mrs. thornton and fanny were in the dining-room; the latter in a flutterof small exultation, as the maid held up one glossy material afteranother, to try the effect of the wedding-dresses by candlelight. hermother really tried to sympathise with her, but could not. neither tastenor dress were in her line of subjects, and she heartily wished thatfanny had accepted her brother\"s offer of hāving the wedding clothes

provided by some first-rate london dressmaker, without the endlesstroublesome discussions, and unsettled wāvering, that arose out offanny\"s desire to choose and superintend everything herself. mr.

thornton was only too glad to mark his grateful approbation of anysensible man, who could be captivated by fanny\"s second-rate airs andgraces, by giving her ample means for providing herself with the finery,which certainly rivalled, if it did not exceed, the lover in her estimation.

when her brother and mr. bell came in, fanny blushed and simpered,and fluttered over the signs of her employment, in a way which couldnot hāve failed to draw attention from any one else but mr. bell. if hethought about her and her silks and satins at all, it was to pare herand them with the pale sorrow he had left behind him, sittingmotionless, with bent head and folded hands, in a room where thestillness was so great that you might almost fancy the rush in yourstraining ears was occasioned by the spirits of the dead, yet hoveringround their beloved. for, when mr. bell had first gone up-stairs, mrs.

shaw lay asleep on the sofa; and no sound broke the silence.

mrs. thornton gāve mr. bell her formal, hospitable wele. she wasnever so gracious as when receiving her son\"s friends in her son\"shouse; and the more unexpected they were, the more honour to heradmirable housekeeping preparations for fort.

\"how is miss hale?\" she asked.

\"about as broken down by this last stroke as she can be.\"

\"i am sure it is very well for her that she has such a friend as you.\"

\"i wish i were her only friend, madam. i daresay it sounds very brutal;but here hāve i been displaced, and turned out of my post of forterand adviser by a fine lady aunt; and there are cousins and what notclaiming her in london, as if she were a lap-dog belonging to them.

and she is too weak and miserable to hāve a will of her own.\"

\"she must indeed be weak,\" said mrs. thornton, with an impliedmeaning which her son understood well. \"but where,\" continued mrs.

thornton, \"hāve these relations been all this time that miss hale hasappeared almost friendless, and has certainly had a good deal of anxietyto bear?\" but she did not feel interest enough in the answer to herquestion to wait for it. she left the room to make her householdarrangements.

\"they hāve been living abroad. they hāve some kind of claim upon her.

i will do them that justice. the aunt brought her up, and she and thecousin hāve been like sisters. the thing vexing me, you see, is that iwanted to take her for a child of my own; and i am jealous of thesepeople, who don\"t seem to value the privilege of their right. now itwould be different if frederick claimed her.\"

\"frederick!\" exclaimed mr. thornton. \"who is he? what right--?\" me

stopped short in his vehement question.

\"frederick,\" said mr. bell in surprise. \"why don\"t you know? he\"s herbrother. hāve you not heard--\"

\"i never heard his name before. where is he? who is he?\"

\"surely i told you about him, when the family first came to milton--theson who was concerned in that mutiny.\"

\"i never heard of him till this moment. where does he live?\"