fault with all she did, swore at her, and committed every act short of personal violence. Affairs were going on in this miserable manner, when Charley Chesterford unintentionally let out that on the previous day Hovingham had been walking with Miss Melvill in a wood near the house of the latter. The act in itself might have been harmless, but for the first time Lady Hovingham found her husband guilty of falsehood, he having declared that he had not seen his cousin for three days. When accused of this, and asked why he should thus deceive her, he burst out into a fit of passion, raved and stormed like a madman.

Shortly afterwards Miss Melvill was announced, and Lady Hovingham found herself alone with the object of her distrust. Losing all control over herself, Margaret charged her with alienating her husband from her, of meeting him clandestinely.

“Dear Margaret," responded the other, "do not make mountains of mole-hills. I see harm in cousins meeting; your

jealousy blinds you, and you know in the case of your sister what evils may arise from

it."

At this reference to Lady Albert, Margaret, whose pride was already deeply wounded, exclaimed

"If you persevere in your conduct, you will drive me from my home."

"I hope not, dear cousin."

"You will drive me to desperation. As a loving wife, I appeal to you once for all to put an end to an intimacy which must end in misery."

"I do not understand you," said Miss Melvill, calmly.

"Promise me then that you will never again meet my husband clandestinely ?"

Here Joanna put on a tragic look, and with well feigned anger indignantly interrupted Margaret with reproaches for supposing her so weak as to be in danger of being led into a violation of her duty; then recovering her composure, justified her conduct.

Treating these arguments with the disdain

they merited, Lady Hovingham burst forth"It is the duty of every right thinking man, and such a man my husband was, to screen all for whom he professes a friendship from the breath of suspicion, nor should he expose his own fair fame to the whisper of calumny."

"Excuse me, if I retire. I did not expect to be thus insulted. No breath of suspicion. can be brought against me, and permit me to say that your unreasonable jealousy of one who would be your friend is past all endur-ance."

"Unreasonable jealousy!" echoed the now nearly distracted wife. "Have I no cause-forit? but beware! Retribution is in the hand of Heaven alone; at the great day when before the Supreme Omnipotent Judge, our deeds are laid bare, while virtue exalted meets the all scrutinising eye of God-vice abashed will tremble at the just award of Providence."

CHAPTER VIII.

All deception in the course of life
Is indeed nothing else but a lie
Reduced to practice and falsehood
Passing from words to things.

REV. R. SMITH.

Neither man nor angel can discern
Hypocrisy, the only evil that walks
Invisible, except to God alone.

MILTON.

MARGARET had abundant leisure to meditate upon every syllable of her conversation with Miss Melvill; as she retraced it calmly in her recollection, the retrospect was far from affording her comfort. Many little circumstances that had almost escaped her observation in the agitation of the moment, returned very forcibly to her memory, and threw a new light upon the view she had at first taken of the past. Her husband's behaviour had wounded her feelings not a little, and it

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was agony to her to suppose it possible that he felt more than a cousin's affection for Miss Melvill; still, in spite of all her efforts to banish the feeling, it would frequently present itself to her imagination. This persuasion gave rise to many bitter regrets, and she was haunted with a thousand doubts and fears for the future.

At one time she felt much inclined to throw herself at her husband's feet and urge him to remove her suspicions; but there was an asperity, a something altogether in the tone in which he had spoken whenever his acquaintance with Miss Melvill was discussed, that checked the impulse.

For several hours she wandered about in the most secluded part of the grounds, meditating upon her wretchedness, and devising plans for her future conduct, before she could regain sufficient composure to meet Miss Melvill.

Shortly after this Joanna joined the party, and met Lady Hovingham as if nothing had occurred, merely expressing a hope that if