The air, perfumed with the delicious fragrance of the new-mown grass, was vocal with the melodies of the birds; the thick foliage of the trees was glistening in the sunshine; all nature seemed happy and rejoicing; but, above all, the serene Sabbath stillness reigning around communicated a calm to her wounded spirit.
What a contrast did the lovely scene she now gazed upon present to the squalid neighbourhood she had recently quitted! On all sides, expanded prospects of country the most exquisite and most varied.

Immediately beneath her lay Willesden,--the most charming and secluded village in the neighbourhood of the metropolis--with its scattered farm-houses, its noble granges, and its old grey church-tower just peeping above a grove of rook-haunted trees.
Towards this spot Mrs.Sheppard now directed her steps.

She speedily reached her own abode,--a little cottage, standing in the outskirts of the village.

The first circumstance that struck her on her arrival seemed ominous.

Her clock had stopped--stopped at the very hour on which she had quitted the Mint! She had not the heart to wind it up again.
After partaking of some little refreshment, and changing her attire, Mrs.Sheppard prepared for church.