"Oh, no, if you are ill, I will nurse you; and Fairlee shall be your----." Christobelle stopped: her heart beat thickly--she could not speak the conclusion of her sentence--a weight, as of iron, bore down her eyelids, and she remained silent. "You have been happy to-day, my pupil?" said Sir John Spottiswoode, after a moment's pause. Christobelle waved her hand silently. She could not trust her voice; but Fanny Ponsonby was talking to Lord Farnborough, and she was wretched at the allusion to Alverton. Curiosity, anxiety, and the horrors of suspense, gave her courage to address her companion again; and she asked, in the recklessness of despair, why he contemplated returning so soon into Shropshire. "Because," he said, "Lochleven is now a fever spot upon my heart." Christobelle wept silently. Captain Ponsonby sat in the stern of the boat without speaking, as though even his gay spirit could not resist the heavy rain, and every one appeared to be cold, weary, and dispirited. Except Fanny Ponsonby's voice, which sung, in low tones, a plaintive air, not a sound escaped the party till they reached the shore; and then commenced another disagreeable contention between Lord Farnborough and Captain Ponsonby. "Miss Wetheral, I claim you _this_ time," said his lordship, hastily passing Fanny Ponsonby, and offering his hand. "My good fellow," cried Captain Ponsonby, "I am before you half a minute, and have won the prize." "I cannot understand why you persevere so pertinaciously in appropriating Miss Wetheral, Ponsonby." "Can you, indeed, be ignorant upon such a point, Farnborough? Take care, Miss Wetheral--step firmly, and hold my hand." "I must observe that you are needlessly officious, Ponsonby." "Tell me so elsewhere, Farnborough; at present, I am attending upon Miss Wetheral." Christobelle looked imploringly at Sir John Spottiswoode, but he was uncloaking Fanny Ponsonby, and she had taken his arm, to share with him the shelter of his umbrella. Christobelle cared not, then, who became her escort. Captain Ponsonby would not understand Lord Farnborough's anger, or reply to his observations; he chatted gaily, as he unclasped the heavy boat-cloak, which shrouded and encumbered Miss Wetheral's figure. "In spite of the storm, Miss Wetheral, you spring brightly from your nest, untouched by the raindrops; how do you manage to be so unlike the rest of the world? We will not wait for the other boat, which would detain us some time. Let me get you safely to Clanmoray. Take my arm fearlessly, and I will guide and support you up the pathway. Farnborough will be kind enough to escort the Miss Greys." Lord Farnborough threw a haughty look at Captain Ponsonby, but he made no answer. His lordship folded his cloak round his tall, slight figure, and ascended the pathway in silence, and without a companion. The Miss Greys remained unattended on the shore of Lochleven.