"You must be to my father," said the dying man, "what I should have been, the staff on which his declining years must lean; and you must also become the careful guiding friend, as well as dear companion, of Arthur. You will, I hope, marry soon, for you will be happiest in that state; and I trust you will find some good girl, whose integrity and affection will equal your own. You will not need to seek wealth; though I was happy with one who gave me much; it is not a common case, for suspicion is often attached to it. Either marry a well-informed, religious woman, or a tractable, well-disposed girl, whom you may instruct. Marry soon; but be careful in choosing, and avoid, as you would the fang of the serpent, that class of married women who seek to charm the senses of young, unpractised men, for their mere pride of conquest."
"Married women, father?" cried Frederic, whose very soul was absorbed in his anxiety to catch every venerated word.
"Yes, my son; avoid them, tremble when you approach them; guard poor Arthur also, he is handsome and thoughtless. I would he, too, were married; but"
Frederic thought he understood the but, and silently did he lift his heart to heaven, promising himself that no want of means in his power to bestow should be wanting to his brother's happiness. After a little rest, Lord Meersbrook, as if reading the thoughts of his
