110 Darknefs and Light.

he talked of was only an effect of his excited ima-
gination.

At laft, however, they went, and in compli-
ment to Roderick’s wifhes it was a week or two
fooner than ufual. The return to the Sea Caftle
home rather opprefled poor Lady Madeline’s
fpirits. “The doétors in the great town had failed
—it was now clear that nothing could be done,
and in fpite of all her fincere endeavours to be re-
figned, fhe could not help feeling this coming
back to the original fcene of her misfortune very
much. One day—it was the anniverfary of the
day on which her poor child became blind, the
Lady Madeline was working in her fitting-room
that faced the Sea,—Mothers’ memories are very
acute about anniverfaries, and days, and even
hours marked by particular events. They may
not talk much about them perhaps, but they re-
collect times and circumftances conneéted with
their children very keenly, and therefore it is not
furprizing that on this day the poor lady was fit-
ting in her room working, or trying to work, but
thinking of nothing in the world but of that day year
and her blind child. It was a beautiful even-
ing, and the window was thrown wide open, and
the frefh but foft breeze from the Sea blew plea-
fantly on her face as fhe fat at her work-table by
the cafement—but lovely as the fcene outfide was,
fhe feldom lifted up her eyes to look at it. She
had been all her life a great admirer of beautiful
fcenes, and of all the varieties the changes of day
and night produce — but now the fight of any