ted in Randolph, and sought his
friendship. Where Rereworth sought, he won. And he was of great
service to his companion, supplying his want of knowledge of the world
with his own, which was of the best kind; not consisting in a
familiarity with knavery and vice, but able to foil the one and repel
the other; and excelling in all those qualities which are comprised in
the word, tact. He had a large acquaintance in society; was himself
very well connected; was always a welcome guest, and, when he chose to
throw away an evening, had always an invitation available.

Him did Randolph once or twice, during the winter, persuade to come
and spend an evening at Hampstead. And it must be confessed that
Seymour paid his second visit at least as willingly as his first. If
he liked the brother, he no less admired the sister. He mused
sometimes on the circumstances of so singular, he might say so
romantic, a pair. Helen's dark and gentle eyes, and soft and pleasant
tones, haunted him occasionally in his studies, and kept his pen
suspended in the midst of many a tedious draught. But Rereworth was
not a man to fall in love in a hurry.

For Helen, she was always glad to see him. In spite of all her
brother's precautions, she sometimes detected the gloom and discontent
which hung upon his brow, and she saw that Rereworth's society always
charmed them away. Her own life was so tranquil and uniform that she
had soon ceased to regret the quiet of Trevethlan, and she roamed
about the vicinity of Hampstead, seeking a spot she might liken to
Merlin's Cave, and only occasionally disturbed by the letters of
Polydore Riches.

CHAPTER IX.

_Romeo_.--What lady's that, which doth enrich the hand
Of yonder Knight?

_Servant_.-- I know not, sir.

_Romeo_.--O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
Her beauty hangs upon the cheek of night,
Like a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear:
Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear!

SHAKSPEARE.

So the winter passed on. Christmas might remind the orphans of a
custom which prevailed in the Cornwall of old times, and which may
possibly still survive in some localities, when the family of each
homestead bore a bowl of cider in jocund procession to their orchard,
and, selecting the most respectable apple-tree, splashed his trunk
with the bright liquor, and wished him good luck in the coming
season. "Would," ex