said of her, as of the heavenly Una, her looks were "Sunshine in a shady place." For though her face bore traces of care and sorrow, the peaceful light still shone on her clear eyes, and irradiated, as with a glory, her pale, pensive brow. Margaret! O my Margaret, it is as I feared!" was all Ernest could say. Then he told her of the conditions his father had proposed, and of his own uncompromising rejection of the same. He watched her speaking countenance as he proceeded, half fearing to see the gradual shadow that might darken the pure, calm sunshine of that loving, trusting face. It was but a passing and half-defined apprehension; but he need not have feared, even for a moment. A rich glow spread itself over the pale features, as he finished his recital; tears, but not tears of sadness, stood in the gentle eyes; and the hands that had clung to his arm as if for support and security, were withdrawn only to be clasped in the attitude of joy and thanksgiving. "I thank God," she said at length, and her voice trembled now like a sweet echo borne over stormy waves. "Thank God, that you stood firm. Thank God, that you parleyed not with the tempter, Ernest; I would rather go down to the grave, mourning that you were early taken from this world than gaze into your face and read therein that you had bartered your faith and loyalty to your King for my poor love's sake! Now I feel that I have won a heart that the noblest woman might be proud to win; for the spirit PRICELESS TREASURE. 159 that could hold fast to the right and to the cause of God, will never be tempted to let go the earthly affection it has gained. We must part now; situated as we are, I cannot remain here. I told Hester last night, and she agrees with me, and so does Mabel. We must go away in a day or two at the furthest; but, Ernest, should we meet no more on this side of the grave; should I grow to be a grey-haired, bowed old woman, I shall lie down at last, when the signal is given, knowing that he who pledged his faith, and sued for mine in our youthful days was ever true, ever devoted, ever faithful in word, deed, and thought." "My Margaret! my blessed one, my brave-hearted love! You give me fresh life; you take from the lonely future half its bitterness. You build up the faith that was faltering; you strengthen the hands that hung down with weariness! With my whole soul I bless and praise God's holy name, for that he gave to me, his faithless, oft-erring child, the priceless treasure of thy true, deep, deathless love. Margaret ! on love like ours the world has little power. Many waters cannot quench love; neither can the floods drown it.' It defies long absence; it hears unmoved the poisonous tongue of slander; it joys in privations;and death;-even death, the king of terrors, lays lovingly his cool hand on the burning brow, and says, 'Come to the land where love in its brightest, purest perfection lives and reigns.' Death cannot conquer love!" "And it were needless to say, you will trust me, Ernest ?" 160 WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN. 'Needless, indeed; the faithful-hearted never distrust, unless they are cruelly wronged by those on whom they once relied; it is only the inconstant, the capricious, whose confidence is shaken by every fluttering breeze and every light wind that meets them on their way. But, Margaret, we will hope stoutly yet. The time may come when even on earth we may mingle every thought and feeling of our souls. Harder hearts than my father's have been softened. What will not faith and patience accomplish? Esau was changed from a raging lion to a tender lamb. Jacob feared his brother with a great and terrible dread, and yet Esau ran to meet him, embraced him, and fell upon his neck and kissed him. Jacob's God is our God also, and he will never leave us nor forsake 'He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him.' We have every reason to hope, dearest. And hope is a blessed comforter. Yes! I feel assured this is but the trial of our faith, and when the end is answered, when the full time is come, every obstacle will be thrown down, and our path made smooth and plain in our sight. We must wait in cheerful patience, and pluck the way-side flowers as we go, contented with their sweetness and fragrance, till God gives us a goodly heritage of our own. And think, my Margaret, what rich blessings mingle with our sorrow. How bitter this parting might have been! Had our love not been mutual-had the affection between us not have been true and deep-had one of us been unstable, given to change; or had our hearts clung only to this world's happiness-had we known that the us. MUTUAL STRENGTH. 161 love we so cherished could go with us to the banks of Jordan, but no further, then indeed had our grief been unmitigatable misery; then must we have sorrowed, as those who feel that hope is but a phantasy of the imagination; a dream, which melts away in the sober light of broad day." "We are the better, both of us, for speaking our thoughts," said Margaret, "are we not ?" "Yes, dear; and may it ever be so! May we always cheer and strengthen each other; never despairing, but always looking beyond the hour of trial to the blessings that are laid up for the children of the kingdom.' M 162 THE BROKEN CIRCLE. CHAPTER XIV. "She told him of her childhood's time; L. E. L. A FEW days considerably thinned the circle at Kingsdown Lodge. The laws of etiquette as well as a sense of propriety prompted Miss Wedderburn to decide upon a speedy retreat from the scene of her victory. She and Eleanor accordingly prepared to return to Buckinghamshire, there to discuss and arrange the mighty affair of the trousseau. With the promise of frequent visits from Mr. Hamilton, and with anticipations of Midsummer, when her reign as Mrs. Hamilton was to commence, Dora bade adieu to Richmond, within a week of the day when she had accepted her elderly lover as her future husband. There were other removals. When Hester heard from Margaret the history of her engagement, and Mr. Hamilton's dissatisfaction thereat, she became highly indignant. To stay under his roof any longer was clearly impossible; she would rather, she averred, bivouac on Wimbledon Common, than be indebted to his hospitality for more than twenty-four hours' shelter. So, with an energy for which no one would |