er the perfectly
innocent connection between them should be resumed or not. The little
parson, after hesitating and pondering in his helpless way, ended by
agreeing with my mistress, and by coming back once more to the Hall with
his fiddle under his arm. This renewal of their old habits might have
been imprudent enough, as tending to weaken my mistress's case in the
eyes of the world, but, for all that, it was the most sensible course
she could take for her own sake. The harmless company of Mr. Meeke, and
the relief of playing the old tunes again in the old way, saved her,
I verily believe, from sinking altogether under the oppression of the
shocking situation in which she was now placed.

So, with the assistance of Mr. Meeke and his fiddle, my mistress got
though the weary time. The winter passed, the spring came, and no fresh
tidings reached us of Mr. James Smith. It had been a long, hard winter
that year, and the spring was backward and rainy. The first really fine
day we had was the day that fell on the fourteenth of March.

I am particular in mentioning this date merely because it is fixed
forever in my memory. As long as there is life in me I shall remember
that fourteenth of March, and the smallest circumstances connected with
it.

The day began ill, with what superstitious people would think a bad
omen. My mistress remained late in her room in the morning, amusing
herself by looking over her clothes, and by setting to rights some
drawers in her cabinet which she had not opened for some time past. Just
before luncheon we were startled by hearing the drawing-room bell
rung violently. I ran up to see what was the matter, and the quadroon,
Josephine, who had heard the bell in another part of the house, hastened
to answer it also. She got into the drawing-room first, and I followed
close on her heels. My mistress was standing alone on the hearth-rug,
with an appearance of great discomposure in her face and manner.

"I have been robbed!" she said, vehemently, "I don't know when or
how; but I miss a pair of bracelets, three rings, and a quantity of
old-fashioned lace pocket-handkerchiefs."

"If you have any suspicions, ma'am," said Josephine, in a sharp, sudden
way, "say who they point at. My boxes, for one, are quite at your
disposal."

"Who asked about your boxes?" said my mistress, angrily. "Be a little
less ready with your answer, if you please, the next time I speak."

She then turned to me, and began expl