the implied insult. He did not even hear it, while his artful brother,
under the pretext of striving to effect a reconciliation, was heaping
fresh fuel on the fire, and doing all in his power to widen the breach.

The old man's wrath was at length exhausted; and Algernon, fearing to
lose all command over his temper, and exasperated by unmerited abuse,
abruptly left the room, and retired with a heavy heart to his own
chamber.

His determination to make Elinor his wife was not in the least shaken by
his father's threats; although he knew that years must now intervene
before such an union could take place. After he had a little calmed his
agitated feelings, he sat down and wrote a long letter to Elinor,
briefly stating what had taken place, and the necessity he was under of
leaving the Hall. He again repeated his vows of unshaken constancy;
assuring her that he was ready to make any sacrifice for her sake. He
begged her not to take the present trouble too deeply to heart, as he
felt certain that from the violence of the storm the danger would soon
be over.

The next morning he took a tender leave of his mother, and accepting the
invitation of a friend to spend some time with him in a distant county,
he bade, as he thought, a long farewell to the Hall.

From this visit he was recalled in a few weeks to attend the funeral of
his father, who died suddenly of gout in the stomach. After the remains
of the old Squire had been consigned to the family vault, Algernon
accompanied his mother and brother to the library to hear the reading of
the will. No suspicion that his father would realize his threat had ever
crossed his mind; and he was literally stunned when he found that his