She knelt down, and did her utmost to eradicate those impulses towards

St. Cleeve which were inconsistent with her position as the wife of an

absent man, though not unnatural in her as his victim.

She knelt till she seemed scarcely to belong to the time she lived in,

which lost the magnitude that the nearness of its perspective lent it on

ordinary occasions, and took its actual rank in the long line of other

centuries. Having once got out of herself, seen herself from afar off,

she was calmer, and went on to register a magnanimous vow. She would

look about for some maiden fit and likely to make St. Cleeve happy; and

this girl she would endow with what money she could afford, that the

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natural result of their apposition should do him no worldly harm. The

interest of her, Lady Constantine's, life should be in watching the

development of love between Swithin and the ideal maiden. The very

painfulness of the scheme to her susceptible heart made it pleasing to

her conscience; and she wondered that she had not before this time

thought of a stratagem which united the possibility of benefiting the

astronomer with the advantage of guarding against peril to both Swithin

and herself. By providing for him a suitable helpmate she would preclude

the dangerous awakening in him of sentiments reciprocating her own.

Arrived at a point of exquisite misery through this heroic intention,

Lady Constantine's tears moistened the books upon which her forehead was

bowed. And as she heard her feverish heart throb against the desk, she

firmly believed the wearing impulses of that heart would put an end to

her sad life, and momentarily recalled the banished image of St. Cleeve

to apostrophise him in thoughts that paraphrased the quaint lines of

Heine's _Lieb' Liebchen_:-'

Dear my love, press thy hand to my breast, and tell

If thou tracest the knocks in that narrow cell;

A carpenter dwells there; cunning is he,

And slyly he's shaping a coffin for me!'

Lady Constantine was disturbed by a break in the organist's meandering practice, and raising her head she saw a person standing by the player. It was Mr. Torkingham, and what he said was distinctly audible. He was inquiring for herself.

'I thought I saw Lady Constantine walk this way,' he rejoined to

Tabitha's negative. 'I am very anxious indeed to meet with her.' She went forward. 'I am here,' she said. 'Don't stop playing, Miss Lark. What is it, Mr. Torkingham?' Tabitha thereupon resumed her playing, and Mr. Torkingham joined Lady Constantine.

'I have some very serious intelligence to break to your ladyship,' he

said. 'But--I will not interrupt you here.' (He had seen her rise from

her knees to come to him.) 'I will call at the House the first moment

you can receive me after reaching home.' 'No, tell me here,' she said, seating herself.




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