“I am almost sorry that I was tempted to embark in this business,” he at length said to himself, the admission being extorted by the pressure on his feelings.  “If I could, with honour and safety, withdraw, I believe I would be tempted to do so.  But that is really not to be thought of now.  My hands have grasped the plough, and there must be no wavering or looking back.  This is all an unworthy weakness.”

Mr. Markland had gained the entrance to Woodbine Lodge, but be was in no state of mind to join his family.  So he alighted and sent his carriage forward, intending to linger on his way to the house, in order to regain his lost equilibrium.  He had been walking alone for only a few minutes, with his eyes upon the ground, when a crackling noise among the underwood caused him to look up, and turn himself in the direction from which the sound came.  In doing so, he caught sight of the figure of a man retiring through the trees, and evidently, from his movements, anxious to avoid observation.  Mr. Markland stood still and gazed after him until his figure passed from sight.  The impression this incident made upon him was unpleasant.  The person of the stranger was so much hidden by trees, that he could make out no resemblance whatever.

It was near that part of Mr. Markland’s grounds known as the Fountain Grove, where this occurred, and the man, to all appearance, had been there.  The impulse for him to turn aside was, therefore, but natural, and he did so.  Passing through a style, and ascending by a few steps to the level of the ornamental grounds surrounding the grove and fountain, the first object that he saw was his daughter Fanny, moving hastily in the direction of the summer-house which has been described.  She was only a short distance in advance.  Mr. Markland quickened his steps, as a vague feeling of uneasiness came over him.  The coincidence of the stranger and his daughter’s presence produced a most unpleasant impression.

“Fanny!” he called.

That his daughter heard him, he knew by the start she gave.  But instead of looking around, she sprang forward, and hastily entered the summer-house.  For a moment or two she was hidden from his view, and in that short period she had snatched a letter from the table, and concealed it in her bosom.  Not sufficiently schooled in the art of self-control was Fanny to meet her father with a calm face.  Her cheeks were flushed, and her chest rose and fell in hurried respiration, as Mr. Markland entered the summer-house, where she had seated herself.

“You are frightened, my child,” said he, fixing his eyes with a look of inquiry on her face.  “Didn’t you see me, as I turned in from the carriage-way?” he added.

“No, sir,” was falteringly answered.  “I did not know that you had returned from the city until I heard your voice.  It came so unexpectedly that I was startled.”

Fanny, as she said this, did not meet her father’s gaze, but let her eyes rest upon the ground.