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concealed, as it was, by the rotundity of the hill, and covered with the thick and interlacing foliage of a thousand different trees. On attaining the foot of the rising ground, he stood for a moment. Numerous recollections rushed upon his mind. Hope, and fear, alternately predominated. A mixture. of doubt and anxiety, now suddenly betraying the latent cause of his emotion, checked his steps. "Shall I go?" he said within himself. "No; I will return to the cottage, and await them there. But, I must meet her. And why not now?" Fortified by these reflections, and at that instant hearing his name mentioned by Emily, without permitting himself further to hesitate, he turned the angle at the extremity of the walk; and a few agile bounds placed him behind the seat whereon they were resting. As he passed under the oak, he had disturbed some of the pendant leaves, which attracted the attention of the ladies, and the scene followed that we have described.

Conversing on different subjects, the

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Major and his companion reached the spot, where the latter had parted from Mrs. Villaret and Emily. These were, however, not to be found; and the Major, whose penetration soon led him to divine the secret of Alphonzo's ill-concealed agitation, proposed that they should return immediately to the cottage. On their arrival, they understood from Mrs. Villaret, that Emily, feeling.herself indisposed, had withdrawn to her apartment, requesting her to apologize for not waiting to receive the major and his friend; when shortly after, expressing his apprehensions that his sudden intrusion might have alarmed Miss du Blesne, and his regret that it should have occasioned her any inconvenience, Alphonzo took his leave, and, desiring his servant to ride forward that he might feel himself more at liberty, slowly retraced his way to the castle, with a variety of emotions warring in his mind.

It was now, perhaps, for the first time, that Alphonzo was conscious of those feelngs, indefinable but to the bosom that has been their seat. He might, till this hour,

have imagined, that his interest in Emily was that of a casual acquaintanceship, commenced in infancy, and leaving some dubious impressions behind, like the day-light lingering in the western cloud, long after the orb whence it proceeded has risen in another hemisphere. But, by the affecting incident of which he had been the involuntary cause, his heart-that thing deceitful above all others-was unfolded to his view. His meditations, now, were of a new complexion. Whatever the lapse of years, or change of scene, and intercourse with the world, might have induced him to believe, it was now, at least, evident, that the hope which had often secretly buoyed him up, and his anxiety lest he should be effaced from the recollection of one, who in childhood had held him dear, were of the tenderest kind. The dye, at length, seemed An occurrence, totally unexpected, had disclosed the secret, which had so long lain mutually concealed; and he felt it might be requisite for the peace of a heart, still, perhaps, too little under the control of

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higher motives, to trace that secret through its labyrinths, until he had reached the source whence it issued, and had proved the effects it was calculated to produce on the future tenour of his earthly existence, and on his prospects beyond the grave., What these effects were, and how deeply interesting both to himself, and to the object of his affections, the sequel of our narrative will develope.

CHAP. VIII.

""Tis a good thing to keep a watchful eye
Upon the heart; for it has windings, where
Oft-times th' unwary will be led astray,
And brought to danger, ere the step recoils."

FROM his father, Alphonzo anticipated no objections to his wishes in this delicate affair. Although, from the habits of the Baron, there had been but little intercourse between him and Mr. du Blesne since the death of the Baroness, Alphonzo was fully aware, that he still entertained the highest respect for the father of Emily. Nor was there any thing to wound the pride of birth in the alliance. The du Blesnes were themselves descended from a noble stem, Albert, created a peer of France by Henry IV. as tradition said, precisely twenty-four hours before he lay mangled in the Louvre

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