Chapter 21

Oh! Henry, when thou deign'st to sue,
Can I thy suit withstand?
When thou, loved youth, hast won my heart,
Can I refuse my hand?
--_Hermit of Warkevorth._

The graduate of Edinburgh found his patient rapidly improving in health,
and entirely free from fever. His sister, with a cheek that was, if
possible, paler than on her arrival, watched around his couch with
tender care; and the ladies of the cottage had not, in the midst of
their sorrows and varied emotions, forgotten to discharge the duties of
hospitality. Frances felt herself impelled towards their disconsolate
guest, with an interest for which she could not account, and with a
force that she could not control. She had unconsciously connected the
fates of Dunwoodie and Isabella in her imagination, and she felt, with
the romantic ardor of a generous mind, that she was serving her former
lover most by exhibiting kindness to her he loved best. Isabella
received her attentions with gratitude, but neither of them indulged in
any allusions to the latent source of their uneasiness. The observation
of Miss Peyton seldom penetrated beyond things that were visible, and to
her the situation of Henry Wharton seemed to furnish an awful excuse for
the fading cheeks and tearful eyes of her niece. If Sarah manifested
less of care than her sister, still the unpracticed aunt was not at a
loss to comprehend the reason. Love is a holy feeling with the virtuous
of the female sex, and it hallows all that come within its influence.
Although Miss Peyton mourned with sincerity over the danger which
threatened her nephew, she well knew that an active campaign was not
favorable to love, and the moments that were thus accidentally granted
were not to be thrown away.

Several days now passed without any interruption of the usual avocations
of the inhabitants of the cottage, or the party at the Four Corners.
The former were supporting their fortitude with the certainty of Henry's
innocence, and a strong reliance on Dunwoodie's exertions in his behalf,
and the latter waiting with impatience the intelligence, that was hourly
expected, of a conflict, and their orders to depart. Captain Lawton,
however, waited for both these events in vain. Letters from the major
announced that the enemy, finding that the party which was to coöperate
with them had been defeated, and was withdrawn, had retired also behind
the works of Fort Washington, where they continued inactive, threatening
constantly to strike a blow in revenge for their disgrace. The trooper
was enjoined to vigilance, and the letter concluded with a compliment to
his honor, zeal, and undoubted bravery.

"Extremely flattering, Major Dunwoodie," muttered the dragoon, as he
threw down this epistle,