to do so; they were strange-they were mysterious! for it was by the heaven-directed agency of Agatha that Jessy had been warned of her fate; it was plain then, that the perfidious lover of Jessy was not unknown to Miss Singleton; but, unable to form the remotest conjecture that could authorise him to suspect any one who was intimate at the Dale, he suspended his judgment till some conclusive evidence might assist him in discovering the villain. CHAPTER XV. "Oh, love! what is it in this world of ours As those who dote on odours pluck the flowers TIME, which brings all things, all seasons, and all changes to an end, whether sweet or sour, was rapidly advancing to that, which was annually calculated by the inhabitants of Cromer for the period of a rich and luxuriant harvest, all their own, because they had looked forward to it with many an anxious sigh, and the deprivation of many a pleasure, which their scanty means could not afford; during the long and tedious reign of winter, dried fish, and a very moderate supply of inferior herrings, with a less proportion of other food, had been the subsistence of numerous poor families, who had drained their little store, gained by hard labour, in order to prepare ready furnished apartments in their houses, for the reception and accommodation of the yearly visitors and sea-bathers, who never failed to resort to their coast on the approach of summer; and if this poor, honest, and industrious race of people were then rewarded for the sacrifices which they had so patiently endured throughout a long and wintry season, who would grudge them the price of their hire, that had full purses and open hearts? and yet there were hearts, and there were purses, which were never opened but to wants of their own: wants do we call them?-no, they were not wants, for nature requires but little; they were luxuries, idle and fantastical luxuries, which bloated affluence imagines that it cannot do without, and that it has the sole right to enjoy ; and while to real want it is a stranger, how should it either know or feel for those unfortunate beings, who are alone familiar with poverty, and to whom the name of luxury is unknown. Being warmed themselves in the sunny ray of splendour, even till they sicken beneath its beam, how can they feel the icy chill of the cold and bitter blast of poverty? Ask the African, born beneath the influence of the burning clime, if he can feel his limbs benumbed with Lapland's freezing snows, or shiver with the wintry blast blowing round his head, and he will tell you, no! Neither can one human being appreciate the wants, the miseries, the feelings of another, till they themselves have drank at the bitter fountain. Well, then, to return to the inhabitants of Cromer, and the fashionable sea-bathers, who did not, we will suppose, come there to save money, but to spend it, and, having plenty, they could afford it; at length the influx of company was so great, that not a bed was to be procured at any of the inns, however humble of obscure; every lodging was completely crammed, and many families who could not obtain room for their establishment were under the necessity of taking apartments in houses situated at a most inconvenient distance from the town. It was no wonder, then, that in this extremity, applications poured in from all quarters for the beautiful Cottage on the Cliff, and that several personages of rank and fashion enquired of Mr. Adams, at the library, the terms of accommodation; of which, being fully informed, it was immediately followed by an application to the fisher himself. A splendid carriage arrived one morning at Herring Dale, and the name of Mr. Blust being enquired for at the gate, by a footman in a superb livery, David came running into the parlour to apprise his master of his distinguished vi sitors, which was no other than the Marchioness of Montault herself, Lady Lavinia, and a third lady, deeply veiled, and who did not choose to alight; for the fisher had instantly made his bow to their lady ships, and invited them in, where only Olive was sitting at work, and, on the entrance of their splendid visitants, she arose, and curtsying respectfully, was going to retire, had not the Marchioness entreated that she would not disturb herself on her account. "Your daughter, 1 presume, Mr. Blust," exclaimed her Ladyship, and seating herself without ceremony, immediately entered into the business on which she came, namely, to engage the Cottage on the Cliff; "not for myself, as you may imagine, Mr. Blust," uttered she, "for I cannot endure any thing half so romantic as this cottage is described, so lonely too, standing by itself on the sea-shore; I positively should die of the vapours were I condemned to endure such solitary exile. I have a perfect antipathy to the lɔneliness of solitude, be the prospects ever so bounc less or enchanting. Well, it is not for myself that I am going to negociate, so it does not matter, but for a friend, a lady of quality and distinction, newly arrived from the continent, who, if she finds the cottage answering the romantic description which has been given of it, will doubtless become your tenant a considerable length of time. The terms which Adams stated to us are by no means objectionable;the point is,— is the cottage duly prepared for the reception of a lady of distinction, Mr. Blust?-by the bye, it belonged to a person of the name of Singleton, who was unfortunately drowned there, did not it? I have heard something about it, but the story was so melancholy, 1 could not bear to listen to it. I have an antipathy to all melancholy stories." Here the Marchioness ceased speaking; from the first moment since she had made her entrance, till now, there had been no chance of the fisher being able to edge in a word, much less to answer the interrogations which her ladyship had so rapidly made, but the ice being now broke, he ventured to begin in the following manner :~. "Yes, my ladv, I believe you will find that the Cottage on the Cliff is exactly the thing, the very thing for dull and melancholy folks to live in. The wind blows like the devil, when there is a gale or a tempest, and the waves will wash over the chimney tops, as nicely as a herring skiff skips over the ocean, -then there is plenty of sea-fowl to keep watch over the premises,-I have seen as many gulls there as would freight a ship; but the captain did not mind these things a whistle, so the winds might blow, and the birds might shriek, he was never the man to fright them away from their lonely habitation; and as to his daughter, heaven bless her, she would not touch a fly with her little soft hand, if she thought she should hurt it. So, as I was saying, my lady, that the captain enjoyed all these melancholy things, he was a melancholy man, and purchased the cottage of me, when it was not worth a rope's yarn, and was ready to tumble about his ears, on purpose that he might have it built up again according to his fancy, and indulge in all his melancholy whims, and read books, and look at the stars, and the moon, and the sea, and all those sort of things;—but, poor fellow, he did not enjoy his fancies long, he was lost in that terrible gale of wind that wrecked a ship upon this coast, and made me the father of two as fine boys as ever your ladyship beheld in your born-days." "Well, I protest, that it is prodigiously kind of you, Mr. Blust," cried the Marchioness," it is not every one who would have liked to receive so great an addition to their family, for I am told that the or phan daughter of this Singleton lives beneath your roof too, and is supported by your bounty; her fathe no doubt left her quite destitute. A strange charac - |