beside him: the child had seized it. As she took it from him in order to
replace it, her eyes rested upon the passage the boy had accidentally
opened. How often in after days was that passage recalled as an omen!
It was the following:

Ah me! for aught that ever I could read,
Could ever hear by tale or history
The course of true love never did run smooth!
Midsummer Night's Dream.

As she laid the book gently down she caught a glimpse of the countenance
of the sleeper: never did she forget the expression which it wore,
--stern, proud, mournful even in repose!

She did not wait for him to wake. She hurried home through the trees.
All that day she was silent and abstracted; the face haunted her like a
dream. Strange as it may seem, she spoke neither to Lady Margaret nor to
Mrs. Dalton of her adventure. Why? Is there in our hearts any
prescience of their misfortunes?

On the next day, Falkland, who had received and accepted Lady Margaret's
invitation, was expected to dinner. Emily felt a strong yet excusable
curiosity to see one of whom she had heard so many and such contradictory
reports. She was alone in the saloon when he entered. At the first
glance she recognised the person she had met by the lake on the day
before, and she blushed deeply as she replied to his salutation. To her
great relief Lady Margaret and Mrs. Dalton entered in a few minutes, and
the conversation grew general.

Falkland had but little of what is called animation in manner; but his