She  concealed  this  sentiment  from  Sir  Charles,  but  not
from  the  female  servants ;  and  from  one  to  another,  at
last  it  came  round  to  Sir  Charles.  He  disbelieved  it
utterly  at  firsf ;  but,  the  hint  having  been  given  him,  he
paid  attention,  and  discovered  there  was,  at  all  events,
some  truth  in  it.
He  awaited  his  opportunity,  and  remonstrated,  "My
dear  Bella,  am  I  ndstaken,  or  do  I  really  observe  a  fall-
ing off  in  your  tenderness  for  your  child  ?  "

Lady  Bassett  looked  this  way  and  that,  as  if  she  medi-
tated flight,  but  at  last  she  resigned  herself,  and  said,
"Yes,  Charles ;  my  heart  is  quite  cold  to  him."

"  Grood  heavens,  Bella !  But  why  ?  Is  not  this  the
same  little  angel  that  came  to  our  help  in  trouble,  that
comforted  me  before  his  birth,  when  my  mind  was  mor-
bid, to  say  the  least  ?  "

"  I  suppose  he  is  the  same,"  said  she,  in  a  tone  impos-
sible to  convey  by  description  of  mine.
"  That  is  a  strange  answer."

"  If  he  is,  7  am  changed."  And  this  she  said  doggedly,
and  unlike  herself.
"  What ! "  said  Sir  Charles,  very  gravely,  and  with  a
sort  of  awe ;  "can  a  woman  withdraw  her  affection  from
her  child,  her  innocent  child  ?  If  so,  my  turn  may  come
next."

"Oh,  Charles !  Charles  ! "  and  the  tears  began  to  welL

"Why,  who  can  be  secure  after  tMs?  What  is  so
stable  as  a  mother's  love?  If  that  is  not  rooted  too
deep  for  gusts  of  caprice  to  blow  it  away,  in  Heaven's
name  what  is  ?  "


328  A  TEERIBLE  TEMPTATION.
No  answer  to  that  but  tears.
