Mrs Palmer read on; and the old woman's breath came fainter and fainter still, and her hands grew feebler, till as almost the last words came, "Deliver her from fear of the enemy, and lift up the light of Thy countenance upon her, and give her peace," Jeanie sprang up from her knees with a scream, and let the candle she held fall over and go out upon the floor. There, within the door, stood Guy, white and wild, with eyes that seemed the very home of fear. He came unsteadily forward, and, as Godfrey started up, sank on his knees by the bedside. Mrs Waynflete opened her eyes wide, and looked hard at him, struggling to speak. "Aunt Margaret," he said, steadily and clearly, "I am _not_ too late; I can't satisfy your mind about the business, but you may be satisfied with me. I have got past, and I have come. You can die in peace." It hardly seemed as if it was Guy who spoke, but old Margaret understood. She looked at him and smiled, a strange sweet smile, such as had never been seen on her lips before, and before memory could remind her of what she had done or left undone, her head fell back, and, with hardly a straggle, she was gone. Guy stood up for a moment, looked vaguely round him, then fell forward across the foot of the bed, as unconscious and as death-like as she. PART TWO, CHAPTER EIGHT. "UNADVISEDLY WITH HIS LIPS." When old John Cooper arrived at Ingleby Mill on the next morning, an orange-coloured envelope lay on the top of the heap of letters awaiting him. He opened it deliberately, and read-- "_From Godfrey Waynflete. Mrs Waynflete died suddenly last night_." The old man sat staring at the brief words, as their sense gradually bore itself in upon him, first their meaning, and then their grievousness, the blank space in life left by the fall of that vigorous tree. He was still sitting, dazed and stunned, when there was a hasty step, and Cuthbert Staunton, with another telegram in his hand, came in. "Ah, you have heard?" he said. "I am going to Waynflete. Have you any particulars? No? Mine is only the same news, and also that Mr Guy is ill, and wants me." "Oh Lord, sir," said old Cooper, with a sob, "it's as if the mill was dead and gone too!" Ill news spreads quick. The old man's son and the younger Howarth, middle-aged men themselves, were soon in the room, listening with impassive faces but with heavy hearts to the evil tidings. "It's very bad news," said Howarth, huskily--"very bad indeed." "I must catch the early train," said Cuthbert, "and I will take care that you have further news as soon as possible." "I must go to Jos Howarth," said old Cooper, getting up. "I'll hear what he has to say first." He went away to find his old fellow-worker, and the younger men looked at each other. "It's very difficult," said John Henry Cooper, "to say what will come next!"