"That is true; and I stand rebuked! And henceforth, whatever I may think, I will never speak evil of the Countess of Hurstmonceux."
"Go farther yet, dear sir! seek an explanation with her, and my word on it she will be able to confute the calumnies, or clear up the suspicious circumstances or whatever it may have been that has shaken your confidence in her, and kept you apart so long."
"Ishmael it is a subject that I have never broached to the countess, and one that I could not endure to discuss with her!"
"What, my father? Would you forever condemn her unheard? We do not treat our worst criminals so!"
"Spare me, my son! for I have spared her!"
"If by sparing her you mean that you have left her alone, you had better not spared her; you had better sought divorce; then one of two things would have happened—either she would have disproved the charges brought against her, or she would have been set free! either alternative much better than her present condition."
"I could not drag my domestic troubles into a public courtroom,
Ishmael!"
"Not when justice required it, father?—But you are going down into the neighborhood of Brudenell Hall! You will hear of her from the people among whom she lived for so many years, and who cherish her memory as that of an angel of mercy, and—you will change your opinion of her."
Herman Brudenell smiled incredulously, and then said:
"Apropos of my visit to Brudenell Hall! I hope, Ishmael, that you will be able to join me there in the course of the summer?"
"Father, yes! I promise you to do so. I will be at pains to put my business in such train as will enable me to visit you for a week or two."
"Thanks, Ishmael! And now, do you know I think the first dinner bell rang some time ago and it is time to dress?"
And Herman Brudenell arose, and after pressing Ishmael's hand, left the library.
The interview furnished Ishmael with too much food for thought to admit of his moving for some time. He sat by the table in a brown study, reflecting upon all that he had heard, until he was suddenly startled by the pealing out of the second bell. Then he sprang up, hurried to his chamber, hastily arranged his toilet, and went down into the dining room, where he found all the family already assembled and waiting for him.
CHAPTER IV.
BEE.
And coldly from that noble heart,
In all its glowing youth,
His lore had turned and spurned apart
Its tenderness and truth—
Let him alone to live, or die—
Alone!—Yet, who is she?
Some guardian angel from the sky,
To bless and aid him?—Bee!
—Anon.
Ishmael received many other invitations. One morning, while he was seated at the table in his office, Walter Middleton entered, saying:
"Ishmael, leave reading over those stupid documents and listen to me. I am going to Saratoga for a month. Come with me; it will do you good."
"Thank you all the same, Walter; but I cannot leave the city now," said Ishmael.
"Nonsense! there is but little doing; and now, if ever, you should take some recreation."
"But I am busy with getting up some troublesome cases for the next term."
"And that's worse than nonsense! Leave the cases alone until the court sits; take some rest and recreation and you will find it pay well in renewed vigor of body and mind. I that tell you so am an M. D., you know."
"I thank you, Dr. Middleton, and when I find myself growing weak I will follow your prescription," smiled Ishmael, rising and beginning to tie up his documents.
"And that's a signal for my dismissal, I suppose. Off to the City
Hall again this morning?" inquired Walter.
"Yes; to keep an appointment," replied Ishmael. And the friends separated.
Later in the day, when the young attorney had returned and was spending his leisure hour in going on with the book-packing, Judge Merlin entered and threw himself into a chair and for some moments watched the packer.
"What is that you are doing now, Ishmael? Oh, I see; doctoring a sick book!"
"Well, I dislike to see a fine volume that has served us faithfully and seen hard usage perish for the want of a moment's attention; it is but that which is required when we have the mucilage at hand," he said, smiling and pointing to the bottle and brush, and then deposited the book in its packing-case.
"But that is not what I come to talk to you about. Have you found a proper room for an office yet?"
"Yes; I have a suite of rooms on the first floor of a house on Louisiana Avenue. The front room I shall use for a public office, the middle one for a private office, and the back one, which opens upon a pleasant porch and a garden, for a bedchamber; for I shall lodge there and board with the family," replied Ishmael.
"That seems to be a pleasant arrangement. But, Ishmael, take my advice and engage a clerk immediately;—you will want one before long, anyhow—and put him in your rooms to watch your business, and do you take a holiday. Come down to Tanglewood for a month. You need the change. After the wilderness of houses and men you want the world of trees and birds. At least I do, and I judge you by myself."
Ishmael smiled, thanked his kind friend cordially, and then, in terms as courteous as he could devise, declined the invitation, giving the same reasons for doing so that he had already given first to Mr. Brudenell and next to Walter Middleton.
"Well, Ishmael, I will not urge you, for I know by past experience when you have once made up your mind to a course of conduct you deem right, nothing on earth will turn you aside from it. But see here! why do you go through all that drudgery? Why not order Powers to pack those books?"
"Powers is a pearl in his own way; but he cannot pack books; and besides, he has no respect for them."
"No feeling, you mean! he would not dress their wounds before putting them to bed in those boxes!"
"No."
"Well, 'a wilfu' mon maun ha' his way,'" said the judge, taking up the evening paper and burying himself in its perusal. That same night, while Ishmael, having finished his day's work, was refreshing himself by strolling through the garden, inhaling the fragrance of flowers, listening to the gleeful chirp of the joyous little insects, and watching the light of the stars, he heard an advancing step behind him, and presently his arm was taken
