and Seymour. It reconciles all difficulties,
puts an end to all Chancery suits, and will shower general happiness,
when some at least must have been made miserable. Come with me--William
is very feverish this morning: you only can do him good."

Mrs McElvina led the agitated girl into the sick chamber, and
whispering to Seymour that Emily knew all, and that all was well, was so
very imprudent as to allow her feelings to overcome her sense of
chaperonism, and left them together.

I am aware that I now have a fair opportunity of inserting a most
interesting conversation, full of _ohs_ and _ahs, dears_ and _sweets_,
etcetera, which would be much relished by all misses of seventeen, or
thereabouts; but as I do not write novels for them, and the young couple
have no secrets to which the reader is not already a party, I shall
leave them to imagine the explanation, with all its concomitant
retrospections and anticipations, softened with tears and sweetened with
kisses; and, as the plot now thickens, change the scene to the
dressing-room of Rainscourt, who had now just risen, at his usual hour,
viz., between two and three in the afternoon. His French valet is in
attendance shaving him, and dressing his hair, and communicating what
little intelligence he has been enabled to collect for his master's
amusement.

"Monsieur has not seen the young officer who was wounded?"

"No; I wonder why they brought him up here. What sort of a person is
he?"

"_C'est un joli garcon, Monsieur, avec l'air bien distingue_.--I carried
in the water this morning when his wound was dressed, for I had the
curiosity to see him--_C'est un diable de blessure_--and the young
officer has a very singular mark on his right shoulder, like--_comment
l'appelez-vous?--pied du corbeau_."

Rainscourt started under the operation of the razor: he remembered the
mark of the grandchild, so minutely described by the vicar.

"_Pardon, Monsieur, ce n'est pas ma faute_," said the valet, applying a
napkin to stanch the blood which flowed from his master's cheek.

"It was not," replied Rainscourt, recovering himself; "I had a slight
spasm."

The operation was continued, and fortunately had just been finished when
the valet resumed,--"_Et rappelez-vous Monsieur le Vicaire de ---. Il
est arrive hier au soir_, on a visit to Mr McElvina."

"The devil he is?" replied Rainscourt, springing from his chair, at the
corroborating incident to his previous ground of ala