t completely clear of the wood, th

, and jolted violently several times o

t afraid?"

h of her ordinary firmness, and was prepared to face her sorrow with at least outward tranqui

me that the gentleman had been thrown from his horse, and was very much hurt. He was insensible, and was injured about

en to such a wretched p

ruin; and your husband was found by th

take him to no

itation of any kind

to talk while flying through the air

lness. Not a tree - not a patch of brushwood, or a solitary bush - broke the monotony of the scene: but far away against the moonlit horizon rose a wild an

defied many a besieging force in the obscure pas

arrow road that curved around the sides of the c

mple leisure to gaze upwards at the dreary-looking ruin, whose

my husband lying there - with no better shelter th

as the gig passed across a narrow wooden drawbridge t

dismal cry of a raven suddenly broke the awful s

ndows?" she asked; "surely Sir Osw

tower," answered Victor, briefly. "And now, Lady Eversleigh, you must alight. We can go n

wer, an archway of solid masonry, over

passed under the bla

y Eversleigh," said Victor. "You will s

powerless to proceed without a guide - so dark was the interior of the tower. She heard the ravens shrieking

derous object falling, with a grating and rattling of heavy chains; but Lady Eversleigh was

me your hand, Lady Eversl

slippery by the moss that had gathered on them. It was a winding staircase, built in a turret which formed one angle of the tower.

"I see no lights; I hear no voic

on did not answ

ommanding voice. "Follo

him, making her way with some difficu

y opened before her; and following her companion thro

hill-side, sloping downwards to the wide expanse of the moorland; above her was the purple sky, flooded

hat moment taken possession of her. "This ruin is uninhabited. I saw the empty rooms

the best of my knowledge," answered th

tude, with one arm leaning on the ruined stone, and he was looking quietly

with a countenance that had gr

ould not credit the evidence of her own ears. "Am I mad, or are

ntleman; but I should say that, at this present moment, Sir Oswald E

hy am I

d Victor. "My motive for bringing you here concerns myself and another person. You are here to farth

dent? Sir Osw

ery much that I have been obliged to inflict unnecessary pain upon a lady. The sto

ing her hands in the fervour of sudd

ed it towards the moonlit sky. Victor

s man?" he thought. "Can it be that sh

f deep and heartfelt gratitude. Her second thought was of the shameful trick that had

ling, sir?" she cried; "and why h

ecommend you to calm yourself before you listen to

d I would advise you to comply with my request, unless you wish to draw upon yourself Sir Oswald's vengeance for the wrong you have done me. I am the last person in the world to invo

e surgeon, with cool insolence; "for I do not think Sir Oswald will car

unutterable scorn, and then turned towards the

in my return, I will go alon

is hand with a

. "In the first place, the steps are slippery, and the descent very dangerou

do you

down through that brea

unging position, and poi

ia followed the ind

spanned the chasm. It had fallen, and hung over the edge of the abyss, suspended b

he ruin, but on rushing to the opposite battlements, and looking down, she saw

o and fro with that distracted air, Lady Eversleigh. Believe me, you will do wisely to take things quietly. You are doomed to remain here till daybreak. This ruin is in the care of a man who leaves it at a certain hour every evening. When he leaves, he drops the drawbridge - you must have heard him do it a little whil

this miserable place, while my husband is, no doubt, expecting m

wonder and perplexity enough on you

a pause

the moment powerless to express either her fears or her indignation, so stra

le of this wild act. My life is in the power of a madman. I can but wait the issue

ayed for seemed to

ad, and bound the fallen plaits in a knot at the back of her head. She did this almost as calmly as if sh

d make myself the enemy of this woman for the sake of such a mean~spirited hound as Reginald Eversleigh! But my interests compel me to run

igh sat on the edge of the broken wall, at a few p

er of a maniac. What, except madness, could have pr

arance of calmness; and it was with tranquillity she add

u will be good enough to inform me why you have brought me to this place, and w

ictor Carrington; "but you have injured one who is my f

that f

ld Ever

ve I injured Reginald Eversleigh? Is he not my husband's nephew, and am I n

stand between him and fortune. Do you not know that, little more than a year

disinherited before I cro

Reginald would have been restored to favour. But you have woven your

disg

have triumphed hitherto, but the hour of your triumph is past. Yesterday you were quee

a, more and more mystified every

sion of her, and she began to perceive that s

" she repeated, in

g, not by their inward truth. Appearances have conspired to condemn you. Before to-morrow ev

from m

-night - your sudden disappearance

to-morrow morning - go back to denounce your villany

lieve your denunciation? You will

gled abhorrence and despair - abhorrence of her companion's

ready to encounter your play with a still more desperate, and a still more dexterous game. When a nameless and obscure woman sp

not speak to me, sir," she added, turning to Victor Carrington, with unutterable scorn. "I believed a few minutes ago that you were a madman, and I thought myself the victim of a maniac's folly. I understand all now. You have plotte

e battlemented wall, as calm, in outward seeming, as if she had been in her own drawing-room. S

il seven or eight in the morning. For six or seven hours, therefore, Honoria Eversleigh was likely to be a prisoner - for six

sed from her prison, she might hurry back to the castle. But who would be

ances conspired in damning evidence of her guilt? A sense of hopeless misery took possession of her heart; but no cry of anguish broke from her pale lips. She sat motionless a

e to be flattered by false words, and tyrannized over by stronger natures than their own. Among all the women with whom he had ever been associated, his mother was the only one in whose

erning principle by which men regulate their lives - let them seek as they will to mask the truth with specious lies, which other men pretend to believe, but do not. That one rule, that one governing principle, is SELF-INTEREST. For the advancement of his own fortunes, the man who calls himself honest will trample on the dearest ties, will sacrifice the firmest friendships. T

he had never withdrawn her eyes from the eastern horizon. Passionless contempt was expressed by that curving lip, that calm repose of e

t as the one rule of conduct - this unscrupulous trickster and villain, felt the bitterness of a woman's scorn. He would have been unmoved by the loudest evidence of his victim's despair; but her silent contempt stung him to the quick. The hours dragged themselves out with a hideous slowness for the despairing creature who sat watching for the dawn; but at last that

hivering of rushes, then the noise of a struggle, oa

es upon that horrible picture of the past; but now, in the hour of

r of an assassin! The sins of one generation are visited on an

nd; but it was several hours after sunrise before the man who

ew that no visitors were likely to come before nine o'clock in the morni

w up the bridge, and came acr

on, whose face looked horribly pale and worn in the broad sunlig

eet. The delicate feathers were wet and spoiled by the night dew, and she took them from the fragile hat and flung them away.

h was dark even in the daytime - except here and there, where a

tryman, who uttered a cry on behol

from his terror; "I ask pardon, my lady, bu

ent away last night, that the

hed down yander; and when I keame back to let down th' drawbridge, I didn't sing out to ax if th

ge," cried Honoria. "I want to get so

gton, ma'am. That's four miles f

f which he spoke; and Lady Eversleigh set fo

rks on that broad stretch of level turf. She wandered out of the track more

to Raynham; but there was little chance that she could reach the castle