Ruth

"Does the Thi

f food, prepared in the slovenly manner which had almost disgusted him when he was well. It was of no use telling him that Simpson, his mother's maid, had superintended the preparation at every point. He offended her by detec

s his man wheeled his sofa to the bedroom wi

uld go down to-day; but I believe I'm to be kept prisone

oval; and he, having heard the same anxiety for the same end expressed by Mrs Morgan in the regions below, threw no great obstacles in the way. After the

ertainly, but one which has been forced upon me by the very girl herself; you

d himself for a lecture by concealing his face from her notice; but

ason has blazoned it abroad; all Fordham rings with it; but of course it could not be pleasant, or, indeed, I may say correct,

character, mother;

t mean to uphold her a

but I led h

her son-a power which originated in childhood, and which he only defied when he was roused into passion. He was too weak in body to oppose himself to her, and fight the ground inch by inch. "As I

ring to?" asked Mr

for a breath of fresh air, this girl pushed herself before me, and insisted upon speaking to me. I really ha

ened; she was ignorant enough, and

t they had been put aside to be settled when he grew stronger. But this difficulty in which he was placed by his connexion with Ruth, associated the idea of her in his mind with annoyance and angry regret at the whole affair. He wished, in the languid way in which he wished and felt everything not immediately relatin

er; I suppose you are not so lost to all sense of propriety as to imagine it fit or desirable that your mother and this degrade

question; is it, or

is not," he re

difficulty would be best solved by my taking my dep

g annoyance, of which Mr Bellingham consi

t wish to see her again, if you can tell me how to arrange it otherwise, without behaving unhandsomely. Only spare me all this worry while I am so weak. I put myself in your hands. Dismiss her, as you wish

enry, rely

d I can hardly avoid blaming myself in th

wrong with her artifices. But, as you say, everything should be done handsomely. I confess I was deeply grieved when I first heard of the affair, but si

hen sent for her writing-case, and began to write.

r worries me to death. I canno

I'll arrange it

noyance in another place. I dread seeing her again, because I fear

try to get to Pen trê Voelas to-night. It is not yet three, and the evenings are very long. Simpson should stay and finish the packin

present dilemma, and save him many lectures; he knew that his mother, always liberal where money was concerned, would "do the thing handsomely," and it would always be easy to write

ck, and was in a side-wing away from the principal state apartments, consequently she was not roused to suspicion by any of the commotion; but, indeed, if

ering, gave her a note, which Mrs Bellingham had left. That lady had found s

ace; but before I go, I wish to exhort you to repentance, and to remind you that you will not have your own guilt alone upon your head, but that of any young man whom you may succeed in entrapping into vice. I shall pray that you ma

et Bel

this last question of the servant, who, half guessing at the purport of t

s I came upstairs. You'll see it now on the Yspytty ro

, there it was, slowly winding up the steep white

and she flew back to her room, and snatching up her bonnet, ran, tying the strings with her trembling hands as she went down the stairs, out at the nearest door, little heeding the angry words of Mrs Morgan; for the

ng the most passionate wishes and endeavours, and constantly gaining ground. Every time it was visible it was in fact more distant, but Ruth would not believe it. If she could but gain the summit of that weary, everlasting hill, she believed that she could run again, and would soon be nigh upon the ca

t was lost in the haze of the summer afternoon; and the white road was all flat before her, but the carriage she sought and the figure she sought had disappeared. There was no human being there;

cumstance but that he was gone. Yet afterwards, long afterwards, she remembered the exact motion of a bright green beetle busily meandering among the wild thyme near her, and she recalled the musical, balanced, wavering drop of a skylark into her nest near the heather-bed where she lay. The sun was sinking low, the hot air had ceased to quive

and tottering; but, by-and-by, she was tasked and goaded by thoughts which forced her into rapid motion, as if, by it, she could escape from her agony. She came down on the level grou

such a deserted, desolate creature as she was? Even in her hiding-place she was not long at peace. The little children, with their curious eyes peering here and there, had peeped through the hedge, and through the gate, and now they gathered from all the four corners of the hamlet, and crowded round the gate; and one more adventurous than the rest had run into the field to cry, "Gi' me a halfpenny," which set the example to every little one, emulous of his boldness; and there, where she sat, low on the ground, and longing for the sure hiding-place earth gives to the weary, the children kept running in, and pushing one another forwards, and laughing. Poor things; their time had not come for understanding what sorrow is. Ruth would have begged them to leave her alone, and not madden her utterly; but they knew no English save the one eternal "Gi' me a halfpenny." She felt in her heart that there was no pity

, which touched her stony heart. Still looking at him, as if drawing some good influence from him

ent sharp to her heart; her moans and sobs wrung his soul; but as no speech of his could be heard, if he had been able to decide what best to say, he stood by her in

or Christ's sa

as if they struck some chord in her heart, and she were listening to its echo; and so it was. His pitiful look, or his words, reminded h

utmost speed. He followed across the road, on to the rocky common; but as he went along, with his uncertain gait, in the dusk gloaming, he stumbled, and fell over some sharp projecting stone. The acute pain which shot up his back forced a short cry from him; and, when bird and beast are hushed into rest and the stillness of the night is over all, a high-pitched sound, like the voice of pain, is carried far in the quiet air. Ruth, speeding on in her despair, heard the sharp utterance,

st all chance of saving her. He was almost overpowered by his intense thankfulness when he saw her white figure pause, and stand listening, and turn again with slow footsteps,

dashing sound of whose waters had been tempting her, but a moment before, to seek forgetfulness in the deep pool into which they fell. She made a basin of her joined hands, and carried enough o

, sir?-are you

loss of power in my back, and I believe I stumbled over some of these projec

raid of your lying too long on th

t her thought for him, and so turn her back upon herself, t

yourself, sir

t down by him, and, covering her face with her hands, cried mournfully and unceasingly. She forgot his presence, and yet she had a consciousness that some one looked for her kind offices, that she w

rew short and soft between the rugged stones. Once more on the highway, they slowly passed along in the moonlight. He guided her by a slight motion of the arm, through the more unfrequented lanes, to h

and yet dreading to tighten it, lest she sh

hes by name, made haste to light the candle, and then they saw each other, face to face. The