retirement;" so saying, he left them, less grieved in quitting London, the seat of every present pleasure and future hope and expectation, than he was delighted at the prospect of obtaining a sudden acquisition to his fortune.
Weary of London, the spring months having expired, General and Mrs. De Brooke had at length fully determined upon leaving it for the still and peaceful shades of the Bower, when their design was again interrupted by the unfortunate sudden illness of Mrs. De Brooke.
Perhaps nothing could have happened more consonant to the wishes of Melliphant; the prospect of carrying his views into execution relative to himself having entirely disappeared the moment their intended and unexpected departure had been announced to him in the farewell visit of Sir Howard. Now, called upon in his professional capacity to administer relief to the suffering mother of Rosilia, he inwardly rejoiced that such a circumstance would afford a positive sanction to his visits; while in his outward appearance he manifested a deep sense of the unhappiness it caused to Rosilia and her father.
Under the plausible excuse of paying unremitting attention to the case of the invalid, once or twice each day Melliphant was allowed the gratification, not only of seeing, but of conversing with the lovely Rosilia. Sometimes confined in the dark apartment, in watchful attendance at her mother's couch, he beheld her; and sometimes, when he visited that
