"He shall, sir," said I, with a positiveness which, in his feeling of
sorrow, and yet relief, to know that Tom had died as champion of the
family honour, escaped his notice. I thereupon took my leave.

As I afterward came to know, he sent Philip an account of the whole
lamentable affair, from Ned's reappearance to Tom's death; it was
written in a cipher agreed upon between the two, and 'twas carried by
Bill Meadows. Mr. Faringfield deemed it better that Philip should know
the whole truth from his relation, than learn of Madge's departure,
and Tom's fate, from other accounts, which must soon reach his ears in
any case.

I know not exactly how many days later it was, that, having a free
evening in the town, I went to the Faringfield house in hope of
bearing some cheer with me. But 'twas in vain. Mrs. Faringfield was
keeping her chamber, and requiring Fanny's attendance. Mr. Faringfield
sat in a painful reverie, before the parlour fire; scarce looked up
when I entered; and seemed to find the lively spirits I brought in
from the cold outer world, a jarring note upon his mood. He had not
ordered candles: the firelight was more congenial to his meditations.
Mr. Cornelius sat in a dark corner of the room, lending his silent
sympathy, and perhaps a fitting word now and then, to the merchant's
reflections.

Old Noah, the only servant I saw, reflected in his black face the
sorrow that had fallen on the home, and stepped with the tread of a
ghost. I soon took my leave, having so far failed to carry any
brightness into the stricken house, that I came away filled with a
sadness akin to its own. I walked forward aimlessly through the wintry