MATILDA took leave, and rapidly proceeded towards her own apartment. As she traversed the large gloomy entrancehall, silence reigned throughout its wide extent; and at every door a draught of air threatened to blow out the light she carried, which flared up in her eyes, when she ventured to quicken her pace. At last a sudden gust of wind extinguished her taper, and Matilda was left in total darkness. Perfectly acquainted with the way, however, she groped along, feeling entire confidence, and had begun slowly ascending a steep winding staircase which led through the turret exclusively to her own apartment, when suddenly she became startled and astonished to hear the distinct sound of footsteps coming downwards. Matilda paused and listened. No one slept near, nor could there be a possible cause conjectured why any person should be in that direction; yet the noise of steps descending was distinctly audible, accompanied by the sound of rustling silk. Scarcely a single individual is entirely free. from superstition; and though Matilda's well-poised mind and enlightened understanding had never before yielded to supernatural fear, yet the sudden remembrance thrilled through her frame of Eleanor's stories connected with this ancient staircase, in which it had been stated that during more than two hundred years there had been the report of sounds such as these being unaccountably heard on the spot where she stood. For one moment a cold shudder passed through her frame; but hastily dismissing these apprehensions, she regained her self-command, and nerved her resolution by the thought that she must act for herself, as no one could possibly be summoned to her assistance. Matilda now called out as loudly as she could, to know if any one was there; and as her voice became feeble from terror, she repeated her words again. The sound echoed upwards in

harsh hollow tones, when instantly afterwards a noise of whispering seemed audible above, a light gleamed there for an instant, and the rush of footsteps followed in an opposite direction, after which all was still.

Matilda stood transfixed to the spot with amazement and fear, her heart ceased to beat, her limbs quivered, and she remained motionless, as if she had been turned into stone, while listening with intense attention to catch the smallest sound. Her hearing seemed to be sharpened by apprehension, but she waited in vain. Resolved at length to brave the worst, she summoned a degree of desperate resolution, and proceeded as rapidly as the darkness would permit towards her own room, where she intended to obtain a light. In passing the dreary lumber-room opposite to her own, she again saw a momentary gleam in the distance,-a slight rustling noise called her attention to a white figure flitting out of sight in the gloomiest recesses, and instantly afterwards a loud crash took place which startled and bewildered her, so that, unable to hazard another glance around, she rushed into her own room, and with a fluttering heart and unsteady hand bolted the door. Matilda could not but remark that it was wide open as she entered, though the housemaids invariably closed it, and that her fire bore traces of having been recently and violently stirred, though not a servant on the establishment would have ventured up that staircase after dusk; she therefore still trembled with nervous apprehension to find herself thus alone, and so completely unprotected. All the theories of apparitions which she had ever read or could remember, failed to compose her agitated nerves. She trembled at ever crack which the old wainscot gave in her room, the rattling of the window-frame startled her, and a mouse in the wall would have almost made her faint. "What poor weak creatures we are!" thought Matilda, trying to imagine some plausible explanation of all she had seen, and to compose her mind for the solemn duties of the evening. "But yesterday I should have been the first to laugh at such a story as this, yet no human being can foresee how he will feel or act under any circumstances, until he is actually placed in them." Impatient for the first peep of daylight, she opened the curtains, and looked out upon the pale, cold moon; the deep shadows cut upon the grass, the glittering stream rolling beneath her window, the massy clouds careering along the sky, and the bright stars shining in perpetual beauty. There is something which speaks peace

us.'

to the heart amidst a scene of such majestic stillness; and Matilda now began in some degree to forget her alarm. The agitation which she had witnessed in Nanny's state of mind during the previous night, forced itself on her thoughts, accompanied by a feeling of melancholy at remembering the callousness with which Eleanor had treated those distressing circumstances which followed, though she was consoled by the hope, that her cousin's judgment had been in some degree perverted by the misrepresentations of Pauline and Mrs. Gordon. The remembrance next succeeded, of all that Mr. Armstrong had said, or rather, according to his own phraseology, what he had not said; but the whole was so indefinite and unpleasant that nothing remained on which she could. have any desire to rest her meditations, except those pleasing words of Scripture,-which are consoling in every period of similar perplexity-"He shall choose our. inheritance for But Matilda found it more difficult to banish from her mind the increasing uncertainty she felt respecting Sir Alfred's conduct. It was impossible to have any hesitation in believing that she was an object of peculiar interest to him; he always betrayed a consciousness of her presence; while the most trifling remark she uttered evidently acquired importance in his eyes when she made it, for at whatever distance he might be off, it always seemed to reach him, and to arrest his attention in preference to every one else. His favorite position in the room was near her, and she could not but be aware how anxiously he had desired an opportunity of speaking to her unobserved during the evening. Yet when Matilda reflected that Eleanor was equally confident of Sir Alfred's regard, she felt how prudent and desirable it must be, under whatever circumstances, to maintain an uncertainty of that which was not yet declared. Nothing cures people so surely of their faults as to see the very same errors exaggerated in the conduct or feelings of others, for we then become conscious of their danger and deformity. Miss Howard, therefore, being unable to avoid the conviction of her cousin's vain and unwarrantable expectations, found it easier to diminish her own. Had she been addicted to amusing self-deceptions, Matilda might even have begun to flatter herself that the gay and lively Mr. Grant was becoming conscious of her charms, as there had been much in his manner to her of late, which tended to that conclusion. From the moment when he observed her soothing kindness to the wretched Nanny, and her unaffected indifference to

the interest which she herself excited on that occasion, he adopted a new tone towards Matilda, full of respectful deference, while his attentions were frequent though unobtrusive; and the conversation which he addressed to her became often so superior to his general character and style, that during dinner that day she had been surprised and flattered at the change. Eleanor might often have remarked, if vanity did not lay observation to sleep, how different seemed the manner of gentlemen in general towards her cousin from what it was towards herself. A gay tone of easy familiarity they all assumed in suiting themselves to her, and it appeared often no better than the lively persiflage with which they were willing to amuse a wayward child, whom they perfectly understood, and whom it was their interest to humor and indulge in every capricious whim; but when Matilda entered unobtrusively into the room, a look of interest became obvious in the manner which they adopted towards her, and of pleasure in observing one who seemed so unconscious of attracting notice, and so indifferent to admiration. People are usually most desirous to acquire that of which they are uncertain, and while all felt secure of amusing Eleanor, many had become anxious to please Matilda, whose remarkable richness of mind, united with her graceful turn of expression, her fertility of thought, and her tone of sensibility, gave a charm to her society quite unrivalled. With Eleanor many gay effusions of wit and vivacity sparkled under the influence of excitement, but when once her spirits flagged, the game of conversation " was up." But Matilda, on the contrary, had a quiet under-current of knowledge and observation which varied the occasional vivacity of her ideas; and Mr. Grant had been heard to declare, after sitting next her for nearly an hour, in apparently serious discussion, that "he did not know her equal at a two-handed crack.' "

Unable yet to feel sufficiently composed for retiring to rest, and finding it unusually difficult to banish from her thoughts those subjects which perplexed while they interested her, Matilda rose to procure a book, and was surprised, in passing the toilet-table, to observe a letter laid conspicuously on her dressing-box. Snatching it hastily up, she examined the handwriting, which was unknown, and the direction, which was certainly for herself. Matilda then turned it over, to inspect the large and consequential-looking seal; but she became startled to observe that it bore the impression of a tortoise carrying the globe, which, being somewhat of a

herald, she at once recognized as the crest of Sir Colin Fletcher. Two monkeys, with long tails, for supporters, had often been the subject of wit among the Baronet's friends. and the motto "Je Fuis," was always quoted as particularly inappropriate. Eleanor's warning now flashed into Matilda's memory-she had lately heard proposals spoken of as an every-day occurrence, without apprehending any danger of meeting with one herself; but, ignorant of the way in which these events took place, she felt a pang of self-reproach for having acted entirely on her own judgment, and for having allowed herself to believe that her cousin's prophecies were merely in jest, when they ought at least to have produced some caution. Sir Colin's advanced age had prevented Matilda from ever imagining the possibility of his marrying, but Eleanor had recently assured her, that no multiplicity of years could be any security. Coloring with vexation, as these recollections crowded into her mind, Matilda's trepidation increased when she broke the seal and read as follows:

"DEAR MADAM,

"Many letters begin with the use of a possessive pronoun, which is wanting here, seeing that I am not yet entitled to use it towards you; but the very great encouragement with which I have lately been honored, entitles me to believe that before long I shall have acquired the privilege of doing so. My friend, Sir Jonathan Fowler, who is one of the cleverest people to be met with in society, and tells a story better than any man I know-with a single exception-for no rule is without one-indeed, I believe the present company is always excepted, and I trust in this instance will be accepted too, which is a bon mot of which you may not discover the merit till my letter is finished-My friend, Sir Jonathan, I say, who had a story for every occasion, or who made an occasion for every story, as few people had a better art of introducing them, or told one better when he set about it-I have actually seen him entertain a circle from breakfast-time till dinner, without stopping to take breath, when he could find an audience, which is not easy in these talkative times, as people have all got into an unpleasant habit of holding forth incessantly themselves, especially young ladies, which I particularly disapprove of, being still of the old, exploded opinion, that they should be seen and not heard. Even my own narratives are not listened to as they used to be in former days, which is perfectly unaccountable, since I now