Faithful Margaret

ntury of the hoary castle which stood like an ancient cathedra

ed for these grim medicine vials, marshaled upon the little table near her couch; she was past mortal needs or mortal

, listening, with straining ear, for each slow, rattling breath; watching, with great

rous lament for the moment of emancipation from her weary wait for a de

nd exalting the good which she found, and pardoning the frailties she could not blind her eyes to, her presence had become a sweet necessity to

face, darker grew the violet

ped her hands

efore seven?"

ow and listened to th

t," he said, wit

ding by the door; sobs and tears attested to

ed Margaret. "D

e her more," said

s; she laid a small, strong hand upon the

"She must, I tell you-it is her dearest, her last wish-it is my most earn

face, and her voice rose into a wail at the last words.

r longer," said Dr. Gay. "S

to foot. The blood forsook her lips, the light her eye

kindness, her timidly masked self-sacrifices; she appealed straight to h

gaze anxiously again at the slumberer. "I will try another stimulant, if I can

fully. "You little know the desperate need there is

s trembled distressfully, she waved the se

lawyer," said she, when she had dismissed the other servants down stairs.

indow, as he hurried from the court below, out into the deepening twilight, from

ching for the lawyer's coming, and

m from which she fain would court grim death himself if he would open his gates to let her escape; a humiliating and re

e mad, impulsive freaks which her lonely heart had led her into

e beloved, and indulged, and admired as no living mortal had ever been by that closely-guarded heart, save St. Udo Brand. Margaret Walsingham was a sea-captain's daughter. Up to her twelfth year she had sailed the seas in his ship and looked to him for society; and not till then was she sent on shore to be educated. Still the stout captain had been ambitious for his daughter, and had taken care that her education, when it did commence, should be thorough, comprehensive and e

e answered Mrs. Bra

rds, now in London. He was the only son of Mrs. Br

er achieved was his marriage, late in life, with a lady of noble birth, whose ambitious leanings and insatiable vanity had scou

was a man to be feared only, a polished gentleman with a questionable history-a universal scoffer, a world-weary atheist, with a subtle, insidiously sweet influence, a sad and embittered soul, and a heart long closed against all holy whisperings of better feelings. And still his grandmother clung to him with a pathetic belief in his nature's nobility, and ignoring his

him where you will. You shall dispute with vice and fatal atheism for that magnificent soul, and when you have routed your foes, you shall be rewarded by his life-long gratitude, and his gratitude is more precious far, my girl, than is the languid love of millions of

e at the idea of ever meeting him,

Brand. "You will soon overcome these childish tremors. Would you not like to be t

garet, fervently; "never

ll see," quoth the lady, sere

at the last she called her poor Margaret to her, and with pla

murmured she, with glistening eyes. "I have wille

ll!" prayed Margaret, vehemently. "Do no

all if he refuses the woman I choose fo

argaret, with proudly flashing eyes. "He will not sue for me. But, madam,

ad much rather give it all to you than to his mad associates. He has spent his patrimony, and his mother's fortune went soon after her death. He has only Seven-Oak Waaste to stand between him and penury. So

garet, "blot my name out of your

isappointment, then turned her fac

e refuses your hand before my face, I shall

n Brand, telling him of his grandmother's

garet Walsingham, expressing regrets, sympathy, and excus

he case and the certainty that Mrs. Brand was dying; and Captain

long the things of earth, and hour after hour went past, bri

athing fancy, and until St. Udo Brand chose to c

appearance of Symonds driving Mr. Davenport, Mrs. Brand's lawyer, int

ry man, with beetling brows and irasci

d conscious y

u to come here that when Captain Brand arrives you may be upon the ground to change the will legally. Dr. Gay hopes

, followed to the door by the lawyer's ke

eyes were open and were eagerly fixed upon the door. Margaret entered, th

et, kneeling beside her and laying her che

"Yes," the groping hand sought

d the wan cheek of her dying patroness and smoot

d lady, brokenly, "you have been a good friend to a

th the soul's voiceless eloquence, her soft eyes pleaded wistfully, her shy lips quive

Brand, with a fond smile. "Come, tell me you

t stand between him and his own property. I cannot

stirring the stimulant he was preparing, to gaze from one to the other-the lady and her companion. Twice Mrs. Brand ess

at you wish the will to be canceled, and your grandson to come into his inheritance wi

stab I never thought to receive from you. Oh, my darling, can't you save

sake," cried Margaret, lifting up a brave, love i

er eyes with a pang

?" she uttered, brokenly. "Is she no

rushed from the eyes which she thought to have closed in peace; and Margaret's

" said she, eagerly, "I shall n

ned a piercing

whispered, earnestly, "else you will defraud him

heavy as lead. Her last supplications had been made, and

me to save her and himself from this fatal chain whic

et and listened breathlessly. Yes, through the still April eve stole

s and tenderly kissed her cold, trembling

," said she, softly. "I sh

ide-he was still stirring the

kly," she whispered;

lead; and as she crept down the great vaulted staircase, lit by pale, flickering tapers, she tho

hall to greet the heir, and Purcell, the old steward, stood out on the thr

ed beside him and eagerly

to the doors of Castle Brand. Under the Norman oaks they rode softly over the velvet turf, now

ace as they approached, and gazed admiringly at the ancient castle, the

and?" whispered Mar

ng between the pawing horses, holding a bridle of each, and serenely smoking a cigar-a t

"if it is, he's a sight the worse for wear; but

ended stiffly to

e, sourly. "It's well you come at last,

disclosed a thin, wary face, ju

Captain Brand," he said. "

me after all?" cried Mr. Purcell, r

less fatigued will pay his devoirs to Mrs. Brand. He made

r white, electric face startling him in the chill radiance of the summer moon, her long garments sweeping in regal folds about her magnif

long, white hand, wi

she said. "I am

directions and exposed a terribly startled man. He gazed at Margaret Walsingham with arrested eye

e stooped with a muttered oath, and recover

ecessity, and the man stood awaiting an answer, as she tore the note

tion spread over h

ed she, bitterly, and read th

ufferings of the aged, he begs Miss Walsingham's disinterested heart to hold him excused; and confidently commends his dear grandmother to the delicate care of her pet and protegee until such time as she can assure him

Udo B

ed Margaret, and turned sharply upon the

nstinct-a lady's aversion

singham," murmured the str

e must come instantly if he would hear her last words. You will remember, Mr. Mortlake? And say th

her words. He repeated them after her, with a significant pause after each clause, a

e carriage, and bring Captain Brand,

spatch the coachman, and the p

azed fixedly in each other's faces. His fierce, envious,

r, and doomed to future recognition under the most perfect masking which ras

and, striding back to his horse and his

ll into a tulip bed, and, springing to his horse

h take great news sourly, ma foi! you curse Mademoisell

o by Margaret Walsingham on that eventful night with unheeding ears, came back one day throug

ng patroness, and met her eager, quest

less lips, and the kind old doctor turned away his brimming eyes, that he might not witness the h

hold grouped near the door, stifling their lamentations as best they might. But never a word spoke poor Ma

argaret's eyes left the pallid face of the dying to watch its

urn from Regis," she murmured to the doct

fanning the sinking mortal into immortality, answ

N

argaret's; still the swimming eyes turned on hers with the dumb agony of the last pang. Twenty minutes, twenty-five, twenty-six,

then beyond her into the shadowy world she was entering, and

he sighed, like

fted her to

red she. "Ah! th

ulder, the last thrill ran through the kind old he

red; nor mourned by the hearts of her kindred; uncomforted and alone, sav

er sightless eyes; then arose from

ely the clang of horses' hoofs and the roll of the carriage wheels stole to her ear. She put her hand suddenly to her forehead like one in physical pai

come at last, an