“It was very impertinent in me to presume to say so—forgive it!” “Nay, dear child, I beg you won’t take it back! If you do not hope for me, who will?” “Indeed, I do hope for your success very strongly—and more than that, I count upon it very confidently”—— “But finish what you were going to say; you saw in some one ‘the elements of which heroes are made, and’”—— “Oh, nothing, only I dived more deeply than ever before into my lives of great men, and reflected more than ever upon the causes that made them great, if you do not think it presumption in a girl like me to talk of reflection upon such a subject. But my mind ever had an attraction to it, and you gave that attraction a new and strong interest. I thought of you, and hoped that you were on the road to an honourable and beneficent distinction. I was grieved to hear that you were coming here; I would have opposed it, had I dared. Do not stay here, Mr. Sutherland.” “I must fulfil my engagement with your uncle!” “My uncle will release you from it.” “Yet, dear Rosalie, I cannot leave now.” “Do not think me importunate, impertinent; I wish you would go even now to-day.” Mark Sutherland looked up at her in surprise, but checked the answer that rose to his lips, when he saw her troubled face. Her work being now completed, she arose, and left the room. CHAPTER XII. BRIDAL PREPARATIONS. “Oh, yet we know that somehow good Will be the final goal of ill, To pangs of nature, sins of will, Defects of doubt, and taints of blood: “That nothing walks with aimless feet; That not one life shall be destroyed, Or cast as rubbish to the void, When God hath made the pile complete: “That not a worm is cloven in vain! That not a worm, with vain desire, Is shrivelled in a fruitless fire, Or but subserves another’s gain.”—_Tennyson._ For the next several days, various notes of preparation as for some joyful coming event, were sounded through the old hall. Servants, within and without the house, pursued their avocations with unusual alacrity. Waggons, with new furniture, arrived from a neighbouring town. In the drawing-room and parlours, Mrs. Vivian directed the operations of the upholsterers, in putting down new carpets, and hanging new curtains, mirrors, &c. On the lawn, and in the garden, Rosalie’s taste presided at the trimming and dressing of vines, shrubs, and flowers; while from one to the other Colonel Ashley flew with a gay, busy interest. They were all evidently playing the prelude to some great family festival. Mark Sutherland remained unenlightened upon the subject, until, one morning, as he walked out upon the piazza, to enjoy the early freshness of the air, he was joined by the two lads, Henry and Richard, who, seizing each a hand, eagerly inquired—