this instant-oh me!—could you but catch a glimpse of the scene this instant passing in Vivian Street!-Give her the pen, Mr Parkinson-guide her hand-place it upon the paper.]

But it was too late. Before the pen could be placed within her fingers, those fingers had become incapable of holding it—for Lady Stratton at that moment experienced the paralytic seizure which Dr Goddart had been dreading for three or four hours before. Alas, alas ! 'twas all useless: pen, ink, and paper were removed. She lingered till about nine o'clock the next morning, when, in the presence of Mr Parkinson, who had not quitted the room for one instant, death released the venerable sufferer. She had thus died intestate; and all her personal property-Lady Stratton had none other became the property of her ladyship's next of kin. Had this event happened but two years before, that next of kin would have been-Mr Aubrey; but now-will the reader have patience to read it ?—that next of kin was—TITTLEBAT TITMOUSE! Alas! there could be no question about the matter; and it was the knowledge of that contingency which had distracted Mr Parkinson from the moment that he received his last ineffectual summons to the bedside of Lady Stratton. Yes, Mr Titmouse had now become entitled to all the goods, chattels, credits, and effects which were of the late Lady Stratton; and before she had been laid in Yatton churchyard, not far from her beloved friend who had preceded her by a few months only-Mrs Aubrey Mr Parkinson received a letter from Messrs Quirk, Gammon, and Snap, as the solicitors of Mr Titmouse, giving him formal notice of the title of their client, and requesting Mr Parkinson to lose no time in making an inventory of the effects of her ladyship, to whom Mr Titmouse intended to administer immediately. Mr Gammon himself went down, and arrived the day after the funeral. Guess his excitement on discovering the windfall which came to his client, Mr Titmouse, in the policy £15,000, the existence of which they had, of course, never dreamed of!

But there was another discovery, which occasioned him not a little excitement, as his flushed cheek and suspended breath testified-alas! poor Aubrey's BOND for £2000, with interest at five per cent!—an instrument which poor Lady Stratton, having always intended to destroy, latterly imagined that she had actu

ally done so. It had, however, got accidentally mingled with other papers, which had found their way, in the ordinary course, to Mr Parkinson, and who was himself ignorant of its existence, since it lay folded in a letter addressed to Lady Stratton, till it turned up while he was sorting the papers, in obedience to the instructions of Messrs Quirk, Gammon, and Snap. He turned pale and red by turns, as he held the accursed document in his fingers; probably, thought he, no one on earth but himself knew of its existence; and-but his sense of duty prevailed. Of course the obligee of the bond, and, as such, entitled to the principal money secured by it, together with all arrears of interest which might be due upon it, was now Mr TITTLEBAT TITmouse.

Surely it is hard to imagine a more dismal and wanton freak of fortune than this-as far, at least, as concerned poor Kate Aubrey.

CHAPTER V.

"FLY! FLY!-For God's-sake fly! Lose not one moment of the precious respite which, by incredible efforts, I have contrived to secure you—a respite of but a few hours-and wrung from heartlessness and rapacity. In justice, much injured man! to yourself to all you hold dear upon earth-to the precious interests entrusted to your keeping, and involved in your destruction -again I say Fly! Quit the country, if it be but for never so short a time, till you or your friends shall have succeeded in arranging your disordered affairs. Regard this hasty and perhaps incoherent note, in what light you please-but I tell you it comes, in sacred confidence, from a firm and inalienable friend, whose present desperate exertions in your behalf you will one day perhaps be able to appreciate. Once more I conjure you to fly !-From other and greater dangers than you at present apprehend. I see the rack preparing for you!-Will you stay to be tortured?— and in the presence of the incomparable beings who-but my feelings overpower me! Indeed, Mr Aubrey, if you disregard this note, through weak fears as to its writer's sincerity, or a far weaker and a wild notion of Quixotic honour and heroism—remember, in the moment of being overwhelmed, this note-and then, do justice to its writer.-Your faithful, unhappy, distrusted friend, "O. G.

"P.S.-For God's-sake burn, or otherwise destroy this note, as soon as you shall have read it."

Such was the letter which found its way into Mr Aubrey's hands, just as the time which had been fixed by Messrs Quirk, Gammon, and Snap, for payment of their bill, was expiring, and which occasioned him, as may be easily imagined, dreadful disquietude. It had found him in a state of the deepest depression but yet vigorously striving to preserve, in the presence of his

wife and sister, a semblance of composure and cheerfulness. More to pacify them than to satisfy himself, he had walked about town during the two preceding days till ready to drop with exhaustion, in fruitless quest of those who might be disposed to advance him a thousand pounds on his own personal security, and on terms he scarce cared how exorbitant, to free him, at all events for a while, from his present exigency. All had been, however, in vain—indeed he had had no hopes from the first. And what was then to be done? His soul seemed dying away within him. At times he almost lost all consciousness of his situation, and of what was passing around him. It appeared to be the will of Heaven that his misfortunes should press him down, as it were, by inches into the dust, and crush him. Those there were, he well knew, who needed but to be apprized of his circumstances, to step forward and generously relieve him from his difficulties. But where was all that to end? What real good could it serve? Awfully involved as he was already-one, alone, of his friends being at that moment under a liability which must be discharged within a few months, of nearly eleven thousand pounds-was he to place others in a similar situation? What earthly prospect had he of ever repaying them? Lamentable as was his position, his soul recoiled from the bare thought. But then came before his anguished eye, his wife- his sister his children; and he flung himself, in an ecstasy, on his knees, remaining long prostrate—and, for a while, the heaven that was over his head seemed to be brass, and the earth that was under him, iron. His heart might be wrung, however, and his spirit heavy and darkened; but no extent or depth of misery could cause him to forget those principles of honour and integrity by which all his life had been regulated. He resolved, therefore, to submit to the stroke apparently impending over him, with calmness, as to inevitable ruin; nor would he hear of any further applications to his friends, which, indeed, he felt would be only encouragement to those who held him in thraldom, to renew their exactions, when they found each succeeding pressure successful. Poor Kate had told him, as soon as her letter had been put into the post, of her application to Lady Stratton, and told him with trembling apprehension as to the consequences; but did she think her fond, broken-hearted brother could chide her? He looked at her for a moment, with

quivering lip and eyes blinded with tears—and then wrung her hand, simply expressing a hope, that, since the step had been taken, it might be, in some measure at least, successful.

Mr Gammon's letter, as I have already intimated, filled Mr Aubrey with inexpressible alarm. Again and again he read it over with increasing agitation, and at the same time uncertain as to its true character (and import as to the real motive and object of its writer. Was he guilty of the duplicity which Mrs Aubrey and Kate so vehemently imputed to him? Was he actuated by revenge? Or was he, as represented by Mr Quirk's letter, overpowered by his partners, and still sincere in his wishes to shield Mr Aubrey from their rapacity? Or was Mr Gammon suggesting flight only as a snare? Was Mr Aubrey to be seduced into an act warranting them in proceeding to instant extremities against him? What could be the other matters so darkly alluded to in the letter? Were they the two promissory notes of five thousand pounds each, which he had deposited with Mr Gammon, who at length was peremptorily required by Mr Titmouse to surrender them up, and permit them to be put in suit? They were payable on demand-he shuddered! Might it be, that Titmouse was desperately in want of money, and had therefore overpowered the scruples of Gammon, and disregarded the sacred pledge under which he assured Titmouse the notes had been given? Mr Aubrey rejoiced that Mr Gammon's letter had been placed in his hands by the servant when alone in his study, whither he had gone to write a note to Mr Runnington; and resolved not to apprize Mrs Aubrey and Kate of its arrival. The fourth day after the receipt of Messrs Quirk and Snap's letter had now elapsed. Mr Aubrey did not venture to quit the house. All of them were, as may well be imagined, in a state of pitiable distress, and agitation, and suspense. Thus also passed the fifth day- still the blow descended not. Was the arm extended to inflict it, held back, still, by Mr Gammon continuing thus the "incredible efforts" spoken of in his note?

The sixth morning dawned on the wretched family. They all rose at a somewhat earlier hour than usual. They could scarce touch the spare and simple breakfast spread before them, nor enjoy-nay they could hardly bear-the prattle and gambols of the lively little ones, Charles and Agnes, whom at length they