supposing he acted more wisely in cutting me off. Poor old dotard!—had he thought more judiciously, he would have left me his fortune, as the best means of effecting my reformation; for how could I have done better than have shared it with the lovely Rosilia? Yes! in truth, no longer would I have hesitated, had my uncle's fortune fallen to my lot: the lovely Rosilia should have been made instantly my bride! whose looks, so sweetly demure, might have at last chased the devil from mine!"
"Rosilia never will be his!" silently ejaculated Melliphant, as with a malicious smile he cast aside the letter, and prepared to make his accustomed daily visit to his patient.
When, in the course of time, Mrs. De Brooke became sufficiently recovered, no longer to complain of that lassitude, the usual effects of a long and serious illness, she would readily have acceded to the wishes of the General, and would again have encountered the journey through Wales to their tranquil Bower. But when, in the severity of the weather, she perceived a premature winter, and when she recollected how chill and cheerless had passed away those months, the bleak winds howling around their lonely dwelling,—and should the complaint she had recently recovered from menace a relapse; in giving due weight to such considerations, the General and herself mutually agreed, it being then the latter end of autumn, to postpone their journey until the ensuing spring; swayed also in their determination
