CHAPTER II. "A light broke in upon my brain- But through the crevice where it came BYRON. In compliance with the directions given her by Macalbert, Rhoda stopped at a cabin of entertainment, for Inn it could could be scarcely called, about a mile and half from the town in which her father was confined. Here she ordered refreshments for man and steed, and having liberally rewarded her guide, and given him directions to return with the pony as soon as possible, she took her solitary way on foot towards the county town. It was the the opinion of Horace, that she had better present herself before a magistrate and make her deposition, ere she held communication with any part of her family, anxious as she must be to relieve them from the distress under which they were suffering on her account, as it would prevent all suspicion of collusion between them, In pursuance of this advice, she enquired of the first person she met for the residence of Mr. Green. A house at some distance apart from the road was pointed out to her as the seat of the magistrate, and she was told that she would find the avenue about a quarter of a mile farther on, on the left hand side. This she readily found, and while pursuing its smooth way for about half a mile, she endeavoured to collect and fortify her mind for the important business which lay before her; and, delicate as was the situation in which she was placed, it is no wonder that her heart beat with an accelerated motion as she approached the house. The avenue opened into a broad lawn, fronting a house of more pretension than was often found at that time in that part of Connaught. A company of yeomanry were in possession of this lawn when Rhoda arrived, going through their exercises; for Mr. Green, the magistrate, was a Colonel of yeomanry and was now inspecting his own company, consisting of Cavalry and infantry. Those who could afford to keep a horse were mounted, and those who could not were on foot. The magistrate stood on the door-steps to review his double force. He was a man of family as well as fortune, and as far as his in fluence extended, his power was absolute. As a younger son, and before he had any certainty of the property which he now possessed, he had been educated for the Church, and actually held two rich benefices, the advowsons of which were in his own family. Rhoda walked timidly up to the great man, quite forgetful in the all absorbing importance of her mission, that she was in any other than her usual dress, and when she slightly bent, and requested the favour of half an hours conversation with Mr. Green, she was rather startled at the reply, accompanied as it was with a stare of surprise. "You see, my girl, that I am at present engaged, but if your business is of very great importance you can go into the servant's hall: and sit down-Thomas, shew the young woman in.” Rhoda took her seat near the window, and seemed to be occupying herself in looking out while she endeavoured to evade the enquiring looks of the domestics. The glow of exalted feeling had gradually subsided since she had parted from Macalbert in the morning. Such excitement, true for the time, when it owes its birth to noble conceptions, is nevertheless but a glimpse of a future heaven, and cannot obtain an abiding place in the heart that is still under the influence of earthly ties, as long as those ties continue to be of the earth earthly. She now felt herself sunk beneath her ordinary level; seated in a mean dress, in a servant's hall and subjected to the impertinences of its proper denizens by an assumption of superiority on their part. It was but for a moment that such thoughts crossed her mind it was soon absorbed by the business which had brought her there. She sate for some time in momentary expectation of being summoned to the presence of the magistrate, when she was startled by the sound of his voice ordering the groom to bring out his horse immediately. She rose from her seat, and addressing a |