the gold" a ring of the red-crossed knights. Come, now, I've a great mind to bind you to my service with it." "Do, lady fair!" said Elliot, stretching out his hand for the ring. "Know then," said she, "if you take the pledge, you must obey whatever command I lay upon you in its name.” "I swear!" said Elliot, in the mock heroic, as she placed the ring on his finger. Every one was An evening or two after, Elliot attended Florence to a party at Mrs. B's. Every thing was gay and brilliant, and there was no lack either of wit or wine. Elliot was standing in a little alcove, spread with refreshments, with a glass of wine in his hand. "I forbid it! the cup is poisoned," said a voice in his ear. He turned quickly, and Florence was at his side. busy with laughing and talking around, and nobody saw the sudden start and flush that these words produced, as Elliot looked earnestly in the lady's face. She smiled, and pointed, playfully, to the ring; but after all, there was in her face an expression of agitation and interest which she could not repress, and Elliot felt, however playful the manner, that she was in earnest; and as she glided away in the crowd, he stood with his arms folded, and his eyes fixed on the spot where she disappeared. "Is it possible that I am suspected that there are things said of me as if I were in danger?" were the first thoughts that passed through his mind. How strange that a man may appear doomed, given up, and lost, to the eye of every looker-on, before he begins to suspect himself! This was the first time that any defined apprehension of loss of character had occurred to Elliot, and he was startled as if from a dream. "What the deuse is the matter with you, Elliot? You look as solemn as a hearse!" said á young man near by. "Has Miss Elmore cut you ? "said another. "Come, man, have a glass," said a third. "Let him alone - he's bewitched," said a fourth; "I saw the spell laid on him. None of us can say but our turn may come next." An hour later, that evening, Florence was talking, with her usual spirit, to a group who were collected around her, when, suddenly looking up, she saw Elliot, standing in an abstracted manner, at one of the windows that looked out into the balcony. "He is offended, I dare say," she thought; "but why should I care? For once in my life I have tried to do a right thing, a good thing; I have risked giving offence for less than this, many a time." Still Florence could not but feel tremulous, when, a few moments after, Elliot approached her, and offered his arm for a promenade. They walked up and down the room, she talking volubly, and he answering yes and no, and any thing else, at cross purposes, till at length, as if by accident, he drew her into the balcony which overhung the garden. The moon was shining brightly, and every thing without, in its placid quietness, contrasted strangely with the busy, hurrying scene within. "Miss Elmore," said Elliot, abruptly, "may I ask you, sincerely-had you any design in a remark you made to me in the early part of the evening?" Florence paused, and though habitually the most practised and self-possessed of women, the color actually receded from her cheek, as she answered, "Yes, Mr. Elliot, I must confess that I had." "And is it possible, then, that you have heard any thing?" "I have heard, Mr. Elliot, that which makes me tremble for you, and for those whose life I know is bound up in you; and, tell me, were it well, or friendly in me, to know that such things were said, that such danger existed, and not to warn you of it?" Elliot stood for a few moments in silence. "Have I offended? Have I taken too great a liberty?" said Florence, gently. Hitherto Elliot had only seen in Florence the self-possessed, assured, light-hearted woman of fashion; but there were a reality and depth of feeling in the few words she had spoken to him, in this interview, that opened to him entirely a new view of her character. "No, Miss Elmore," said he, earnestly, after some pause; "I may be pained—offended I cannot be. To tell the truth, I have been thoughtless, excited, dazzled; my spirits, naturally buoyant, have carried me, often, too far; and lately I have often painfully suspected my own powers of resistance; I have really felt that I needed help, but have been too proud to confess, even to myself, that I needed it. You, Miss Elmore, have done what, perhaps, no one else could have done. I am overwhelmed with gratitude, and I shall bless you for it to the latest day of my life. I am ready to pledge myself to any thing you may ask on this subject." "Then," said Florence, " do not shrink from doing what is safe, and necessary, and right for you to do, because you have once said you would not do it. You understand me." Precisely," replied Elliot, "and you shall be obeyed." It was not more than a week before the news was circulated that even George Elliot had signed the pledge of temperance. There was much wondering at this sudden turn among those who had known his utter repugnance to any measure of the kind, and the extent to which he had yielded to temptation; but few knew how fine and delicate had been the touch to which his pride had yielded. MRS. H. B. STOWE. ART thou beloved, and dost thou love him truly, In wrath, or scorn, or grief, thus sealed the past? If, stung by memories, thou must dissemble, Of one who left thee, fickle and unkind, Thy pride thus seeks to wound the inconstant, tremble! Back to thy heart that shaft its way shall find. Will he, thy mate, be true to vows of duty? Or shalt thou weep, with eyelids veiled and dim, The lost advantage of thy powerless beauty, Which, praised by others, kept no hold on him? Shall some fair temptress, like a dazzling meteor, Teach him thy more familiar charms to slight, Thy deep love weighed against each novel feature, A balance stated custom renders light? Who shall decide? The bridal day! O, make it For God alone can tell what cometh after, What store of sorrow, or what cause for fear! MRS. NORTON. |