him as the very soul of honour, I felt no
further uneasiness respecting the arrangement
than that likely to result to a timid
girl, of secluded habits, from the immediate
prospect of taking up her abode for the
first time in her life among total strangers.
Previous to leaving my home, which I felt
I should do with a heavy heart, I re-
ceived a most tender and affectionate letter
from my uncle, calculated, if anything
could do so, to remove the bitterness of
parting from scenes familiar and dear from
my earliest childhood, and in some degree
to reconcile me to the measure.

It was during a fine autumn that I
approached the old domain of Carrickleigh.
I shall not soon forget the impression of
sadness and of gloom which all that I saw
produced upon my mind; the sunbeams
were falling with a rich and melancholy
tint upon the fine old trees, which stood in
lordly groups, casting their long, sweeping
shadows over rock and sward. There was
an air of neglect and decay about the spot,
which amounted almost to desolation; the
symptoms of this increased in number as
we approached the building itself, near
which the ground had been originally more
artificially and carefully cultivated than