pushed the paper across the table, saying in his own gentle tone, "Will that do!" "Excellent!" said Dr. C—, placing his name after the Daronet's. Then both rose and returned to the drawing-room, where the two ladies awaited their coming, Lady Vernon with the confidence Sir Henry gained from the fashionable world; poor Fanny with trembling anxiety (her husband had left the room). Gossamer handed the prescription, smiling very cheerfully as he assured them Dr. C concurred entirely in his opinion. Lady Vernon took the paper. Vainly her ladyship endeavoured to decipher the Latinscrawl, while Fanny, spite of the baronet's reassuring manner, remained in anxious silence. Meanwhile, Dr. C--, having hastily nodded assent to the result of their consultation, prepared to depart. Already he had assumed that peculiar surtout which for thirty years was never seen to vary in shape or texture (marvellous the tailor could be so accurate in the cut), whatever the season. Rigorous winter, summer heat, that coat appeared; the only observable difference consisted in the opening or closing of the threeupper buttons. On the present occasion, a warm afternoon in May, they were open, revealing an immaculate white shirt frill, crowned by a white neckcloth, the ends tied with a precision Beau Brummel might have envied. Thus equipped, after final good wishes and promises of soon visiting Woodlands again, our worthy friend hurried off to meet the stage coach, and be in time to deliver a lecture at the Royal Institution. Gossamer has the field to himself. He addressed Lady Belmont, expressing regret that he probably should not see the Earl again that morning, therefore hoped her ladyship would excuse him pressing the necessity of great punctuality in taking this peculiar medicine, which Dr. C.—— and himself judged essential; neglect for a day, or even an hour, would produce a pernicious effect. 66 Is it very powerful?" asked Fanny, horrified by this peroration. "Not more powerful, Lady Belmont, than the case demands; these nervous symptoms, when long preying on the constitution, must not be trifled with. We have no doubt Lord Belmont will derive immense benefit from our prescription, if regularly taken. Your ladyship will recollect, two tablespoonfuls quarter past eleven in the morning, not eleven, quarter past to a minnte, and ten White sugar and cinnamon water. Q. S. for quantum sufficit, or as much as will be sufficient to make Oj. one pint. Two tablespoonfuls twice a day. minutes before three in the afternoon; no deviation. Another point: are you sure there is any spring water in the grounds entirely free from chalybeate tincture?" "All the spring water is chalybeate; the river water—" "Name it not; excuse my anxiety, it must be pure liquid spring water." "We have spring water from an Artesian well in the village," observed Lady Vernon. "But, dear mother, it is frequently out of order, sometimes for days together." "Ah," said Gossamer, thoughtfully. "Would it not be safer, Sir Henry, to send the medicine readCA prepared from London ?" spect. Fanny put the question in timid re "An excellent thought! trust the ladies for helping us out of a dilemma. Yes, it will be, after all, perhaps the best way; it shall be made up by my own chemist Godfrey, the safest in London; I can always trust him. The week's supply shall be sent down, and I feel confident, ere long, he may venture on some change." The visit ends: The fee is handed (fifty guineas); a promise of another visit in a fortnight. The Earl, stronger and more cheerful, verily a wonderful improvement; but whether owing to the potent medicine, or the society of Lord Vernon and the merry Angus, who were at Woodlands for several weeks, we may be permitted to question. Young Gossamer was frequently invited to share the fishing sport. The invalid now lived out of danger. All his thought was to please others; no state of mind more healthful. When the Vernon family left Woodlands, and Lord Belmont freely accepted an invitation to pass the autumn at their Scotch place, "Moor House, Aberdeen," oh, how brightness beamed on his wife's sweet face, as she bade adieu to her parents for a few weeks only! At that moment Fanny experienced the full reward bestowed by Providence on woman for faithful love towards the husband of her youth; that love, which in days of sorrow borne for him, bringsa sustaining power no other mortal comfort can bestow, though long and weary the trial, never exhausted, clinging closer to the trembling heart; that love which teaches the fond wife to forget past sorrows when she feels he is happy. In this hospitable home the Earl never shunned society or the gatherings of neighbouring lairds (their manners were not distasteful); with placid cheerfulness his lordship listened to local news, local farming schemes, local jokes; he was voted a clever man who ought to have been a Highlander. Still those who knew him formerly observed as great a change in manner as in appearance; the hilarity of youth was gone-sedate, thoughtful,and observant, as one matured by the world-no shadow of despondency, no traces of joy. The Earl of Belmont stood out in bold relief, a man of high position, high in rank, high in fortune, high-much higher in talent. At length the Earl remembered the vast responsibilities attached to these endowments; he looked back on the long line of ancestors -men who, in the service of their country, proved their devoted loyalty, ambition never tempted, perils never daunted, or the natural affections subdued. History pointed to their names, emblazoned as names will ever be, which, amid contending factions or democratic theories, have held fast their loyalty and faith. Their descendant felt this; his spirit was moved to emulation beyond the bounds of private life, which brightened under his love; he felt eager, not only to bear the name, but prove that he inherited the virtues of his race. By a curious coincidence his Lordship gave in adhesion to Government, and accepted office (under another administration a new sovereign, God bless her!) on the eighth anniversary of that evening which brought Arthur Revel's fatal letter, the consequent illness, and that sad page in his life is known to few, by fewer remembered. During the interval of these eight years the happiness of Lord Belmont and his wife was crowned by the successive birth of four lovely children. Lord Danvers was a flourishing child, his two younger brothers jolly little fellows, and Lady Alice, their sister, completed the set of olive branches. At fifty the Earl appeared the mainstay of his party; in all the various intricacies of diplomacy, his genius unravelled difficulties, helping to sustain unbroken the bonds of national peace. He has been taken from us in his eighty-first year, crowned with dignity and honour, as a Cabinet Minister, the Earl's memory is cherished by his colleagues, while those most opposed in political opinions, pay willing homage to his talents and integrity. The Countess survives, no bitterness mingles in her widowed grief, she recalls the many years of happiness shared with her beloved husband, the more precious, contrasted by that brief dark shadow. She shrinks not from remembrance of the trial, as testifying the gracious mercy of God in restoring mind and body from prostration. Lady Belmont leans for comfort on the hearts of her children and their offspring; she has left the brilliant world, where in later years the Earl's position called her, and resides chiefly at Woodlands. Lord Danvers (before being called, by his father's death, to the Upper House) was thrown early into the House of Commons, and battered about into a well-got-up ally of his party; but he never, in the Upper House, displayed his father's diplomatic tact and foresight which rendered him so valuable a Cabinet Minister. The present Earl resides chiefly at Belmont Hall, and during the session at the town residence; his younger brothers are married; and Lady Alice, his only sister, is espoused to a scion of a noble house, and is a happy wife and mother. Her children spend much of their time at Woodlands. We must look back to our dear good friend, Dr. C――: he retired from practice some years before his death; in ripe old age he seemed to glide away, so tranquilly the spirit left the frame. He lived long enough to give practical instructions regarding the Belmont nurseries. Hannah (a privileged person) who held a sinecure there, and was supposed to preside, often disputed with the Doctor on certain points of infant management. We must not forget that as the sons grew up to manhood, their father, taught by woeful experience, failed not to impress their minds with this certain truth, that however venial might seem the random transgressions of youth-though obliterated by purer lasting ties, by the business or pleasures of maturer life, sooner or later the hour of retribution will come unforeseen-unexpected, when the seducer will meet the punishment of "Forgotten Sin." THE END. D SAINT PATRICK'S CHRISTMAS-BOX.. 'TWAS a Christmas night both cold and chill; Saint Patrick sat in his house on the hill; The wind it was blowing, The snow it was snowing, But the Saint cared never a bit about He drank off for sport A good bottle of port; To check any false merriment Was another of sherry meant; Then he soothed the flesh down with a pint of Madeira, A gallon stone jar containing poteen; The smouldering fire, Then took up a paper to have a short sight of it. Whether "Freeman," "Express," "Morning Post," "Evening Mail,' It matters not much for the truth of the tale. But by chance the first column Was filled with a solemn Account of the doings of one dreadful serpent, For long had eluded |