expected, his master was very much displeased. "But," said she, "after I
interceded awhile for you, he said he would forgive you on condition that
you were never guilty of the like again, and never mention the subject to
him in any way, as it makes him angry to talk about it." To both these
conditions Rondeau readily agreed, and Julia left him, thinking she was
safe in that quarter.

Several days after, Mrs. Carrington received a letter which she supposed
came from Dr. Lacey. In it she was coolly requested not to interfere in
other people’s matters, and told that any efforts on her part to engraft
herself into Dr. Lacey’s good graces by maligning Julia, would be useless,
and only serve to confirm him in his present low opinion of her, while at
the same time it would increase the high estimation in which he held Miss
Middleton!

After that Mrs. Carrington troubled Dr. Lacey with no more letters, but
busied herself in anticipating the capture of a wealthy gentleman, who
Ashton told her was, in the course of two or three months, coming on from
Charleston, South Carolina.

The scene now changes from Dr. Lacey’s to the "Indian Nest," on the lake
shore. It was a charming spot, and looked as if intended only for the
inhabitation of the pure and innocent. Yet even there was crafty ambition
and base deceit. Julia was there, eagerly seeking to wind her coils
securely around her long watched-for prey. To all eyes but her own she
seemed not likely to succeed, for though Dr. Lacey admired her and
possibly treated her with more attention than he did either Mabel or
Florence, yet his heart still turned to Fanny, and for hours he would sit,
talking to Julia of her sister, while she schooled herself to answer all
his questions without one sign of impatience.