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whisper, though he only heard "Grandpapa," and aunt Olivia," he comprehended that they were come -come to forgive him, to bless him, and look lovingly upon him before he died. "Thank God," he feebly uttered. "My Lily, go down to them; little Harry will stay and le papa's nurse."

Lilian and Olivia had never met since that miserable meeting in the chapel-royal at Windsor.

Olivia started, when her sister entered the room. Could that pale, grave woman-so calm, so self-possessed, and yet bearing the aspect of sorrow immeasurable-be Lilian?-the gay, impetuous, beautiful Lilian? Mr. Hope had always rather inclined to his son's wife; her conduct at the time of the breaking-up of their London household had increased his prepossessions in her favour, and, since her exile to Bryndyffryn, he had heard much of her patience and gentleness, much of her quiet consistent piety from Dr. Williams. He would have come to see her, but pride withheld him, lest his rebellious son should deem such a step an advance on his side towards the reconciliation, which in his wrath he had sworn should never be effected till Basil, penitent and humbled, implored pardon for the past, and pledged himself to act worthily for the future.

He met Lilian now as a long-estranged and absent father should meet a beloved child. Olivia, whose heart years and the dawnings of gospel light had greatly softened, took her in her arms, and embraced her with sisterly affection. Neither did Mrs. Hope comport herself coldly and sternly as was her wont; for her heart was with her dying son, and she could not now look unlovingly on the wife who had dutifully clung to him through years of sorrow, and neglect, and poverty.

66 Have you told him?" asked Mrs. Hope. "Does Basil know we are here ?"

"Yes! he knows; he heard little Harriet whisper the news to me. Will you see him now, while I prepare you some tea ?"

They went upstairs-the father and mother. Olivia deferred her appearance, lest too many in the sickchamber-too many familiar and long unseen faces→→→→ should be too much for her brother.

Besides she thought both parents and son would willingly have their first meeting alone. So Lilian thought, for she left them at the door of Basil's room, only begging Mrs. Hope to ring for her if her attendance were in any way required.

They stayed there nearly an hour, and then they came down to the tea which Lilian had prepared for them. They had never been so much at ease together, and they both kissed her affectionately when, leaving Olivia to preside at the table, she hastened to resume her post in her husband's room. She found him none the worse for the excitement of the evening; on the contrary, his restlessness seemed calmed, and he was disposed to sleep. That night, Mr. Hope insisted on keeping watch by his son, while Lilian shared the bed which Bridget had prepared for Olivia, and enjoyed a night of undisturbed repose.

A week passed away. Basil was not worse; and they began to hope that his youth and his naturally sound constitution might yet prevail. Meanwhile, Olivia's prejudices were fast melting away, and very soon her admiration of her sister-in-law was as extreme as her former deprecations had been. In the wellordered household, in the carefully-trained children, in the skilfully managed sick-room, and above all in Lilian's unassuming piety, and in the refined and intellectual tone of her mind and manners, she could not fail to recognize the effects of a training more perfect and more efficient than any she had herself received. Slowly she began to perceive that all the beautiful

traits of character she now esteemed and reverenced so highly, had really existed in embryo long before; she felt that Lilian had, at her first entrance into the family, been most unfairly treated; and she owned that, though in some instances her sister-in-law's conduct had been reprehensible, there were others, herself included, who were greatly to blame for the evil influence they had exerted over a nature in itself fair and noble, but, till trained by a severe and painful discipline, too plastic and too much swayed by impulse.

They talked over those old times together. Olivia told Lilian how she now perceived the wrong she had done her; how she and her sisters, in their haughtiness and pride, had cared little to foster the seeds of truth and beauty which might by them have been quickly developed; how they had aggravated her quick temper, and goaded her on to many a word and deed of passion, that by one look or tone of love might have been prevented; and, more than all, Olivia perceived that much of the alienation between her brother and his wife had been caused by this malignant influence; and how, cast off by themselves, she had been left to form her own circle, and to find her own pleasures, and to subject herself to Eleanor's injurious

sway.

"It was all wrong together," said Olivia, one day-" shamefully, cruelly wrong! but we were in the dark. We had no real religion among us; and education, birth, and refinement failed to keep us righthearted."

"And poetry and my love for my husband failed to keep me from error and misery," returned Lilian. "Olivia, we can do all things, through the love of Christ constraining us, and without it I believe we cannot do anything, but what in some way or other leads sooner or later to evil."

"I see that now; but, Lilian, I had only just begun to receive truth when I came here. It is the history of your trials, of your severe discipline, the revelations of poor penitent Basil on points which your humility would keep concealed, and the whole aspect of your household and your every-day life that confirmed me in the truth, and showed me clearly and fully what Divine grace, and grace alone can effect."

A few more days and Basil was greatly better. The arrival of his parents, his reconciliation with them, and their loving care seemed to bring him back from the shadowy confines of the grave. And he said, "I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord. The Lord hath chastened me sore; but He hath not given me over unto death. Open to me the gates of righteousness, I will go into them, and I will praise the Lord."

As soon as Basil's strength permitted, the whole family were to return to Hopelands for the winter. It was doubtful whether Bryndyffryn would ever again be their permanent home.

CHAPTER XXXI.

THE OLD HAUNTS.

"For oft, when summer leaves were bright,
And every flower was bathed in light,
In sunshine moments past;

My wilful heart would burst away,

From where the holy shadow lay,

Where Heaven my lot had cast."-KEBLE.

"WHAT are you doing there, Lily; I have been seeking you for the last half hour?"

'I am watching the sunset, and predicting a most beautiful day for our wedding to-morrow. Come up the mound, Basil, and look at that fiery globe sinking down behind the distant Cheddars. I do not like the idea of a gloomy wedding-day. I hold as superstitiously as ever to the old distich

'Happy is the bride that the sun shines on!"

"If I remember aright, my Lily, our weddingday was all showers and sunshine. One moment clouds, that seemed to threaten waterspouts, darkened the hills, and the next the whole scene was lost in a flood of dazzling light. Well! so far, our married life has been strictly in keeping with the aspect of that day; only, my poor patient, trusting Lily, I am afraid there has been an undue preponderance of storm and darkness!"

But, Basil, remember how the day brightened after we left Kirby-Brough! Towards noon, the rainclouds rolled away, and the warm sun shone out in the blue sky; the afternoon was beautiful, and the evening was so calm, and soft, and cloudless! We