"I have a respect for those in whom Mr Hyland placed confidence. I have heard him speak well of all of you; and I do not remember now of anything he ever said that should give me a favourable opinion of Adkins. Indeed, I never heard Mr Hyland speak much concerning him. It is my duty to think of the past as well as the present, before I can say anything more." Wilton and Mason both assured Mrs Hyland that they had only acted under the influence of a sense of duty--inspired by the respect they had for the memory of her husband. We left the house; but not till Mrs Hyland had shaken hands with me, and at the same time extended to me an invitation to call the next day; and not till Mrs Hyland's daughter had given me reason to believe that my visit would be welcome. Volume One, Chapter XIV. ONCE MORE FRIENDS. I did call the next day, and had no particular reason to be dissatisfied with my reception. Mrs Hyland did not meet me in the same motherly manner, she once used to exhibit; but I did not expect it; and I could not feel displeased at being admitted on any terms, into the presence of a being so beautiful as Lenore. Neither did _she_ receive me in the same manner she used to do in the past; but neither was I annoyed by that circumstance. It was necessary that the child-like innocence and familiarity, once existing between us, should cease; and it was no chagrin to me to perceive that it had done so. I confessed to Mrs Hyland, that I had acted wrong in not returning to Liverpool after her husband's death; but I also explained to her how, on being discharged from the ship, I had felt myself sorely aggrieved; and, having no longer a home, I had to wander about as circumstances dictated. I added, of course, that could I have had the least suspicion that my absence would have been construed into any evidence of crime or ingratitude, I would have returned long before to refute the calumny. Lenore did not try to conceal her pleasure, at seeing her mother and myself conversing once more as friends. "You must not leave us again, Rowland," said she, "for we have not many friends, and can ill-afford to lose one. See how near we have been to losing you--all through your being absent." "Yes, Rowland," said Mrs Hyland. "My house was once your home; and you are welcome to make it so again. I shall only be fulfilling the wishes of my husband, by renewing the intimate friendship that once existed between us." Her invitation to make her house once more my home, I reluctantly declined. Lenore seemed no longer my sister; and with some sorrow the conviction forced itself on my mind--that my fate was to love--to love, yet wander far from the one I loved.