why he sent for me. He knew I could quiet him, and I will."

So Rosamond stayed, succeeding so far in soothing him that his eyes
lost their savage gleam, and were suffused with a look of unnatural
tenderness when they rested on her face. He did not ask her how she
came by the ring, for he knew it had been sent as an insult to him,
and he felt a glow of satisfaction in knowing that it was blackening
on the grate. Ben's voice was now heard in the hall, asking if they
intended staying there all night, and in a whisper Mr. Browning bade
Rosamond go down and apologize for him. She accordingly descended to
the parlor, telling Mrs. Van Vechten that her brother was too much
indisposed to come down, and wished to be excused. Mrs. Van Vechten
bowed coolly, and taking a book of prints, busied herself for awhile
in examining them; then the book dropped from her hand--her head fell
back--her mouth fell open, and Ben, who was anxiously watching her,
knew by unmistakable sounds that she was fast asleep. It was now his
time, and faithfully did he improve it, devoting himself so
assiduously to Rosamond, that she was glad when a _snore,_ louder and
more prolonged than any which had preceded it started the lady
herself, and produced symptoms of returning consciousness.

The next day, and the next, it was the same, and at the expiration of
a week, Ben had determined either to marry Rosamond Leyton, or go to
the _Crimean War,_ this last being the bugbear, with which he intended
frightening his mother into a consent. He hardly dared disobey her
openly for fear of disinheritance, and he would rather she should
express her willingness to receive Miss Leyton as her daughter. He
accordingly startled her one day by asking her to sanction his
intended proposal to the young girl. Nothing could exceed Mrs. Van
Vechten's amazement and contempt. She would never consent, and if Ben