have seen and felt,--in the starry nightwatch of camps--in the blaze of
courts--by the sunny groves of Italy--in the deep forests of the Hartz--
never have I forgotten you, my sweet and dear cousin. Your image has
linked itself indissolubly with all I conceived of home and happiness,
and a tranquil and peaceful future; and now I return, and see you, and
find you changed, but, oh, how lovely! Ah, let us not part again! A
consoler, a guide, a soother, father, brother, husband,--all this my
heart whispers I could be to you!"

Ellinor turned away her face, but her heart was very full. The solitary
years that had passed over her since they last met, rose up before her.
The only living image that had mingled through those years with the
dreams of the departed, was his who now knelt at her feet;--her sole
friend--her sole relative--her first--her last love! Of all the world, he
was the only one with whom she could recur to the past; on whom she might
repose her bruised, but still unconquered affections.

And Walter knew by that blush--that sigh--that tear, that he was
remembered--that he was beloved--that his cousin was his own at last!

"But before you end," said my friend, to whom I shewed the above pages,
originally concluding my tale with the last sentence, "you must, it is a
comfortable and orthodox old fashion, tell us a little about the fate of
the other persons, to whom you have introduced us;--the wretch
Houseman?"--

"True; in the mysterious course of mortal affairs, the greater villain
had escaped, the more generous and redeemed one fallen. But though
Houseman died without violence, died in his bed, as honest men die, we
can scarcely believe that his life was not punishment enough. He lived in