been married, indeed, and yet never a wife a mother, yet her child deprived of a father!" "You speak ænigmas, madam; I greatly admire the Countess de Pologne; I should grieve to hear of her unhappiness."

"The Countess, monsieur, was wooed, loved, and married; her lover, her husband, was a man of whom I cannot speak. Hurried on

by a fatal passion for Athenais, he forgot the bonds that already united him; she supposed him single, and he did not deceive only as he did not undeceive her. Monsieur, the moment of discovery arrived, and Athenais was a mother!"

"Unhappy! she had little reason to plead in favour of marriage."

"Monsieur, the Countess de Pologne, when conversing on a subject of general concern, always forgets individual experience, lest she should speak with prejudice. Monseigneur, her character is such an one as even an Englishman might venture on!"

"I believe you, on my soul!" said Lord Montague, fervently.

"Do not fall in love with Athenais, I beseech you," said the Countess, resuming her liveliness of manner; "the only object who ever engrossed her heart was so mighty, that no other can possibly occupy it wholly, and to possess but a portion would not satisfy you. You are not a marrying man!-well, perhaps you are wise: they who aim at a Phoenix, must not take an eagle; and as there is but one of these precious birds existing in an age,

the chance against your being the individual to secure it, is many millions to one!-You require a being who has not existed since Eve left the side of Adam in paradise, and who probably never will exist. The women who actually are in being, may be divided into various classes, and distinguished by different denominations, some one of which may de-: scribe every individual female under the sun. But you will not be satisfied with a woman, the counterpart of whom any other man may obtain! I understand that you aim at something exactly adapted to yourself,-distinct from every body else, and yet lovely, amiable, and attractive."

"I am not a marrying man, consequently I am not aiming at any female;" said Lord Montague, sighing, as in the picture which the imagination of the Countess had sketched he recognised Miss Argyle.

"If I were not the wife of the Comte du Chateau-vieux, I would endeavour to subdue Lord Montague," said the Countess, with great vivacity: "I have not all the vanity to suppose that I should accomplish this; but there would be a credit in having engaged, if but to be defeated: I would rather be conquered by Lord Montague than subdue half the world."

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"You do me great honour," answered Lord Montague, amused with the novelty of her manner: no man is worthy to succeed the Comte du Chateau-vieux in the love of his lady."

"Not in the opinion of the wife who adores him, believe me!" said the Countess, with excessive animation: "the great misery I endure in England, is separation from him. Napoleon must take me for it! Your lordship cannot conceive the pain of separation to two beings, who are wedded by every tie, human and divine:--you have not the deprivation of the society of a wife to regret; and none but those who have dwelt in Eden, can appreciate the loss of paradise!"

CHAP. XI.

"Jactor, crucior, agitor, stimulor,
Versor in amoris rotâ miser,

Exanimor, feror, distrahor, diripior,

Ubi sum, ibi non sum; ubi non sum, ibi est animus."

To the Earl of Montague.

"MY DEAR LORD,

PLAUTUS.

"As communication between France and England has never been impracticable, I am at a loss in what manner to account for your persevering silence. You are aware, that when you sailed for England, my anxiety and uneasiness at the situation of Grosvenor were inexpressible. Your silence confirms every alarming apprehension; he may be engulfed in the vortex--have rejected your counsel--have spurned at reproof and have wearied even

your friendship :-you hesitate to impart to me this terrible certainty--you would prepare me for the blow by this suspense, that it may fall less heavily; and, perhaps, I ought to thank your considerate friendship, instead of complaining of your neglect.

Grosvenor is dear to me--dear as that son of whom the Almighty chastener deprived me! -I may say with the patriarch of old, "if I am bereaved of him, I am bereaved !'--But if the afflicting hand of Heaven be laid thus heavily upon me, it is for me to bend in reverence beneath the pressure, and to say, 'not my will, but thine, be done!'

"Consider this, Lord Montague; I am man, and made to mourn !--I am a Christian, and dare not repine !---I have wrestled with the avenging angel, and I have not been overcome! I wait patiently---I can endure the worst with

out a murmur.

"We have no connection with any political faction, and we have lived in Paris unmolested. The allies are in France, yet we are tranquil; when this reaches you, I hope we shall be at Brussels. It is necessary for Miss Argyle, that a rapid succession of interesting scenes should be presented to her. She does not enjoy her usual luxuriance of health; the rosy bloom of youth is less vivid on her cheek. --Lord Montague----Lord Montague---should

this be?

"It is essential to happiness that the most deliberate reflection should precede an event so incalculably important to man as marriage.

But when fanciful theories and egotistical refinements usurp the place of reason and generosity, failure is a natural and deserved consequence.

"You have continually affirmed, that 'you would found an empire in the female breast, and reign there exclusively; that you would never succeed to a sovereignty that had been engrossed by another!'---This sentiment is natural to a high and enthusiastic mind; a woman who can admit a successor to a firstlove, is a being whom I should be sorry to see the intimate associate of any female for whom I am particularly interested. But you, my lord, expect that this sovereignty should be offered to you :--- not that it should be yielded to you in the conviction that yourself ardently desired it, and had assiduously endeavoured to impart a portion of a passion which already engrossed you---No!---it must be voluntary and determined on the part of the donor, and you are to be at liberty to accept or reject it, as inclination---perhaps, as caprice---prompts you!

"Miss Argyle's birth---beauty---accomplishments---and, above all, that indescribable fascination of her manner, of which you have sometimes spoken so rapturously---have brought to her feet many men---countrymen and foreigners---noble and distinguished---inferior, perhaps, only to Lord Montague; and she has rejected them all,----instantaneously and unequivocally. What can render a young and deeply-feeling woman, thus cold and insensible to that passion which so many have en