Trafford that we resorted to deception. He Idreaded lest the latter should discover our marriage; and we could not trust the secret to you— your impetuous temper would have made you betray us." "And you knew that dishonour, such as I thought he had cast upon us, must be effaced with his blood- with his life!" Isabel drew back, and fixing her eye on him, said—" Auguste, do not shrink from my look. Tell me, have you harmed my husband? There is a dreadful meaning in your glance-answer me, brother! Where is Gerald? Why does he 'not come to lead us to our home? You dare not tell me he has wedded Miss Talbot; it is false, and you know it! But I will go to him with our son- -he shall own me for his wife; and in his presence aye, even in the banquet hall, where he the heir of Woodleigh sits-you shall retract the calumny you have uttered." Isabel moved towards the cradle of her child; her brother caught her hand, drew her towards him, and whispered a few words in her ear. She uttered a wild shriek-broke from his hold-and fell at his feet ere he could prevent her. Auguste ran to the door, and meeting the woman servant, who was alarmed at the scream, he hastily exclaimed "This lady, Mrs. Raymond, is very ill; she must be attended to directly: I will go for assistance." He rushed through the garden unobserved, and plunged into the thickest part of the wood. Chapter H. "The dead are in their silent graves, And the living weep and sigh Over dust, that once was love." The Forsaken.-HOOD. IN the dusk of that same evening, the vicar of the small parish adjoining the Bury was sitting in his study. The windows of the parsonage had been closed ever since the morning: his servants had shown their sympathy for the owner of Raymond Bury, in the absence of their master. The vicar (he was named Hartwell) was interrupted in his reverie by the entrance of a domestic, announcing a visitor, who followed him into the room. Mr. Hartwell rose to receive him; but the darkened room and the deepening shadows prevented him from recognising the stranger. He could just distinguish that a tall man, in a black clerical dress, was standing before him. "I believe," he said, in a hesitating tone, "that I have the honour of addressing one of the reverend gentlemen who resides at the Bury. Is it the Abbé Trafford?" "My name is Clifford," replied the priest; " and I am come to you, Mr. Hartwell, to beg your assistance and your advice, both as a magistrate and as a clergyman. You are acquainted with the calamity that has befallen Sir Paulet Raymond, and the result of the investigation, which tends to throw suspicion on the surviving son of that gentleman?" "I have heard a rumour to that effect; but I need scarcely tell you, Mr. Clifford, that I believe Tracey Everard to be innocent." "May heaven bless you for so thinking!" exclaimed Clifford. "But how could the son of Lady Raymond be a fratricide?" "You may well say so. I knew that excellent and pious lady. I honoured her." "She was an angel!" murmured Clifford. "She was, in the fullest sense of the word, a Christian," added Mr. Hartwell. "I beseech you, sir, to let me know in what be of service to her unhappy son." way I can 66 Tracey Everard has been accused of conniving at the murder of his brother. It would appear that they were rivals for the affections of the young lady to whom Mr. Raymond was affianced. Now a parcel, addressed to me, was discovered in the death chamber of poor Gerald. On opening it, I found these letters written to his father, to the Abbé Trafford, and to myself. As you are the nearest magistrate, I wish to hands. I know that place them in your Mr. Seymour would rather that you should take an active part in this affair, for he has been accused of wishing to favour Tracey Everard, and of perverting the ends of justice." "The same stigma might be attached to me, Mr. Clifford. What can these letters contain, that you should hesitate to deliver them?" "They probably contain news, which, I fear, must add to the grief of my poor friend, Sir Paulet, if they corroborate the avowal contained in mine. That avowal is-that Gerald Raymond was privately married a year agohe is a father and his wife and child that have |