On  the  other  side  a  nurse  often  carried  little  Dicky
Bassett,  the  heir ;  but  neither  of  the  promenaders  could
see  each  other  for  the  walL

Bichard  Bassett,  on  the  contrary,  from  "  The  Heir's
Tower,"  could  see  both  these  little  parties ;  and,  as  some
men  cannot  keep  away  from  what  causes  their  pain,  he
used  to  watch  these  loving  walks,  and  see  Sir  Charles
get  stronger  and  stronger,  till,  at  last,  instead  of  leaning
on  his  beloved  wif^  he  could  march  by  her  side,  or  even
give  her  his  smn.
Yet  the  picture  was,  in  a  great  degree,  delusive ;  for,
U


162  A  TEEEIBLB  TEMPTATION.
except  during  these  blissful  walks,  when  the  sun  shone
on  him,  and  Love  and  Beauty  soothed  him.  Sir  Charles
was  not  the  man  he  had  been.  The  shake  he  had  received
appeared  to  have  damaged  his  temper  strangely.  He
became  so  irritable  that  several  of  his  servants  left  him ;
and  to  his  wife  he  repined ;  and  his  childless  condition,
which  had  been  hitherto  only  a  deep  disappointment,
became  in  his  eyes  a  calamity  that  outweighed  his  many
blessings.  He  had  now  narrowly  escaped  dying  without
an  heir,  and  this  seemed  to  sink  into  his  mind,  and
co-operating  with  the  concussion  his  brain  had  received,
brought  him  into  a  morbid  state.  He  brooded  on  it,  and
spoke  of  it,  and  got  back  to  it  from  every  other  topic  in
a  way  that  distressed  Lady  Bassett  unspeakably.  She
consoled  him  bravely;  but  often,  when  she  was  alone,
her  gentle  courage  gave  way,  and  she  cried  bitterly  to
herself.
