Mrs. Fitzgerald was too much alarmed to distinguish nicely, and Egerton proceeded to the ball-room with the indifference of a hardened offender.  When the arrival of Miss Jarvis, to whom he had committed himself, prompted him to a speedy declaration, and the unlucky conversation of Mr. Holt brought about a probable detection of his gaming propensities, the colonel determined to get rid of his awkward situation and his debts by a coup-de-main.  He accordingly eloped with Miss Jarvis.

What portion of the foregoing narrative made the dying confession of Egerton to the man he had so lately discovered to be the Earl of Pendennyss, the reader can easily imagine.

Chapter XLIX.

The harvest had been gathered, and the beautiful vales of Pendennyss were shooting forth a second crop of verdure.  The husbandman was turning his prudent forethought to the promises of the coming year, while the castle itself exhibited to the gaze of the wondering peasant a sight of cheerfulness and animation which had not been seen in it since the days of the good duke.  Its numerous windows were opened to the light of the sun, its halls teemed with the faces of its happy inmates.  Servants in various liveries were seen gliding through its magnificent apartments and multiplied passages.  Horses, grooms, and carriages, with varied costumes and different armorial bearings, crowded its spacious stables and offices.  Everything spoke society, splendor, and activity without; everything denoted order, propriety, and happiness within.

In a long range of spacious apartments were grouped in the pursuit of their morning employments, or in arranging their duties and pleasures of the day, the guests and owners of the princely abode.

In one room was John Moseley, carefully examining the properties of some flints which were submitted to his examination by his attending servant; while Grace, sitting at his side, playfully snatches the stones from his hand, as she cries half reproachfully, half tenderly—–­

“You must not devote yourself to your gun so incessantly, Moseley; it is cruel to kill inoffensive birds for your amusement only.”

“Ask Emily’s cook, and Mr. Haughton’s appetite,” said John, coolly extending his hand towards her for the flint—­“whether no one is gratified but myself.  I tell you, Grace, I seldom fire in vain.”

“That only makes the matter worse; the slaughter you commit is dreadful.”

“Oh!” cried John, with a laugh, “the ci-devant Captain Jarvis is a sportsman to your mind.  He would shoot a month without moving a feather; he was a great friend to,” throwing an arch look to his solitary sister, who sat on a sofa at a distance perusing a book, “Jane’s feathered songsters.”

“But now, Mosely,” said Grace, yielding the flints, but gently retaining the hand that took them, “Pendenyss and Chatterton intend driving their wives, like good husbands, to see the beautiful waterfall in the mountains; and what am I to do this long tedious morning?”