CHAP. VIII. "If thou remember'st not the slightest folly Thou hast not loved Or if thou hast not sate as I do now, Wearying the hearer in thy mistress' praise, Or if thou hast not broke from company Abruptly, as my passion now makes me, SHAKSPEARE. "His face was pale, his eyes were wild, And wild and frantic was his mien, MRS. ROBINSON. On the succeeding morning Cyprian's first care was to form every arrangement for the funeral of the lady Magdalene; these directions occupied him throughout the day, and evening was beginning to approach ere he entered the presence of Eleonora. After some preparatory con versation, versation, he inquired of her, whether it was her choice that he should, without delay, proceed with her father's letter to Lady Blunt, or not set out on his mission till after the interment of her grandmother had taken place? "Did my dear father direct you how to act in this case?" asked Eleonora; “for I would have his commands implicitly obeyed." Cyprian replied, "that Latimer had said, 'As soon as my mother shall be no more, convey my letter to my cousin Blunt." "If such were his words," returned Eleonora, "you shall begin your journey on the morrow. Since I am fated to quit the shelter of my paternal roof for the protection of strangers, it matters not how soon the change takes place." Latimer had left the letter addressed to Lady Blunt, unsealed, in the possession of his daughter, in order that she might at leisure peruse its contents; this she had already done, but once more she unfolded the paper, and passed her eyes over the characters characters which it contained-they composed a most affectionate address to the feelings of Lady Thomasine, reminding her that the same blood flowed in the veins of herself and Eleonora; and entreating her, however their religious opinions might differ, to suffer that charity which is due from every heart of sensibility to its fellow-being in calamity, to direct her in extending her maternal protection to his friendless child. The tears started into the eyes of Eleonora-she kissed her father's name upon the paper, the last which she should ever, perhaps, behold written by his own hand -refolded the letter, and impressed it with a seal. Accordingly, with the dawn of the following day, Cyprian set out on his journey towards the castle of Sir Sigismund Blunt, which was situated in Northamptonshire, on the banks of the river Nen, in the vicinity of the city of Peterborough; and which, with its extensive domain, he had inherited, in the right of his wife, from her father, Sir Allen Gower. During During the absence of Cyprian, the hours passed heavily and mournfully over the head of the disconsolate Eleonora; she felt a reluctance to visit the hermitage, since the extraordinary occurrence of which she had been a witness the last time of her going thither; and Agatha did not come to the castle. She could not always weep for her parents; she could not always pray; she could not always reflect; and, as a temporary relief for her afflicted mind, she took up a volume of old legends of the twelfth century, from which she had frequently been accustomed to read aloud to her attendant Gillian, by whose remarks the marvellous and heroic adventures which they recorded, she had, in her days of happier mood, been often almost as well entertained as by the romances themselves. upon Gillian was now her constant companion, and seeing her take up the wellknown volume, entreated to be allowed to participate with her in the amusement it could afford; and for which she was always obliged to be indebted to the complaisance plaisance of some other person, as her education had been too simple and confined for her to have acquired the ability of thus entertaining herself. Almost the only one of the collection which Eleonora had not read, was entitled, "The Maid and the Stranger;" in its original form it was of considerable length, but it may be briefly related thus: "A young damsel, of extreme beauty and accomplishments, named Orilla (of what country, the history gave no information) being rendered very unhappy by the importunities of her father, who was not less illustrious as a knight of wealth, than as a warrior of valour, for her to espouse one of his battle-comrades, to whom she had a great dislike, both on account of his age, which was double her own, and also of many disagreeable qualities attached to him, found her only consolation in wandering in a grove adjoining to her father's castle. "One summer morning, as she strayed along her favourite paths, being oppressed by the heat of the sun, she laid herself down |