But the unexpected tone in which this sentence was uttered caused him to look back quickly.

There was no foreboding fear in the countenance of his wife.

She had spoken firmly--almost cheerfully.
"The worst?
Dear Agnes!" he said, with deep anguish in his voice.
"It has not entered into your imagination to conceive the worst!" "All is lost!" she answered, calmly.
"All," he replied, "but honour, and a heart yet brave enough and strong enough to battle with the world for the sake of its beloved ones." Mrs.Markland hid her face on the breast of her husband, and stood, for some minutes, silent.

Fanny approached her father, and laid her head against him.
"All this does not appal me," said Mrs.Markland, and she looked up and smiled faintly through tears that could not be repressed.
"Oh, Agnes! Agnes! can you bear the thought of being driven out from this Eden ?" "Its beauty has already faded," was the quiet answer.

"If it is ours no longer, we must seek another home.