and taunt me with them before them all, and heap the blame and disgrace on my head I tried to bring down upon yours? what was it induced you to throw such an opportunity away?"

"The hope," said Margaret, in a low touching voice," that I should perhaps make one more friend." Theodosia burst into tears. "Not in me, Miss Armadale! you cannot wish for it in me, for you offered me your hand once, and I-rejected it!"

"Will you reject it now?" said Margaret. Theodosia caught it in both hers. "Oh! you are too, too noble: you must hate me, I have hated you so much, and tried so deeply to injure you, you must wish for revenge."

66

"I am revenged," said Margaret, deeply moved, amply, fully revenged, if I have at last persuaded you to think of me in kindness." Theodosia wept violently her proud heart seemed bursting. "Now," continued Miss Armadale, gently, "I may go away satisfied that I leave only friends behind me, may I not?"

"You may, you may indeed." "Will you be my friend ?"

"That I will."

"And may I use a friend's privilege ?"

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"How?"-Miss Armadale pointed to the packet of papers. By helping you, if it is in my power." Theodosia blushed scarlet. "Oh no, no, I could not suffer-"

"If they are what they appear to be," interrupted Margaret, looking steadily at her, " it is in my power. I do not ask for your confidence: I only ask to be allowed to serve you, if money is of any service." Theodosia hid her face in her hands. 66 Only suffer me," continued Margaret, "to free you from that woman's treachery, and then I shall feel certain your enmity towards me is at an end."

Thoroughly subdued by this kindness, Miss Crawford laid her head on her shoulder, and while Margaret examined the papers, at once relieved her feelings by tears, and her heart by a confession. As Miss Armadale suspected, she had fallen into Shipton's power, by incurring debts known to her alone: chiefly for ornaments, and lace, and gay articles of dress, to which she was more addicted than her allowance could satisfy.

"When I have paid visits," continued Theodosia "Shipton was always persuading me to have things because other people had them, and promised to find ways of helping me to pay for them, and somehow they were dearer than I thought: I don't know how much it all comes to: I left it all to Shipton, and she promised, more times than I can repeat, never to betray me, because mamma would be so angry, and Judith so disagreeable. We quarrelled the other day and she taunted me with it, but I little suspected she would carry it all to you, Miss Armadale, or that I should be confiding it to you in this way."

"As little as I suspected," said Margaret, kindly, "that I should so soon have a sister's right to your confidence."

"A sister!" repeated Theodosia, starting up and pacing up and down the room in great emotion, "yes, I know you are to be so, and I tried to prevent it, and thrust poison into Alfred's mind: oh Margaret, Margaret!"

66

if

'Why go on reproaching yourself?" said Margaret, good-humouredly, still busying herself with the accounts, "you know all you said to Alfred was thrown to the winds, so you did no harm; and if you lost your temper that day, I am sure I lost mine, so we are quits. I find a sum-total cast up here, Theodosia : it is of no great amount;-come, come, cheer up; we cannot get over such a little scrape as this, how in the world are we to keep up our housekeeping? There, put these things together, and I will be back in a moment." And without waiting for a reply, she left the room and hurried softly to her own, took down the writing-case that had betrayed her to her enemy, and wrote the few magic words that were to set that enemy free. As she did so, unseen by any mortal eye, a large tear stole down her cheek,—the tear of a grateful and overflowing heart for the victory it had been enabled to attain.

If she had, by self-exposure to imminent peril, saved Theodosia's life that night, she would not have won her so effectually as by this simple act of generosity.

Her mind, perverted as it was, yielded to the nobler influence; and when Margaret appeared again with the precious scroll that was to deliver her from her secret burden, she flung herself in her arms, and in broken accents implored her forgiveness. It was already given, and Margaret's tears were its seal:-tears that became her young face better than the pearls of a monarch's

crown.

Extract from a letter written by Mrs. Crawford to a circle of friends and neighbours :—

“... And now I am going to surprise you: perhaps you have heard that Rockstone Manor has been just purchased by my sweet friend Miss Armadale; and are fancying you have seen her already. Quite wrong, my dear friend: the lady I introduced to you by that name is not Miss Armadale after all: the sweet girl, who is all originality and talent, got up a little coup de théatre, and came here in a clever disguise, that she might judge of her father's old friends exactly as they are. Thank goodness, our friendship can defy any such inspection; and you may guess the conclusion to which the young lady came when I tell you she is engaged to be married to my dear son fred. All is well that ends well; and we may trust this little romance will terminate in the happiness of two very excellent young people. The lady who personated our fair incognita is one of the highest respectability, and a very worthy person altogether; but, as

Al

you saw, with no pretensions to good looks. My future daughter-in-law, on the contrary, is a very beautiful creature; and so devoted to us all, that it will be the greatest comfort and happiness to have them so near us," &c. &c. &c.

We leave our readers to imagine for themselves all the wondering, and surmising, and gossiping among Mrs. Crawford's friends, to which this intelligence gave rise :—what Lady Toddleton said, and poor Miss Bray thought, wishing, poor soul! that her bondage was as voluntary and transient as Margaret's;—and the good-natured way in which people pitied Ferdinand, and shrugged up their shoulders at Alfred, and called it all very odd, and foolish and imprudent; and made up their minds to go to Rockstone whenever they were asked; and how Aunt Strapper gasped when she found she had attacked Mr. Armadale before his own daughter, and how she scratched Alfred's name for ever out of her often-remodelled will, and substituted that of John, who became henceforth her prime favourite, and lost no time in replacing the bay mare at her expense:-and how Sir Tudor was so charmed with his own discernment in appreciating Margaret, that it almost comforted him for her loss. All this any one may imagine without our help: there are other things which, even with it, they would not compass so easily; and of these were Margaret Armadale's sensations when her carriage rolled away from