to which despair would have led me.  He placed me in the situation which conducted me to my present position; he gave me the impulse to improve myself; and, above all, he infused into me the principles without which the rest would have been mere temptations.  If I have been blest beyond my deserts—­if I have been prosperous beyond reasonable expectation—­if, among numerous failures, I have withstood some evils—­all, under the greatest and highest Benefactor, is owing to the kindness, and, above all, to the generous forbearance of Lord Fitzjocelyn.  I wish I could testify my gratitude in any better manner than by speaking of him to his face; but I am sure you will all drink his health more heartily, if possible, for knowing one more trait in addition to your own personal experience of his character!’

Alas! that all things hidden, and yet to be proclaimed on the house-tops, would bear the light as well as Fitzjocelyn’s secret!  The revelation of this unobtrusive act of patience and forbearance excited a perfect tumult of enthusiasm among persons already worked up to great ardour for one so beloved; and shouts, and even tears, on every side strove in vain to express the response to Madison’s words.

‘Too bad, Tom!’ was Louis’s muttered comment.

‘You are paid in your own coin,’ retorted Mary, raising her glistening eyes, full of archness.

‘I perceive it is no surprise to you, Lady Fitzjocelyn!’ said Sir Miles Oakstead; ‘and, I own, nothing from that quarter’ (nodding at Louis) ‘surprises me greatly.’

‘She practised eavesdropping,’ said Louis, ’when the poor fellow was relieving his mind by a confession to the present Mrs. Madison.’

’And I think Mrs. Madison and I deserve credit for having kept the secret so long,’ said Mary.

‘It explains,’ observed Mr. Holdsworth.  ’I did not understand your power over Madison.’

‘It was the making of us both,’ said Louis; ’and a very fine specimen of the grandeur of that rough diamond.  It elucidates what I have always said, that if you can but find the one vulnerable place, there is a wonderful fund of nobleness in some of these people.’

‘Do you take this gentleman as an average specimen?’

’Every ploughboy is not an undeveloped Madison; but in every parish there may be some one with either the thinking or the rising element in his composition; and if the right ingredient be not added, the fermentation will turn sour, as my neglect had very nearly made it do with him.  He would have been a fine demagogue by this time, if he had not had a generous temper and Sunday-school foundation.’

‘Hush!’ said Mary, smiling—­’you must not moralize.  I believe you are doing it that poor Farmer Norris may not catch your eye.’