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 can conceive; and 'tis a grievous thing to any one who knew it in it's glory, to see it now going to rack and ruin for want of a little repair, its courts full of rubbish, and its fine old towers mouldering away; but my Lord seems pleased at beholding its decay."

"Does he never go about the domain?" asked Madeline.

"No: he generally confines himself to a great lonely apartment, where he scarcely suffers a ray of the blessed day-light to enter, and frequently passes whole nights within the chapel, where he has caused a magnificent monument to be erected to the memory of his lady and son."

The conversation into which she had entered cast an involuntary gloom over the mind of Madeline, and by again depressing her spirits made her soon betray symptoms of languor and weariness.

The housekeeper then offered to conduct her to her chamber, an offer which she