Mr. Benson thought of this half the night through; and ended by determining to write a sermon on the Christian view of political duties, which might be good for all, both electors and member, to hear on the eve of an election.  For Mr. Donne was expected at Mr. Bradshaw’s before the next Sunday; and, of course, as Mr. and Miss Benson had settled it, he would appear at the chapel with them on that day.  But the stinging conscience refused to be quieted.  No present plan of usefulness allayed the aching remembrance of the evil he had done that good might come.  Not even the look of Leonard, as the early dawn fell on him, and Mr. Benson’s sleepless eyes saw the rosy glow on his firm, round cheeks; his open mouth, through which the soft, long-drawn breath came gently quivering; and his eyes not fully shut, but closed to outward sight—­not even the aspect of the quiet, innocent child could soothe the troubled spirit.

Leonard and his mother dreamt of each other that night.  Her dream of him was one of undefined terror—­terror so great that it wakened her up, and she strove not to sleep again, for fear that ominous, ghastly dream should return.  He, on the contrary, dreamt of her sitting watching and smiling by his bedside, as her gentle self had been many a morning; and when she saw him awake (so it fell out in the dream), she smiled still more sweetly, and bending down she kissed him, and then spread out large, soft, white-feathered wings (which in no way surprised her child—­he seemed to have known they were there all along), and sailed away through the open window far into the blue sky of a summer’s day.  Leonard wakened up then, and remembered how far away she really was—­far more distant and inaccessible than the beautiful blue sky to which she had betaken herself in his dream—­and cried himself to sleep again.

In spite of her absence from her child, which made one great and abiding sorrow, Ruth enjoyed her seaside visit exceedingly.  In the first place, there was the delight of seeing Elizabeth’s daily and almost hourly improvement.  Then, at the doctor’s express orders, there were so few lessons to be done, that there was time for the long exploring rambles, which all three delighted in.  And when the rain came on and the storms blew, the house, with its wild sea-views, was equally delightful.

It was a large house, built on the summit of a rock, which nearly overhung the shore below; there was, to be sure, a series of zig-zag tacking paths down the face of this rock, but from the house they could not he seen.  Old or delicate people would have considered the situation bleak and exposed; indeed, the present proprietor wanted to dispose of it on this very account; but by its present inhabitants this exposure and bleakness were called by other names, and considered as charms.  From every part of the rooms they saw the grey storms gather on the sea-horizon, and put themselves in marching array; and soon the march became a sweep, and the great dome of the heavens