Year: 1859

DludlnT nef go TO her own room,
Mr.. Wetherell dismissed the rest, and
. sent for Alice to come to him. Her
well acted surprise and sorrowful in
: dignation completely deceived her un-
Gle, who broke the matter to her as
gently as possible, and to his search
; ing questions as to whether she had
: seen anything strange about Helen
lately, whether she was in the habit
of going off alone, or of having much
concealment from her, she reluctantly
/ acknowledged that Helen had seemed
somewhat altered ever since their last
visit to the city, that she had been
much alone, and gone ont alone, but
that she had thought it might be at
tributcd TO some girlish fancy, and
had taken no notice of it.


Mounting his horse, Mr.. Wcthercll
rode directly to the house of the old
woman, to whom Helen had carried
the money. Her story, carefully pre-
pared for her by Alice, corroboratcd
all that had gone before. There could
be little doubt now that Helen was
concerned in some intrigue, though
the more Mr. Wcthcrcll thought of it
the more improbable it seemed. There
was only one explanation. Helen
must be altogether different from what
they had supposed her to be, and
prodigy of artrulness, else how could
she have deceived them all. An in
triguc there certainly was, and the
simple fact of that was enough to
prove guilt of some sort. Mr.. Wcth-
crcll thought as he rode slowly home
that winter afternoon, that in all the
trouble he had borne, there was none
so bitter as this. 1t is so much easier
to lose beloved ones, than to suspect
and dcspisc them.


Before dining, Mr.. Wcthcrcll made
ono more effort to soften Helen. He
went to her room and rappinG at the
door, waited for the summons to come
in. 1t was given in low voice, and
stepping in he saw Helen lying on
the bed, with her face pressed down
in the pillow. When she saw who
had come in, she started up with an
apology for not rising before. She
had thought it was Alice


Mr.. Wcthcrel was shocked by the
extreme palcncss of her face, and the
heavy black rings around her eyes
She looked as though she had suffered
a severe illness, and though he had
come to tell her the testimony he had
gathered that afternoon, he did not
deem it prudent. 1t was evident that
she was bearing all she could.


al o..s<i.t ..ot =" hava i"tarruptcd
you at all, perhaps" he said, but |
could not go down for the evening
without coming to sec you. You
have had some time for consideration,
Helen. think you must have come
to the conclusion that it is better to
trust lis


"I can only make the same answer
that | did this morning. Helen said,
quite calmly and coldly.


Mr.. Wctherel looked searchingly at
her for 4 moment, and then turned
away with more anger than lie had
felt yet Her very affection for them
must have been deception, or how
could she resist the sight of their suf-
fering! Inscnsibly, perhaps, he was
influenced by a new sense of jealousy.
These letters that the woman assured
him had been sent from time to time,
were directed to some man, as she
thought, and as appeared probable.
Had she been intriguing with some
dishonorablc person, while the best af-
fcction of both father and son had
been lavishcd upon her ? Mr.. Wcth-
crells heart grew hard at the thought
If he had seen the complete abandon
mcnt of sorrow III which the young
girl passed the evening, he might
have relentcd


After few days delay, in order, if
possible to soften IIelcn's resolution,
Mr.. Wctherell decided on placing her
with a widowed friend of his, if she
would be willing to accept the charge,
and of going Immediately to a warmer
climate with Louis, whose health was
suffering from the combined effects of
cold weather and excitement. He
went himself to see Mrs. Granger.
and arranged all the circumstances of
treatment and management with her
! Helen was to be treated with the ut
most tenderness, but watched care
fully, and not allowed to go out alone
by amy means.


When Helen was told what her
punishment was to be, she said moth
! ing until she was alone with Alice
Then she plead passionatcly that some
arrangement might be made, where
by her fame could be cleared 1t was
hard to bear absence and acknowledge
that he was despised also. But Alice
argued so artfully, that she could not
speak until she had heard from her
pretended husband, and swore so sol
emnly that if anything was discovered
before that time she would not hesi-
tate to commit suicide, but would
most certainly explain all when she
did hear that Helen resigned herself
to bear her burden still longer, with a
heavy heart, and turned coldly away
from all cntreaties and commands.
The only feeling she expressed when
in company with any of them was,
when Louis bid her most affection
ate goodbye, declaring his mistaken
belief in her innocence "If we new
or meet again Helen, remember that
| said So" he said with sudden sol
emnity as they parted.


Mr.. Wetherell had determined to GO
himself with Helen, hoping something
from the pain Of her parting from
home and friends, and unwilling to
trust her in less careful hands than
his own. The travelling was not very
good, and the day was cold, so that
the evening surprised them still upon
the road. All day he had tried to
cheer her by pointing out the various
beauties of even that inclement sea-
son, and relating incidents of travel
in such weather. She listened and
answered, but there was more than
ordinary hstlessness in her manner.
Before night, Mr., Wetherell began to