a portion of his letter read, "I know you will be
grieved, and, I fear, offended at what I have done; but wait only for a
day or two, until you see my Ellen--your Ellen, let me say--and you
will be grieved and angry no longer. She will love you as only an
unselfish child can love a mother; and you will love her the moment you
see her. I have talked to her from the first about you, and she has
already so pure an affection for you, that she is longing to see you
and throw herself upon your bosom. Oh! let me beg of you to receive her
in the spirit with which she is coming to you. Be to her a mother, as
she wishes to be to you a child."

It was not without many misgivings at heart that Charles Linden set out
to visit his mother. These could not be felt without their effects
being perceived by Ellen, who was tremblingly anxious about her
reception. Her spirits became in consequence depressed, and more than
once Charles found tears stealing from beneath her half-closed eyelids.
He understood well the cause, and strove, but vainly, to assure her
that all would be as her heart could wish.

It was nearly nightfall when the carriage that conveyed them from the
steamboat landing drew up before the elegant residence of Mrs. Linden.
Charles hurried in with his bride in a tumult of anxiety. A servant was
sent up to announce his arrival. Five minutes passed, and they still
sat alone in the parlour--Charles deeply agitated, and Ellen looking
pale and frightened.

"What can keep her so long?" the young man had just said, in a husky
whisper, when the door opened and his mother entered with a slow,
dignified step, her face calm, but severe, and her tall person drawn up
to its full height. Charles started forward, but the instantly raised
hand and forbidding aspect of his mother restrained him.

"Don't come near