uzzle of the bond that
knitted together the two strange beings; analysis of character troubled
little their saintly minds.

At length consciousness returned; Jean opened his eyes and recognised
Austin. This was a joyful moment. Quiet was all that was now necessary
to complete the restoration of his health, which could not, however, be
anticipated for a considerable time. The first inquiry of the patient
was for Hilda, and he was allowed to see her; on the next day they were
permitted to interchange a few words, after which Austin explained what
he had already decided. Hilda, he pointed out, could not fitly remain
in Lihou, where she had been allowed to reside only until her lover was
out of danger; the laws of the establishment, which forbade the presence
of women, must now be put in force, but a fitting home had been provided
for her; she would be placed with the Sisters at the Vale; the hermit
would conduct her thither on the following day. The girl bowed to this
decision, sorely as she grieved to leave him she loved; the next morning
they parted, and she embarked with her guardian who, shielding her
lovingly from all harm, placed her, ere nightfall, in her new abode.

Judith had not discovered the girl's departure till the sun was well up,
when she heard of her absence from the frantic Tita. The old woman's
force of character was colossal; pettinesses, small passions, were
unknown to her. Had her sphere been larger her promptitude of resource,
keenness of perception, resolute look onwards and upwards, solidity of
purpose, and incisive action might have graven her name on the tables of
history. Stagnating in the shallow pools of the unstoried rocks in which
she passed her life, these grand qualities were wasted and perverted.
She lost no time now in recrimination; a few sharp questions enabled her
to judge how far the weakness of affection had played the traitor with
the old woman, whom she left to settle matters with her own conscience.
She saw Garthmund, and told him that, in consequence of the
unsatisfactory augury of the last sacrifice, she had decided to postpone
the marriage. Nor did she appear to notice the indifference with which
the chief, who could not pretend that he ardently loved a bride who was
practically a stranger to him, received the decision. It took her some
time to discover where Hilda had taken refuge; it speaks ill for female
reticence that she discovered it shortly after the girl's removal to t