Chapter 13 AN UNPLEASANT PROPOSAL.-THE MYSTERY SOLVED.-A FATHER'S GRIEF FROM A MOTHER'S WEAKNESS.-A FATHER'S JOY FROM A MOTHER'S INFLUENCE.

Meanwhile the young heir of Oakwood had passed no very pleasant day. His thoughts since Mr. Howard's return had been so pre-occupied, that his studies had been unusually neglected; so much so, as rather to excite the displeasure of his gentle and forbearing preceptor. The emotion of the morning had not tended to steady his ideas, and a severe repro