"No, my lord, I thirst not for venge

ance, but for justice: I demand it for "that all-suffering and injured innocent; "I demand it for myself, and, lastly, I de"mand it for you. Your errors have been "the errors of an ardent and unsophisti"cated nature, of a romantic disposition, "of impetuous and enthusiastic feelings "too freely induged; but your sufferings "have been such as might break the heart "which sustained them. Wedded from

principles of honour to the woman you “did not love, while your conduct towards "her was irreproachable, your secret "thoughts were now fixed on the perfec"tions of her you had resigned. Every "letter with which you honoured me "breathed, unknown to yourself, the des'pondency of an enamoured soul; and "when free and unshackled you again ap

peared in the world, while others be"lieved that the spell of ambition lured you to a court, I alone beheld you drawn "from the beloved solitude of despair by

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"the magic of reviving love and latent hope:-and then while I blamed I pi"tied, while I pitied I admired. The

"witness of those immunities with which "others were invested, yet without da

ring to make known your own claims, "without even daring to complain, I be"held you involved in those silent suf

ferings peculiar to a love tender, ar"dent, and irrevocable, as yours, when opposed by reason, by prudence, and by " honour. I saw the difficulty by which

you were restained from opposing your"self to the host of slanderous enemies "the superiority and unguarded conduct "of the object of our mutual solicitude " elicited, We conversed on the subject, and at my instigation you flew to "warn her with the anxiety of love, while

you fancied you appeared but in the "character of friendship: but the agita"tion in which I found you on your re"turn convinced me of the danger of the Q 2

"task you had undertaken; yet the proud triumph which basked in your eyes when

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you pressed me impulsively to your heart, "convinced me honour was still victorious "over the weakness of affection. Again, "in the shades of Vaucluse I witnessed its "triumph-yes, while I pursued your "steps in those haunts long since devoted "to the indulgence of cureless passion, I "beheld you, in the midst of that pro"found solitude, within the very grasp of "temptation, still fly for refuge to thy "honour, and still find it there; for the

But

sympathy of taste, of sentiment, con"ducted in the same moment three vota"rists to the shrine of Petrarch, each un"known to the other, and what then "passed there unseen I observed. "then, as now, the struggle was already 66 over, and you doubtless then beheld in "her whom you have now bestowed on "me the wife of your friend only. But,

my lord, while thus secure in your own

strength, proud in your own conscious

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ness, that bosom whose peace you have destroyed, that heart whose happiness you have frustrated, calls, though silently, for the reparation of its injuries." The chevalier paused: he advanced towards Imogen, who, motionless and pale, betrayed no appearance of life but what the expression of unutterable anguish marked in her countenance; he gazed on her for a moment in silence, till his eyes swam in tears, his frame shook, his breast heaved with convulsive sighs. Imogen stretched out her arms towards him; he received her within his embrace, and pressed her for a moment to his breast; then, holding her from him, he turned towards the duke, who, no longer able to move, leaned against a pillar for support.

"My lord," he exclaimed, while an air of solemn dignity invested his whole person, and a celestial light seemed to shed its lumination over his countenance: "my "lord, you have had your victory-I too "am ambitious of a triumph!" Then,

taking the cold and trembling hand of Imogen, he placed it in that of de Beauvilliers, and, clasping both in his own, he raised his eyes to heaven, and in a voice deep, solemn, and affecting, added: “Son "of Montargis! daughter of St. Dorval! "be happy! May the God who created

you for each other confirm you in virtue "and felicity, pure and lasting as the "frailty of human nature will admit of! "and may your earthly connection be but "as the beautiful symbol of that eternal "union which awaits you in another and "a better world!"

Then, encircling them both in his arms, after a moment's pause, he added:

“Farewell! I leave you in peace, I "shall soon meet you in happiness: you are both triumphant in virtue, nor do I depart subdued; but respect my feelings, nor violate them by benevolent but "unavailing intrusion. Beloved and vir"tuous beings, once more farewell!"

With these words, falteringly pro

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