lotte, recollect yourself,-exert more Christian strength of mind, or you lose yourself in my regard."

"And what is an old servant, what is a friend, compared to your wife, to your children? What claim can equal theirs? And how can you answer to your conscience the bringing back to us this fatal malady?"

"God will preserve my family," replied Edmund Sinclair, trembling with emotion. "My own Charlotte, think of the vows I have taken as a Gospel minister; and remember that, if unfaithful to them, I can never expect Divine assistance."

"I know not what were your vows as a clergyman, Edmund, for I never heard them,-I only know what they were as a husband; and, by those remembered vows I hold you fast. I will not let you go. Is it thus you would love and cherish' me 'till death do us part? Is it thus you would desert the devoted mother of your children, or return to destroy her?"

Mr. Sinclair here endeavoured to raise her, fondly kissing the hand he held, but at the same time turning his eyes towards the window, whence escape was perfectly feasible. Mrs. Sinclair, however, caught the direction of his looks and thoughts, and, throwing her arms around him, burst into tears; while, as the wondering and tearful children gathered round them, the governess ventured to suggest, that, "if the Warden or Miss Carrington had sent for Mr. Sinclair, it would have been painful to have refused them, but that this old woman was no relation."

Mr. Sinclair sighed as he replied,-"Every soul is of equal value in the sight of God, and with Him all men are brothers. To the inmates of the Hall I have bound myself as their pastor before God. My

VOL. I.-4

own love, be reasonable, be more than reasonable; be full of faith and trust, and the Master, whom I serve, will protect me and comfort you."

"Oh! Edmund, for God's sake do not go on talking to me in those set phrases! I know very well what the obvious duties of a clergyman are; and I am certain that carrying about the infection from house to house, is not one of them. It is your duty to obey the Government, and the Board of Health has officially commanded that the contagion should not be thus conveyed. You know all this very well, Edmund, I read you the announcement myself from the newspaper; and you also know the dissatisfaction that was expressed because the Roman Catholic priests would not obey the law of the land."

"Not the law of the land, Charlotte; no punishment could attend its infraction: but now listen. I must go up to the Hall, but I will not return here immediately. I will pass the night at the lodge, and then change my dress."

"And there die," interrupted the wife, "and see me die there, and the one yet unborn! Yes! kill us both at once, and then be satisfied that you have well fulfilled your ordination vows! Go! go!" cried she, with hysterical vehemence; "go! you love me not, you never did, and you shall never see me more!"

Accustomed, as he had long been, to similar scenes, whenever bent on the fulfilment of those clerical functions in which danger to himself might be dreaded, Edmund Sinclair had never been so powerfully affected, even during the first months of his marriage. This beautiful and devoted creature had passionately thrown herself at his feet, and her sobs echoed in his heart: he thought, also, on this their anniversary.

The children, fully understanding that their mother was in distress, and their father in danger, joined their lamentations to hers, each little hand fastening on his dress, to force him to remain in safety, while the gentle governess again expostulated: "Surely, Mr. Sinclair, these dear ones have the first claim on you. Excuse me, if I take the liberty to think you have, in this case, mistaken the line of duty. God can never bid you forget that you are a husband and a father."

Mrs. Sinclair had now ceased to sob and lament; but it was not that she listened to this last appeal in her favour, for her frame, incapable of longer sustaining this highly wrought state of feeling, sank heavily on the floor, and her rebellious grief was lost in forgetfulness.

Miss

"Great God!" cried the agonized husband, as, disengaging himself from the children, he raised his apparently lifeless victim, and bore her to a couch. "Thou canst not demand the annihilation of these very affections which thou thyself has blessed, Charlotte, my best treasure, I quit you not. Rigby, tell the messenger from the Hall that Mrs. Sinclair is too ill for me to leave her, that I send my best wishes and my blessing to poor old Goodwin, and that I entreat she will have no human preferences at such a crisis, but consent to see my excellent brother the Warden. And take the children away, Miss Rigby: I wish to be left with my wife."

"I cannot, sir," replied that lady, "the door is, you know, locked; and even, while fainting, Mrs. Sinclair still grasps the key."

Tears gushed into Edmund's eyes as he drew forth his Charlotte's now unresisting hand from the folds of her dress: it fell powerless, and dropped the key. The governess and children withdrew; and,

no sooner was he freed from witnesses, than sinking on his knees, by the couch of his still insensible wife, and burying his face in the cushions, Edmund Sinclair gave way to the remorseful emotions of his soul, for he had yielded to the enervating effect of earthly love, and, in the husband, lost the priest of God!

1

CHAPTER IV.

Ye who in place of shepherds true,
Come trembling to their awful trust.

KEEBLE.

In the meantime, the library at Elverton Hall presented a scene of, perhaps, too frequent recurrence, that of a prolonged discussion between the arbitrators, humanly speaking, of life and death; while every five minutes, thus wasted, diminished the probability of rescue for the object of their punctilio. In fact, it happened unfortunately for the poor old housekeeper's existence, that each of the medical men, summoned to prescribe, was the marked leader of a totally opposed system, with this additional obstacle to agreement, that one practitioner, being the cleverest of the clever at Elverton, was defender of the cause of provincial talent; while the other felt and showed the full importance of representing the London Board of Health, whence he had been sent with delegated power. Each was stout hearted. Mr. Thompson, resisting innovation, adhered to hot flannels, brandy, and laudanum ; while, inspired by the genius of discovery, Dr. Newitt pronounced on the saline particles to be reproduced in the blood. While the discussion was at its full height, and the Warden, to whom college etiquette had taught endurance, was standing between the bowing opponents, armed, in one hand, with a mixture of Mr. Thompson's, and, in the other, with the pamphlet of Dr. Newitt, the messenger returned from the Vicarage, conveying the answer