CHAPTER XXII.

The dawning of morn, the daylight's sinking,
The night's long hours, still find me thinking
Of thee, thee, only thee.

Where friends are met, and goblets crowned,

And smiles are near that once enchanted,
Unreached by all that sunshine round,
My soul, like some dark spot, is haunted
By thee, thee, only thee.

MOORE.

It was not many days after the conversations related in the last chapter, that one morning, while the passengers sate together at breakfast, the captain came in with the joyful intelligence, that, on the evening of the next day, at latest, they would land in England. A murmur, almost a cry of joy, broke from every one present, except Clarence and Ellinor.

To Ellinor the time passed pleasantly, for

she loved Clarence; and, while she lived in his continual presence, she was happy. To her, therefore, the announcement gave only pain.

And Clarence was it any thought of Ellinor that made him knit his brows, and gave such an intense expression of thought and anxiety to his features? No; Isabelonly Isabel: he could not hear that, in a few days, almost a few hours, his fate would be decided with calmness or with joy. What in the distance had been hope, changed, in that moment, to unmingled fear.

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Why so silent, Miss Ellinor?" said Mr. Rushbrook, gaily. "Have you no happy thoughts of old England? My native land, my native land,'" he repeated-"Breathes there a man with soul so dead,' &c.- England, with all thy faults, I love thee still.' I can't exactly remember the poem I mean.” He was quite excited with his quotations.

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"I very soon grow fond of a place," said Ellinor, quietly.

"Not of the place, my dear Miss Hervey; you must not waste your heart on places. Of

the company, I grant you; and I can tell you, Miss Ellinor, the company don't mean to lose sight of you. We are friends for life, are we not? And I have many who will soon be dying to make make your acquaint

ance."

Ellinor smiled at him with the soft, gentle smile which had so early won his heart; and then, seeing that Clarence had left the breakfast-table, she too slipped away, and ran upon deck.

Clarence was standing with a long glass in his hand, gazing in the direction of England. Ellinor took her work, and sate down near him; but it was long before he turned and saw her.

"Are you as happy to be near England as Mr. Rushbrook is?" she asked, at last.

He laid down the glasses, and came and stood by her. He hoped an opportunity might arise to speak.

"No, not happy," he answered.

"Fear

and anxiety do not consist with happiness, do

they? I long to be there: and yet, if I could

delay it for a week, for a month even, I believe I would have it so."

"You have, then, in England," she said, in a low voice, "some that you love very much?"

"I have some that I love," he began, and paused; for even to speak of Isabel was painful to him; but, for Ellinor's sake, it must be done: "and one"-he fixed his eyes upon her as he spoke" one whom, I dare scarcely own, even to myself, what it is I feel for her."

A blush passed over Ellinor's face, and she turned her head away for a moment; then gently said, "She is very happy."

Clarence looked down tenderly on the young girl; her soft but humble nature touched him deeply; but he continued—“ If she is happy-I am-I know not what. What will you think of me, when I tell you that I have not heard of her for nearly three years, and that when I left her she was engaged to be married to another!"

Ellinor raised her large blue eyes in wonder. "Is it not like the eternal constancy of which you read?"

They were both silent for a few minutes;

then Ellinor looked up again.

married?" she asked.

He made no answer.

"And if she is

She repeated her question. The depth of that love, the anguish of that heart at the idea she presented, she had no power to penetrate. To her second inquiry he made no answer but by a look; but words had never spoken to her heart as that look now spoke. She shrank from the agony it revealed.

The discovery of his attachment made no difference in Ellinor's feelings for Clarence. She had not loved him with any ultimate view she always supposed that she should be married; but marriage was not the object of her heart. So long as she was near him, so long as he spoke to her so gently, and cared for her so tenderly, she was perfectly happy.

In the afternoon of the following day, they anchored in sight of Dover; but there was some delay in disembarking. Many went