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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Ormond, Volume III (of 3), by Charles
+Brockden Brown
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Ormond, Volume III (of 3)
+       or, The Secret Witness
+
+
+Author: Charles Brockden Brown
+
+
+
+Release Date: May 31, 2011  [eBook #36291]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ORMOND, VOLUME III (OF 3)***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Andrea Ball, Christine Bell, & Marc D'Hooghe
+(http://www.freeliterature.org) from page images generously made available
+by the Google Books Library Project (http://books.google.com/)
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has the other two volumes of
+      this book.
+      Volume I:  See http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/36289
+      Volume II: See http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/36290
+
+
+      Images of the original pages are available through
+      the the Google Books Library Project. See
+      http://books.google.com/books?id=aRgGAAAAQAAJ&oe=UTF-8
+
+
+
+
+
+ORMOND;
+
+Or,
+
+The Secret Witness.
+
+by
+
+B. C. BROWN,
+
+Author of Wieland, or Transformation.
+
+In Three Volumes.
+
+VOL. III.
+
+
+"Sæpe intereunt aliis meditantes necem."
+
+                                  PHÆDRUS
+
+"Those who plot the destruction of others, very often fall,
+themselves the victims."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Philadelphia  Printed,
+London, Re-Printed for Henry Colburn,
+English and Foreign Public Library,
+Conduit-Street, Bond-Street.
+1811
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
+
+LADY CASTLEREAGH,
+
+THESE VOLUMES
+
+are respectfully inscribed,
+
+by her Ladyship's
+
+most obedient, and humble Servant,
+
+HENRY COLBURN.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+"My father, in proportion as he grew old and rich, became weary of
+Aleppo. His natal soil, had it been the haunt of Calmucks or Bedouins,
+his fancy would have transformed into Paradise. No wonder that the
+equitable aristocracy and the peaceful husbandmen of Ragusa should be
+endeared to his heart by comparison with Egyptian plagues and Turkish
+tyranny. Besides, he lived for his children as well as himself. Their
+education and future lot required him to seek a permanent home.
+
+"He embarked, with his wife and offspring, at Scanderoon. No immediate
+conveyance to Ragusa offering, the appearance of the plague in Syria
+induced him to hasten his departure. He entered a French vessel for
+Marseilles. After being three days at sea, one of the crew was seized by
+the fatal disease which had depopulated all the towns upon the coast.
+The voyage was made with more than usual despatch; but, before we
+reached our port, my mother and half the crew perished. My father died
+in the Lazaretto, more through grief than disease.
+
+"My brother and I were children and helpless. My father's fortune was on
+board this vessel, and was left by his death to the mercy of the
+captain. This man was honest, and consigned us and our property to the
+merchant with whom he dealt. Happily for us, our protector was childless
+and of scrupulous integrity. We henceforth became his adopted children.
+My brother's education and my own were conducted on the justest
+principles.
+
+"At the end of four years, our protector found it expedient to make a
+voyage to Cayenne. His brother was an extensive proprietor in that
+colony, but his sudden death made way for the succession of our friend.
+To establish his claims, his presence was necessary on the spot. He was
+little qualified for arduous enterprises, and his age demanded repose;
+but, his own acquisitions having been small, and being desirous of
+leaving us in possession of competence, he cheerfully embarked.
+
+"Meanwhile, my brother was placed at a celebrated seminary in the Pays
+de Vaud, and I was sent to a sister who resided at Verona. I was at this
+time fourteen years old,--one year younger than my brother, whom, since
+that period, I have neither heard of nor seen.
+
+"I was now a woman, and qualified to judge and act for myself. The
+character of my new friend was austere and devout, and there were so
+many incongenial points between us that but little tranquillity was
+enjoyed under her control. The priest who discharged the office of her
+confessor thought proper to entertain views with regard to me, grossly
+inconsistent with the sanctity of his profession. He was a man of
+profound dissimulation and masterly address. His efforts, however, were
+repelled with disdain. My security against his attempts lay in the
+uncouthness and deformity which nature had bestowed upon his person and
+visage, rather than in the firmness of my own principles.
+
+"The courtship of Father Bartoli, the austerities of Madame Roselli, the
+disgustful or insipid occupations to which I was condemned, made me
+impatiently wish for a change; but my father (so I will call him) had
+decreed that I should remain under his sister's guardianship till his
+return from Guiana. When this would happen was uncertain. Events
+unforeseen might protract it for years, but it could not arrive in less
+than a twelvemonth.
+
+"I was incessantly preyed upon by discontent. My solitude was loathsome.
+I panted after liberty and friendship, and the want of these were not
+recompensed by luxury and quiet, and by the instructions in useful
+science which I received from Bartoli, who, though detested as a
+hypocrite and lover, was venerable as a scholar. He would fain have been
+an Abelard, but it was not his fate to meet with an Eloisa.
+
+"Two years passed away in this durance. My miseries were exquisite. I am
+almost at a loss to account for the unhappiness of that time, for,
+looking back upon it, I perceive that an equal period could not have
+been spent with more benefit. For the sake of being near me, Bartoli
+importunately offered his instructions. He had nothing to communicate
+but metaphysics and geometry. These were little to my taste, but I could
+not keep him at a distance. I had no other alternative than to endure
+him as a lover or a teacher. His passion for science was at least equal
+to that which ho entertained for me, and both these passions combined to
+make him a sedulous instructor. He was a disciple of the newest
+doctrines respecting matter and mind. He denied the impenetrability of
+the first, and the immateriality of the second. These he endeavoured to
+inculcate upon me, as well as to subvert my religious tenets, because he
+delighted, like all men, in transfusing his opinions, and because he
+regarded my piety as the only obstacle to his designs. He succeeded in
+dissolving the spell of ignorance, but not in producing that kind of
+acquiescence he wished. He had, in this respect, to struggle not only
+with my principles, but my weakness. He might have overcome every
+obstacle but my abhorrence of deformity and age. To cure me of this
+aversion was beyond his power. My servitude grew daily more painful. I
+grew tired of chasing a comet to its aphelion, and of untying the knot
+of an infinite series. A change in my condition became indispensable to
+my very existence. Languor and sadness, and unwillingness to eat or to
+move, were at last my perpetual attendants!
+
+"Madame Roselli was alarmed at my condition. The sources of my
+inquietude were incomprehensible to her. The truth was, that I scarcely
+understood them myself, and my endeavours to explain them to my friend
+merely instilled into her an opinion that I was either lunatic or
+deceitful. She complained and admonished; but my disinclination to my
+usual employments would not be conquered, and my health rapidly
+declined. A physician, who was called, confessed that my case was beyond
+his power to understand, but recommended, as a sort of desperate
+expedient, a change of scene. A succession and variety of objects might
+possibly contribute to my cure.
+
+"At this time there arrived, at Verona, Lady D'Arcy,--an Englishwoman
+of fortune and rank, and a strenuous Catholic. Her husband had lately
+died; and, in order to divert her grief, as well as to gratify her
+curiosity in viewing the great seat of her religion, she had come to
+Italy. Intercourse took place between her and Madame Roselli. By this
+means she gained a knowledge of my person and condition, and kindly
+offered to take me under her protection. She meant to traverse every
+part of Italy, and was willing that I should accompany her in all her
+wanderings.
+
+"This offer was gratefully accepted, in spite of the artifices and
+remonstrances of Bartoli. My companion speedily contracted for me the
+affection of a mother. She was without kindred of her own religion,
+having acquired her faith, not by inheritance, but conversion. She
+desired to abjure her native country, and to bind herself, by every
+social tie, to a people who adhered to the same faith. Me she promised
+to adopt as her daughter, provided her first impressions in my favour
+were not belied by my future deportment.
+
+"My principles were opposite to hers; but habit, an aversion to
+displease my friend, my passion for knowledge, which my new condition
+enabled me to gratify, all combined to make me a deceiver. But my
+imposture was merely of a negative kind; I deceived her rather by
+forbearance to contradict, and by acting as she acted, than by open
+assent and zealous concurrence. My new state was, on this account, not
+devoid of inconvenience. The general deportment and sentiments of Lady
+D'Arcy testified a vigorous and pure mind. New avenues to knowledge, by
+converse with mankind and with books, and by the survey of new scenes,
+were open for my use. Gratitude and veneration attached me to my friend,
+and made the task of pleasing her, by a seeming conformity of
+sentiments, less irksome.
+
+"During this interval, no tidings were received by his sister, at
+Verona, respecting the fate of Sebastian Roselli. The supposition of
+his death was too plausible not to be adopted. What influence this
+disaster possessed over my brother's destiny, I know not. The generosity
+of Lady D'Arcy hindered me from experiencing any disadvantage from this
+circumstance. Fortune seemed to have decreed that I should not be
+reduced to the condition of an orphan.
+
+"At an age and in a situation like mine, I could not remain long
+unacquainted with love. My abode at Rome introduced me to the knowledge
+of a youth from England, who had every property which I regarded as
+worthy of esteem. He was a kinsman of--Lady D'Arcy, and as such admitted
+at her house on the most familiar footing. His patrimony was extremely
+slender, but was in his own possession. He had no intention of
+increasing it by any professional pursuit, but was contented with the
+frugal provision it afforded. He proposed no other end of his existence
+than the acquisition of virtue and knowledge.
+
+"The property of Lady D'Arcy was subject to her own disposal, but, on
+the failure of a testament, this youth was, in legal succession, the
+next heir. He was well acquainted with her temper and views, but, in the
+midst of urbanity and gentleness, studied none of those concealments of
+opinion which would have secured him her favour. That he was not of her
+own faith was an insuperable, but the only, obstacle to the admission of
+his claims.
+
+"If conformity of age and opinions, and the mutual fascination of love,
+be a suitable basis for marriage, Wentworth and I were destined for each
+other. Mutual disclosure added sanctity to our affection; but, the
+happiness of Lady D'Arcy being made to depend upon the dissolution of
+our compact, the heroism of Wentworth made him hasten to dissolve it. As
+soon as she discovered our attachment, she displayed symptoms of the
+deepest anguish. In addition to religious motives, her fondness for me
+forbade her to exist but in my society and in the belief of the purity
+of my faith. The contention, on my part, was vehement between the
+regards due to her felicity and to my own. Had Wentworth left me the
+power to decide, my decision would doubtless have evinced the frailty of
+my fortitude and the strength of my passion; but, having informed me
+fully of the reasons of his conduct, he precipitately retired from Rome.
+He left me no means of tracing his footsteps and of assailing his
+weakness by expostulation and entreaty.
+
+"Lady D'Arcy was no less eager to abandon a spot where her happiness had
+been so imminently endangered. Our next residence was Palermo. I will
+not dwell upon the sensations produced by this disappointment in me. I
+review them with astonishment and self-compassion. If I thought it
+possible for me to sink again into imbecility so ignominious, I should
+be disposed to kill myself.
+
+"There was no end to vows of fondness and tokens of gratitude in Lady
+D'Arcy. Her future life should be devoted to compensate me for this
+sacrifice. Nothing could console her in that single state in which she
+intended to live, but the consolations of my fellowship. Her conduct
+coincided for some time with these professions, and my anguish was
+allayed by the contemplation of the happiness conferred upon one whom I
+revered.
+
+"My friend could not be charged with dissimulation and artifice. Her
+character had been mistaken by herself as well as by me. Devout
+affections seemed to have filled her heart, to the exclusion of any
+object besides myself. She cherished with romantic tenderness the memory
+of her husband, and imagined that a single state was indispensably
+enjoined upon her by religious duty. This persuasion, however, was
+subverted by the arts of a Spanish cavalier, young, opulent, and
+romantic as herself in devotion. An event like this might, indeed, have
+been easily predicted, by those who reflected that the lady was still in
+the bloom of life, ardent in her temper, and bewitching in her manners.
+
+"The fondness she had lavished upon me was now, in some degree,
+transferred to a new object; but I still received the treatment due to a
+beloved daughter. She was solicitous as ever to promote my
+gratification, and a diminution of kindness would not have been
+suspected by those who had not witnessed the excesses of her former
+passion. Her marriage with the Spaniard removed the obstacle to union
+with Wentworth. This man, however, had set himself beyond the reach of
+my inquiries. Had there been the shadow of a clue afforded me, I should
+certainly have sought him to the ends of the world.
+
+"I continued to reside with my friend, and accompanied her and her
+husband to Spain. Antonio de Leyva was a man of probity. His mind was
+enlightened by knowledge and his actions dictated by humanity. Though
+but little older than myself, and young enough to be the son of his
+spouse, his deportment to me was a model of rectitude and delicacy. I
+spent a year in Spain, partly in the mountains of Castile and partly at
+Segovia. New manners and a new language occupied my attention for a
+time; but these, losing their novelty, lost their power to please. I
+betook myself to books, to beguile the tediousness and diversify the
+tenor of my life.
+
+"This would not have long availed; but I was relieved from new
+repinings, by the appointment of Antonio de Leyva to a diplomatic office
+at Vienna. Thither we accordingly repaired. A coincidence of
+circumstances had led me wide from the path of ambition and study
+usually allotted to my sex and age. From the computation of eclipses, I
+now betook myself to the study of man. My proficiency, when I allowed it
+to be seen, attracted great attention. Instead of adulation and
+gallantry, I was engaged in watching the conduct of states and revolving
+the theories of politicians.
+
+"Superficial observers were either incredulous with regard to my
+character, or connected a stupid wonder with their belief. My
+attainments and habits they did not see to be perfectly consonant with
+the principles of human nature. They unavoidably flowed from the illicit
+attachment of Bartoli, and the erring magnanimity of Wentworth. Aversion
+to the priest was the grand inciter of my former studies; the love of
+Wentworth, whom I hoped once more to meet, made me labour to exclude the
+importunities of others, and to qualify myself for securing his
+affections.
+
+"Since our parting in Italy, Wentworth had traversed Syria and Egypt,
+and arrived some months after me at Vienna. He was on the point of
+leaving the city, when accident informed me of his being there. An
+interview was effected, and, our former sentiments respecting each other
+having undergone no change, we were united. Madame de Leyva reluctantly
+concurred with our wishes, and, at parting, forced upon me a
+considerable sum of money.
+
+"Wentworth's was a character not frequently met with in the world. He
+was a political enthusiast, who esteemed nothing more graceful or
+glorious than to die for the liberties of mankind. He had traversed
+Greece with an imagination full of the exploits of ancient times, and
+derived, from contemplating Thermopylæ and Marathon, an enthusiasm that
+bordered upon frenzy.
+
+"It was now the third year of the Revolutionary War in America, and,
+previous to our meeting at Vienna, he had formed the resolution of
+repairing thither and tendering his service to the Congress as a
+volunteer. Our marriage made no change in his plans. My soul was
+engrossed by two passions,--a wild spirit of adventure, and a boundless
+devotion to him. I vowed to accompany him in every danger, to vie with
+him in military ardour, to combat and to die by his side.
+
+"I delighted to assume the male dress, to acquire skill at the sword,
+and dexterity in every boisterous exercise. The timidity that commonly
+attends women gradually vanished. I felt as if imbued by a soul that was
+a stranger to the sexual distinction. We embarked at Brest, in a frigate
+destined for St. Domingo. A desperate conflict with an English ship in
+the Bay of Biscay was my first introduction to a scene of tumult and
+danger of whose true nature I had formed no previous conception. At
+first I was spiritless and full of dismay. Experience, however,
+gradually reconciled me to the life that I had chosen.
+
+"A fortunate shot, by dismasting the enemy, allowed us to prosecute our
+voyage unmolested. At Cape François we found a ship which transported
+us, after various perils, to Richmond, in Virginia. I will not carry you
+through the adventures of four years. You, sitting all your life in
+peaceful corners, can scarcely imagine that variety of hardship and
+turmoil which attends the female who lives in a camp.
+
+"Few would sustain these hardships with better grace than I did. I could
+seldom be prevailed on to remain at a distance, and inactive, when my
+husband was in battle, and more than once rescued him from death by the
+seasonable destruction of his adversary.
+
+"At the repulse of the Americans at Germantown, Wentworth was wounded
+and taken prisoner. I obtained permission to attend his sick-bed and
+supply that care without which he would assuredly have died. Being
+imperfectly recovered, he was sent to England and subjected to a
+rigorous imprisonment. Milder treatment might have permitted his
+complete restoration to health; but, as it was, he died.
+
+"His kindred were noble, and rich, and powerful; but it was difficult to
+make them acquainted with Wentworth's situation. Their assistance, when
+demanded, was readily afforded; but it came too late to prevent his
+death. Me they snatched from my voluntary prison, and employed every
+friendly art to efface from my mind the images of recent calamity.
+
+"Wentworth's singularities of conduct and opinion had estranged him at
+an early age from his family. They felt little regret at his fate, but
+every motive concurred to secure their affection and succour to me. My
+character was known to many officers, returned from America, whose
+report, joined with the influence of my conversation, rendered me an
+object to be gazed at by thousands. Strange vicissitude! Now immersed in
+the infection of a military hospital, the sport of a wayward fortune,
+struggling with cold and hunger, with negligence and contumely. A month
+after, passing into scenes of gayety and luxury, exhibited at operas and
+masquerades, made the theme of inquiry and encomium at every place of
+resort, and caressed by the most illustrious among the votaries of
+science and the advocates of the American cause.
+
+"Here I again met Madame de Leyva. This woman was perpetually assuming
+new forms. She was a sincere convert to the Catholic religion, but she
+was open to every new impression. She was the dupe of every powerful
+reasoner, and assumed with equal facility the most opposite shapes. She
+had again reverted to the Protestant religion, and, governed by a
+headlong zeal in whatever cause she engaged, she had sacrificed her
+husband and child to a new conviction.
+
+"The instrument of this change was a man who passed, at that time, for a
+Frenchman. He was young, accomplished, and addressful, but was not
+suspected of having been prompted by illicit views, or of having seduced
+the lady from allegiance to her husband as well as to her God. De Leyva,
+however, who was sincere in his religion as well as his love, was hasty
+to avenge this injury, and, in a contest with the Frenchman, was killed.
+His wife adopted at once her ancient religion and country, and was once
+more an Englishwoman.
+
+"At our meeting her affection for me seemed to be revived, and the most
+passionate entreaties were used to detain me in England. My previous
+arrangements would not suffer it. I foresaw restraints and
+inconveniences from the violence and caprice of her passions, and
+intended henceforth to keep my liberty inviolate by any species of
+engagement, either of friendship or marriage. My habits were French, and
+I proposed henceforward to take up my abode at Paris. Since his voyage
+to Guiana, I had heard no tidings of Sebastian Roselli. This man's image
+was cherished with filial emotions, and I conceived that the sight of
+him would amply reward a longer journey than from London to Marseilles.
+
+"Beyond my hopes, I found him in his ancient abode. The voyage, and a
+residence of three years at Cayenne, had been beneficial to his
+appearance and health. He greeted me with paternal tenderness, and
+admitted me to a full participation of his fortune, which the sale of
+his American property had greatly enhanced. He was a stranger to the
+fate of my brother. On his return home he had gone to Switzerland, with
+a view of ascertaining his destiny. The youth, a few months after his
+arrival at Lausanne, had eloped with a companion, and had hitherto
+eluded all Roselli's searches and inquiries. My father was easily
+prevailed upon to transfer his residence from Provence to Paris."
+
+Here Martinette paused, and, marking the clock, "It is time," resumed
+she, "to begone. Are you not weary of my tale? On the day I entered
+France, I entered the twenty-third year of my age, so that my promise of
+detailing my youthful adventures is fulfilled. I must away. Till we meet
+again, farewell."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+Such was the wild series of Martinette's adventures. Each incident
+fastened on the memory of Constantia, and gave birth to numberless
+reflections. Her prospect of mankind seemed to be enlarged, on a sudden,
+to double its ancient dimensions. Ormond's narratives had carried her
+beyond the Mississippi, and into the deserts of Siberia. He had
+recounted the perils of a Russian war, and painted the manners of
+Mongols and Naudowessies. Her new friend had led her back to the
+civilized world and portrayed the other half of the species. Men, in
+their two forms of savage and refined, had been scrutinized by these
+observers; and what was wanting in the delineations of the one was
+liberally supplied by the other.
+
+Eleven years in the life of Martinette was unrelated. Her conversation
+suggested the opinion that this interval had been spent in France. It
+was obvious to suppose that a woman thus fearless and sagacious had not
+been inactive at a period like the present, which called forth talents
+and courage without distinction of sex, and had been particularly
+distinguished by female enterprise and heroism. Her name easily led to
+the suspicion of concurrence with the subverters of monarchy, and of
+participation in their fall. Her flight from the merciless tribunals of
+the faction that now reigned would explain present appearances.
+
+Martinette brought to their next interview an air of uncommon
+exultation. On this being remarked, she communicated the tidings of the
+fall of the sanguinary tyranny of Robespierre. Her eyes sparkled, and
+every feature was pregnant with delight, while she unfolded, with her
+accustomed energy, the particulars of this tremendous revolution. The
+blood which it occasioned to flow was mentioned without any symptoms of
+disgust or horror.
+
+Constantia ventured to ask if this incident was likely to influence her
+own condition.
+
+"Yes. It will open the way for my return."
+
+"Then you think of returning to a scene of so much danger?"
+
+"Danger, my girl? It is my element. I am an adorer of liberty, and
+liberty without peril can never exist."
+
+"But so much bloodshed and injustice! Does not your heart shrink from
+the view of a scene of massacre and tumult, such as Paris has lately
+exhibited and will probably continue to exhibit?"
+
+"Thou talkest, Constantia, in a way scarcely worthy of thy good sense.
+Have I not been three years in a camp? What are bleeding wounds and
+mangled corpses, when accustomed to the daily sight of them for years?
+Am I not a lover of liberty? and must I not exult in the fall of
+tyrants, and regret only that my hand had no share in their
+destruction?"
+
+"But a woman--how can the heart of woman be inured to the shedding of
+blood?"
+
+"Have women, I beseech thee, no capacity to reason and infer? Are they
+less open than men to the influence of habit? My hand never faltered
+when liberty demanded the victim. If thou wert with me at Paris, I could
+show thee a fusil of two barrels, which is precious beyond any other
+relic, merely because it enabled me to kill thirteen officers at
+Jemappe. Two of these were emigrant nobles, whom I knew and loved before
+the Revolution, but the cause they had since espoused cancelled their
+claims to mercy."
+
+"What!" said the startled Constantia; "have you fought in the ranks?"
+
+"Certainly. Hundreds of my sex have done the same. Some were impelled by
+the enthusiasm of love, and some by a mere passion for war; some by the
+contagion of example; and some--with whom I myself must be ranked--by a
+generous devotion to liberty. Brunswick and Saxe-Coburg had to contend
+with whole regiments of women,--regiments they would have formed, if
+they had been collected into separate bodies.
+
+"I will tell thee a secret. Thou wouldst never have seen Martinette de
+Beauvais, if Brunswick had deferred one day longer his orders for
+retreating into Germany."
+
+"How so?"
+
+"She would have died by her own hand."
+
+"What could lead to such an outrage?"
+
+"The love of liberty."
+
+"I cannot comprehend how that love should prompt you to suicide."
+
+"I will tell thee. The plan was formed, and could not miscarry. A woman
+was to play the part of a banished Royalist, was to repair to the
+Prussian camp, and to gain admission to the general. This would have
+easily been granted to a female and an ex-noble. There she was to
+assassinate the enemy of her country, and to attest her magnanimity by
+slaughtering herself. I was weak enough to regret the ignominious
+retreat of the Prussians, because it precluded the necessity of such a
+sacrifice."
+
+This was related with accents and looks that sufficiently attested its
+truth. Constantia shuddered, and drew back, to contemplate more
+deliberately the features of her guest. Hitherto she had read in them
+nothing that bespoke the desperate courage of a martyr and the deep
+designing of an assassin. The image which her mind had reflected from
+the deportment of this woman was changed. The likeness which she had,
+feigned to herself was no longer seen. She felt that antipathy was
+preparing to displace love. These sentiments, however, she concealed,
+and suffered the conversation to proceed.
+
+Their discourse now turned upon the exploits of several women who
+mingled in the tumults of the capital and in the armies on the
+frontiers. Instances were mentioned of ferocity in some, and magnanimity
+in others, which almost surpassed belief. Constantia listened greedily,
+though not with approbation, and acquired, at every sentence, new desire
+to be acquainted with the personal history of Martinette. On mentioning
+this wish, her friend said that she endeavoured to amuse her exile by
+composing her own memoirs, and that, on her next visit, she would bring
+with her the volume, which she would suffer Constantia to read.
+
+A separation of a week elapsed. She felt some impatience for the renewal
+of their intercourse, and for the perusal of the volume that had been
+mentioned. One evening Sarah Baxter, whom Constantia had placed in her
+own occasional service, entered the room with marks of great joy and
+surprise, and informed her that she at length had discovered Miss
+Monrose. From her abrupt and prolix account, it appeared that Sarah had
+overtaken Miss Monrose in the street, and, guided by her own curiosity,
+as well as by the wish to gratify her mistress, she had followed the
+stranger. To her utter astonishment, the lady had paused at Mr. Dudley's
+door, with a seeming resolution to enter it, but presently resumed her
+way. Instead of pursuing her steps farther, Sarah had stopped to
+communicate this intelligence to Constantia. Having delivered her news,
+she hastened away, but, returning, in a moment, with a countenance of
+new surprise, she informed her mistress that on leaving the house she
+had met Miss Monrose at the door, on the point of entering. She added
+that the stranger had inquired for Constantia, and was now waiting
+below.
+
+Constantia took no time to reflect upon an incident so unexpected and so
+strange, but proceeded forthwith to the parlour. Martinette only was
+there. It did not instantly occur to her that this lady and Mademoiselle
+Monrose might possibly be the same. The inquiries she made speedily
+removed her doubts, and it now appeared that the woman about whose
+destiny she had formed so many conjectures and fostered so much anxiety
+was no other than the daughter of Roselli.
+
+Having readily answered her questions, Martinette inquired, in her turn,
+into the motives of her friend's curiosity. These were explained by a
+succinct account of the transactions to which the deceased Baxter had
+been a witness. Constantia concluded with mentioning her own reflections
+on the tale, and intimating her wish to be informed how Martinette had
+extricated herself from a situation so calamitous.
+
+"Is there any room for wonder on that head?" replied the guest. "It was
+absurd to stay longer in the house. Having finished the interment of
+Roselli, (soldier-fashion,) for he was the man who suffered his foolish
+regrets to destroy him, I forsook the house. Roselli was by no means
+poor, but he could not consent to live at ease, or to live at all, while
+his country endured such horrible oppressions, and when so many of his
+friends had perished. I complied with his humour, because it could not
+be changed, and I revered him too much to desert him."
+
+"But whither," said Constantia, "could you seek shelter at a time like
+that? The city was desolate, and a wandering female could scarcely be
+received under any roof. All inhabited houses were closed at that hour,
+and the fear of infection would have shut them against you if they had
+not been already so."
+
+"Hast thou forgotten that there were at that time at least ten thousand
+French in this city, fugitives from Marat and from St. Domingo? That
+they lived in utter fearlessness of the reigning disease,--sung and
+loitered in the public walks, and prattled at their doors, with all
+their customary unconcern? Supposest thou that there were none among
+these who would receive a countrywoman, even if her name had not been
+Martinette de Beauvais? Thy fancy has depicted strange things; but
+believe me that, without a farthing and without a name, I should not
+have incurred the slightest inconvenience. The death of Roselli I
+foresaw, because it was gradual in its approach, and was sought by him
+as a good. My grief, therefore, was exhausted before it came, and I
+rejoiced at his death, because it was the close of all his sorrows. The
+rueful pictures of my distress and weakness which were given by Baxter
+existed only in his own fancy."
+
+Martinette pleaded an engagement, and took her leave, professing to have
+come merely to leave with her the promised manuscript. This interview,
+though short, was productive of many reflections on the deceitfulness of
+appearances, and on the variety of maxims by which the conduct of human
+beings is regulated. She was accustomed to impart all her thoughts and
+relate every new incident to her father. With this view she now hied to
+his apartment. This hour it was her custom, when disengaged, always to
+spend with him.
+
+She found Mr. Dudley busy in revolving a scheme which various
+circumstances had suggested and gradually conducted to maturity. No
+period of his life had been equally delightful with that portion of his
+youth which he had spent in Italy. The climate, the language, the
+manners of the people, and the sources of intellectual gratification in
+painting and music, were congenial to his taste. He had reluctantly
+forsaken these enchanting seats, at the summons of his father, but, on
+his return to his native country, had encountered nothing but ignominy
+and pain. Poverty and blindness had beset his path, and it seemed as if
+it were impossible to fly too far from the scene of his disasters. His
+misfortunes could not be concealed from others, and every thing around
+him seemed to renew the memory of all that he had suffered. All the
+events of his youth served to entice him to Italy, while all the
+incidents of his subsequent life concurred to render disgustful his
+present abode.
+
+His daughter's happiness was not to be forgotten. This he imagined would
+be eminently promoted by the scheme. It would open to her new avenues to
+knowledge. It would snatch her from the odious pursuit of Ormond, and,
+by a variety of objects and adventures, efface from her mind any
+impression which his dangerous artifices might have made upon it.
+
+This project was now communicated to Constantia. Every argument adapted
+to influence her choice was employed. He justly conceived that the only
+obstacle to her adoption of it related to Ormond. He expatiated on the
+dubious character of this man, the wildness of his schemes, and the
+magnitude of his errors. What could be expected from a man, half of
+whose life had been spent at the head of a band of Cossacks, spreading
+devastation in the regions of the Danube, and supporting by flagitious
+intrigues the tyranny of Catharine, and the other half in traversing
+inhospitable countries, and extinguishing what remained of clemency and
+justice by intercourse with savages?
+
+It was admitted that his energies were great, but misdirected, and that
+to restore them to the guidance of truth was not in itself impossible;
+but it was so with relation to any power that she possessed. Conformity
+would flow from their marriage, but this conformity was not to be
+expected from him. It was not his custom to abjure any of his doctrines
+or recede from any of his claims. She knew likewise the conditions of
+their union. She must go with him to some corner of the world where his
+boasted system was established. What was the road to it he had carefully
+concealed, but it was evident that it lay beyond the precincts of
+civilized existence.
+
+Whatever were her ultimate decision, it was at least proper to delay it.
+Six years were yet wanting of that period at which only she formerly
+considered marriage as proper. To all the general motives for deferring
+her choice, the conduct of Ormond superadded the weightiest. Their
+correspondence might continue, but her residence in Europe and converse
+with mankind might enlighten her judgement and qualify her for a more
+rational decision.
+
+Constantia was not uninfluenced by these reasonings. Instead of
+reluctantly admitting them, she somewhat wondered that they had not been
+suggested by her own reflections. Her imagination anticipated her
+entrance on that mighty scene with emotions little less than rapturous.
+Her studies had conferred a thousand ideal charms on a theatre where
+Scipio and Cæsar had performed their parts. Her wishes were no less
+importunate to gaze upon the Alps and Pyrenees, and to vivify and
+chasten the images collected from books, by comparing them with their
+real prototypes.
+
+No social ties existed to hold her to America. Her only kinsman and
+friend would be the companion of her journeys. This project was likewise
+recommended by advantages of which she only was qualified to judge.
+Sophia Westwyn had embarked, four years previous to this date, for
+England, in company with an English lady and her husband. The
+arrangements that were made forbade either of the friends to hope for a
+future meeting. Yet now, by virtue of this project, this meeting seemed
+no longer to be hopeless.
+
+This burst of new ideas and now hopes on the mind of Constantia took
+place in the course of a single hour. No change in her external
+situation had been wrought, and yet her mind had undergone the most
+signal revolution. Tho novelty as well as greatness of the prospect kept
+her in a state of elevation and awe, more ravishing than any she had
+ever experienced. Anticipations of intercourse with nature in her most
+august forms, with men in diversified states of society, with the
+posterity of Greeks and Romans, and with the actors that were now upon
+the stage, and, above all, with the being whom absence and the want of
+other attachments had, in some sort, contributed to deify, made this
+night pass away upon the wings of transport.
+
+The hesitation which existed on parting with her father speedily gave
+place to an ardour impatient of the least delay. She saw no impediments
+to the immediate commencement of the voyage. To delay it a month, or
+even a week, seemed to be unprofitable tardiness. In this ferment of her
+thoughts, she was neither able nor willing to sleep. In arranging the
+means of departure and anticipating the events that would successively
+arise, there was abundant food for contemplation.
+
+She marked the first dawnings of the day, and rose. She felt reluctance
+to break upon her father's morning slumbers, but considered that her
+motives were extremely urgent, and that the pleasure afforded him by her
+zealous approbation of his scheme would amply compensate him for this
+unseasonable intrusion on his rest. She hastened therefore to his
+chamber. She entered with blithesome steps, and softly drew aside the
+curtain.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+Unhappy Constantia! At the moment when thy dearest hopes had budded
+afresh, when the clouds of insecurity and disquiet had retired from thy
+vision, wast thou assailed by the great subverter of human schemes. Thou
+sawest nothing in futurity but an eternal variation and succession of
+delights. Thou wast hastening to forget dangers and sorrows which thou
+fondly imaginedst were never to return. This day was to be the outset of
+a new career; existence was henceforth to be embellished with enjoyments
+hitherto scarcely within the reach of hope.
+
+Alas! thy predictions of calamity seldom failed to be verified. Not so
+thy prognostics of pleasure. These, though fortified by every
+calculation of contingencies, were edifices grounded upon nothing. Thy
+life was a struggle with malignant destiny,--a contest for happiness in
+which thou wast fated to be overcome.
+
+She stooped to kiss the venerable cheek of her father, and, by
+whispering, to break his slumber. Her eye was no sooner fixed upon his
+countenance, than she started back and shrieked. She had no power to
+forbear. Her outcries were piercing and vehement. They ceased only with
+the cessation of breath. She sunk upon a chair in a state partaking more
+of death than of life, mechanically prompted to give vent to her agonies
+in shrieks, but incapable of uttering a sound.
+
+The alarm called her servants to the spot. They beheld her dumb, wildly
+gazing, and gesticulating in a way that indicated frenzy. She made no
+resistance to their efforts, but permitted them to carry her back to her
+own chamber. Sarah called upon her to speak, and to explain the cause
+of these appearances; but the shock which she had endured seemed to have
+irretrievably destroyed her powers of utterance.
+
+The terrors of the affectionate Sarah were increased. She kneeled by the
+bedside of her mistress, and, with streaming eyes, besought the unhappy
+lady to compose herself. Perhaps the sight of weeping in another
+possessed a sympathetic influence, or nature had made provision for this
+salutary change. However that be, a torrent of tears now came to her
+succour, and rescued her from a paroxysm of insanity which its longer
+continuance might have set beyond the reach of cure.
+
+Meanwhile, a glance at his master's countenance made Fabian fully
+acquainted with the nature of the scene. The ghastly visage of Mr.
+Dudley showed that he was dead, and that he had died in some terrific
+and mysterious manner. As soon as this faithful servant recovered from
+surprise, the first expedient which his ingenuity suggested was to fly
+with tidings of this event to Mr. Melbourne. That gentleman instantly
+obeyed the summons. With the power of weeping, Constantia recovered the
+power of reflection. This, for a time, served her only as a medium of
+anguish. Melbourne mingled his tears with hers, and endeavoured, by
+suitable remonstrances, to revive her fortitude.
+
+The filial passion is perhaps instinctive to man; but its energy is
+modified by various circumstances. Every event in the life of Constantia
+contributed to heighten this passion beyond customary bounds. In the
+habit of perpetual attendance on her father, of deriving from him her
+knowledge, and sharing with him the hourly fruits of observation and
+reflection, his existence seemed blended with her own. There was no
+other whose concurrence and council she could claim, with whom a
+domestic and uninterrupted alliance could be maintained. The only bond
+of consanguinity was loosened, the only prop of friendship was taken
+away.
+
+Others, perhaps, would have observed that her father's existence had
+been merely a source of obstruction and perplexity; that she had
+hitherto acted by her own wisdom, and would find, hereafter, less
+difficulty in her choice of schemes, and fewer impediments to the
+execution. These reflections occurred not to her. This disaster had
+increased, to an insupportable degree, the vacancy and dreariness of her
+existence. The face she was habituated to behold had disappeared
+forever; the voice whose mild and affecting tones had so long been
+familiar to her ears was hushed into eternal silence. The felicity to
+which she clung was ravished away; nothing remained to hinder her from
+sinking into utter despair.
+
+The first transports of grief having subsided, a source of consolation
+seemed to be opened in the belief that her father had only changed one
+form of being for another; that he still lived to be the guardian of her
+peace and honour, to enter the recesses of her thought, to forewarn her
+of evil and invite her to good. She grasped at these images with
+eagerness, and fostered them as the only solaces of her calamity. They
+were not adapted to inspire her with cheerfulness, but they sublimed her
+sensations, and added an inexplicable fascination to sorrow.
+
+It was unavoidable sometimes to reflect upon the nature of that death
+which had occurred. Tokens were sufficiently apparent that outward
+violence had been the cause. Who could be the performer of so black a
+deed, by what motives he was guided, were topics of fruitless
+conjecture. She mused upon this subject, not from the thirst of
+vengeance, but from a mournful curiosity. Had the perpetrator stood
+before her and challenged retribution, she would not have lifted a
+finger to accuse or to punish. The evil already endured left her no
+power to concert and execute projects for extending that evil to others.
+Her mind was unnerved, and recoiled with loathing from considerations of
+abstract justice, or political utility, when they prompted to the
+prosecution of the murderer.
+
+Melbourne was actuated by different views, but on this subject he was
+painfully bewildered. Mr. Dudley's deportment to his servants and
+neighbours was gentle and humane. He had no dealings with the
+trafficking or labouring part of mankind. The fund which supplied his
+cravings of necessity or habit was his daughter's. His recreations and
+employments were harmless and lonely. The evil purpose was limited to
+his death, for his chamber was exactly in the same state in which
+negligent security had left it. No midnight footstep or voice, no
+unbarred door or lifted window, afforded tokens of the presence or
+traces of the entrance or flight of the assassin.
+
+The meditations of Constantia, however, could not fail in some of their
+circuities to encounter the image of Craig. His agency in the
+impoverishment of her father, and in the scheme by which she had like to
+have been loaded with the penalties of forgery, was of an impervious and
+unprecedented kind. Motives were unveiled by time, in some degree
+accounting for his treacherous proceeding; but there was room to suppose
+an inborn propensity to mischief. Was he not the author of this new
+evil? His motives and his means were equally inscrutable, but their
+inscrutability might flow from her own defects in discernment and
+knowledge, and time might supply her defects in this as in former
+instances.
+
+These images were casual. The causes of the evil were seldom
+contemplated. Her mind was rarely at liberty to wander from reflection
+on her irremediable loss. Frequently, when confused by distressful
+recollections, she would detect herself going to her father's chamber.
+Often his well-known accents would ring in her ears, and the momentary
+impulse would be to answer his calls. Her reluctance to sit down to her
+meals without her usual companion could scarcely be surmounted.
+
+In this state of mind, the image of the only friend who survived, or
+whose destiny, at least, was doubtful, occurred to her. She sunk into
+fits of deeper abstraction and dissolved away in tears of more agonizing
+tenderness. A week after her father's interment, she shut herself up in
+her chamber, to torment herself with fruitless remembrances. The name of
+Sophia Westwyn was pronounced, and the ditty that solemnized their
+parting was sung. Now, more than formerly, she became sensible of the
+loss of that portrait which had been deposited in the hands of M'Crea as
+a pledge. As soon as her change of fortune had supplied her with the
+means of redeeming it, she hastened to M'Crea for that end. To her
+unspeakable disappointment, he was absent from the city; he had taken a
+long journey, and the exact period of his return could not be
+ascertained. His clerks refused to deliver the picture, or even, by
+searching, to discover whether it was still in their master's
+possession. This application had frequently and lately been repeated,
+but without success; M'Crea had not yet returned, and his family were
+equally in the dark as to the day on which his return might be expected.
+
+She determined, on this occasion, to renew her visit. Her incessant
+disappointments had almost extinguished hope, and she made inquiries at
+his door, with a faltering accent and sinking heart. These emotions were
+changed into surprise and delight, when answer was made that he had just
+arrived. She was instantly conducted into his presence.
+
+The countenance of M'Crea easily denoted that his visitant was by no
+means acceptable. There was a mixture of embarrassment and sullenness in
+his air, which was far from being diminished when the purpose of this
+visit was explained. Constantia reminded him of the offer and acceptance
+of this pledge, and of the conditions with which the transaction was
+accompanied.
+
+He acknowledged, with some hesitation, that a promise had been given to
+retain the pledge until it were in her power to redeem it; but the long
+delay, the urgency of his own wants, and particularly the ill treatment
+which he conceived himself to have suffered in the transaction
+respecting the forged note, had, in his own opinion, absolved him from
+this promise. He had therefore sold the picture to a goldsmith, for as
+much as the gold about it was worth.
+
+This information produced, in the heart of Constantia, a contest between
+indignation and sorrow, that for a time debarred her from speech. She
+stifled the anger that was, at length, rising to her lips, and calmly
+inquired to whom the picture had been sold.
+
+M'Crea answered that for his part he had little dealings in gold and
+silver, but every thing of that kind which fell to his share he
+transacted with Mr. D----. This person was one of the most eminent of
+his profession. His character and place of abode were universally
+known. Tho only expedient that remained was to apply to him, and to
+ascertain, forthwith, the destiny of the picture. It was too probable
+that, when separated from its case, the portrait was thrown away or
+destroyed, as a mere encumbrance, but the truth was too momentous to be
+made the sport of mere probability. She left the house of M'Crea, and
+hastened to that of the goldsmith.
+
+The circumstance was easily recalled to his remembrance. It was true
+that such a picture had been offered for sale, and that he had purchased
+it. The workmanship was curious, and he felt unwilling to destroy it. He
+therefore hung it up in his shop and indulged the hope that a purchaser
+would some time be attracted by the mere beauty of the toy.
+
+Constantia's hopes were revived by these tidings, and she earnestly
+inquired if it were still in his possession.
+
+"No. A young gentleman had entered his shop some months before: the
+picture had caught his fancy, and he had given a price which the artist
+owned he should not have demanded, had he not been encouraged by the
+eagerness which the gentleman betrayed to possess it."
+
+"Who was this gentleman? Had there been any previous acquaintance
+between them? What was his name, his profession, and where was he to be
+found?"
+
+"Really," the goldsmith answered, "he was ignorant respecting all those
+particulars. Previously to this purchase, the gentleman had sometimes
+visited his shop; but he did not recollect to have since seen him. He
+was unacquainted with his name and his residence."
+
+"What appeared to be his motives for purchasing this picture?"
+
+"The customer appeared highly pleased with it. Pleasure, rather than
+surprise, seemed to be produced by the sight of it. If I were permitted
+to judge," continued the artist, "I should imagine that the young man
+was acquainted with the original. To say the truth, I hinted as much at
+the time, and I did not see that he discouraged the supposition. Indeed,
+I cannot conceive how the picture could otherwise have gained any value
+in his eyes."
+
+This only heightened the eagerness of Constantia to trace the footsteps
+of the youth. It was obvious to suppose some communication or connection
+between her friend and this purchaser. She repeated her inquiries, and
+the goldsmith, after some consideration, said, "Why, on second thoughts,
+I seem to have some notion of having seen a figure like that of my
+customer go into a lodging-house in Front Street, some time before I met
+with him at my shop."
+
+The situation of this house being satisfactorily described, and the
+artist being able to afford her no further information, except as to
+stature and guise, she took her leave. There were two motives impelling
+her to prosecute her search after this person,--the desire of regaining
+this portrait and of procuring tidings of her friend. Involved as she
+was in ignorance, it was impossible to conjecture how far this incident
+would be subservient to these inestimable purposes. To procure an
+interview with this stranger was the first measure which prudence
+suggested.
+
+She knew not his name or his person. He was once seen entering a
+lodging-house. Thither she must immediately repair; but how to introduce
+herself, how to describe the person of whom she was in search, she knew
+not. She was beset with embarrassments and difficulties. While her
+attention was entangled by these, she proceeded unconsciously on her
+way, and stopped not until she reached the mansion that had been
+described. Here she paused to collect her thoughts.
+
+She found no relief in deliberation. Every moment added to her
+perplexity and indecision. Irresistibly impelled by her wishes, she at
+length, in a mood that partook of desperate, advanced to the door and
+knocked. The summons was immediately obeyed by a woman of decent
+appearance. A pause ensued, which Constantia at length terminated by a
+request to see the mistress of the house.
+
+The lady courteously answered that she was the person, and immediately
+ushered her visitant into an apartment. Constantia being seated, the
+lady waited for the disclosure of her message. To prolong the silence
+was only to multiply embarrassments. She reverted to the state of her
+feelings, and saw that they flowed from inconsistency and folly. One
+vigorous effort was sufficient to restore her to composure and
+self-command.
+
+She began with apologizing for a visit unpreceded by an introduction.
+The object of her inquiries was a person with whom it was of the utmost
+moment that she should procure a meeting, but whom, by an unfortunate
+concurrence of circumstances, she was unable to describe by the usual
+incidents of name and profession. Her knowledge was confined to his
+external appearance, and to the probability of his being an inmate of
+this house at the beginning of the year. She then proceeded to describe
+his person and dress.
+
+"It is true," said the lady; "such a one as you describe has boarded in
+this house. His name was Martynne. I have good reason to remember him,
+for he lived with me three months, and then left the country without
+paying for his board."
+
+"He has gone, then?" said Constantia, greatly discouraged by these
+tidings.
+
+"Yes. He was a man of specious manners and loud pretensions. He came
+from England, bringing with him forged recommendatory letters, and,
+after passing from one end of the country to the other, contracting
+debts which he never paid and making bargains which he never fulfilled,
+he suddenly disappeared. It is likely that he has returned to Europe."
+
+"Had he no kindred, no friends, no companions?"
+
+"He found none here. He made pretences to alliances in England, which
+better information has, I believe, since shown to be false."
+
+This was the sum of the information procurable from this source.
+Constantia was unable to conceal her chagrin. These symptoms were
+observed by the lady, whose curiosity was awakened in turn. Questions
+were obliquely started, inviting Constantia to a disclosure of her
+thoughts. No advantage would arise from confidence, and the guest, after
+a few minutes of abstraction and silence, rose to take her leave.
+
+During this conference, some one appeared to be negligently sporting
+with the keys of a harpsichord, in the next apartment. The notes were
+too irregular and faint to make a forcible impression on the ear. In the
+present state of her mind, Constantia was merely conscious of the sound,
+in the intervals of conversation. Having arisen from her seat, her
+anxiety to obtain some information that might lead to the point she
+wished made her again pause. She endeavoured to invent some new
+interrogatory better suited to her purpose than those which had already
+been employed. A silence on both sides ensued.
+
+During this interval, the unseen musician suddenly refrained from
+rambling, and glided into notes of some refinement and complexity. The
+cadence was aerial; but a thunderbolt, falling at her feet, would not
+have communicated a more visible shock to the senses of Constantia. A
+glance that denoted a tumult of soul bordering on distraction was now
+fixed upon the door that led into the room from whence the harmony
+proceeded. Instantly the cadence was revived, and some accompanying
+voice was heard to warble,--
+
+     "Ah! far beyond this world of woes
+     We meet to part,--to part no more."
+
+Joy and grief, in their sudden onset and their violent extremes,
+approach so nearly in their influence on human beings as scarce to be
+distinguished. Constantia's frame was still enfeebled by her recent
+distresses. The torrent of emotion was too abrupt and too vehement. Her
+faculties were overwhelmed, and she sunk upon the floor motionless and
+without sense, but not till she had faintly articulated,--
+
+"My God! My God! This is a joy unmerited and too great."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+I must be forgiven if I now introduce myself on the stage. Sophia
+Westwyn is the friend of Constantia, and the writer of this narrative.
+So far as my fate was connected with that of my friend, it is worthy to
+be known. That connection has constituted the joy and misery of my
+existence, and has prompted me to undertake this task.
+
+I assume no merit from the desire of knowledge and superiority to
+temptation. There is little of which I can boast; but that little I
+derived, instrumentally, from Constantia. Poor as my attainments are, it
+is to her that I am indebted for them all. Life itself was the gift of
+her father, but my virtue and felicity are her gifts. That I am neither
+indigent nor profligate, flows from her bounty.
+
+I am not unaware of the divine superintendence,--of the claims upon my
+gratitude and service which pertain to my God. I know that all physical
+and moral agents are merely instrumental to the purpose that he wills;
+but, though the great Author of being and felicity must not be
+forgotten, it is neither possible nor just to overlook the claims upon
+our love with which our fellow-beings are invested.
+
+The supreme love does not absorb, but chastens and enforces, all
+subordinate affections. In proportion to the rectitude of my perceptions
+and the ardour of my piety, must I clearly discern and fervently love
+the excellence discovered in my fellow-beings, and industriously promote
+their improvement and felicity.
+
+From my infancy to my seventeenth year, I lived in the house of Mr.
+Dudley. On the day of my birth I was deserted by my mother. Her temper
+was more akin to that of tigress than woman. Yet that is unjust; for
+beasts cherish their offspring. No natures but human are capable of that
+depravity which makes insensible to the claims of innocence and
+helplessness.
+
+But let me not recall her to memory. Have I not enough of sorrow? Yet to
+omit my causes of disquiet, the unprecedented forlornness of my
+condition, and the persecutions of an unnatural parent, would be to
+leave my character a problem, and the sources of my love of Miss Dudley
+unexplored. Yet I must not dwell upon that complication of iniquities,
+that savage ferocity and unextinguishable hatred of me, which
+characterized my unhappy mother.
+
+I was not safe under the protection of Mr. Dudley, nor happy in the
+caresses of his daughter. My mother asserted the privilege of that
+relation: she laboured for years to obtain the control of my person and
+actions, to snatch me from a peaceful and chaste asylum, and detain me
+in her own house, where, indeed, I should not have been in want of
+raiment and food; but where--
+
+O my mother! Let me not dishonour thy name! Yet it is not in my power to
+enhance thy infamy. Thy crimes, unequalled as they were, were perhaps
+expiated by thy penitence. Thy offences are too well known; but perhaps
+they who witnessed thy freaks of intoxication, thy defiance of public
+shame, the enormity of thy pollutions, the infatuation that made thee
+glory in the pursuit of a loathsome and detestable trade, may be
+strangers to the remorse and the abstinence which accompanied the close
+of thy ignominious life.
+
+For ten years was my peace incessantly molested by the menaces or
+machinations of my mother. The longer she meditated my destruction, the
+more tenacious of her purpose and indefatigable in her efforts she
+became. That my mind was harassed with perpetual alarms was not enough.
+The fame and tranquillity of Mr. Dudley and his daughter were hourly
+assailed. My mother resigned herself to the impulses of malignity and
+rage. Headlong passions, and a vigorous though perverted understanding,
+were hers. Hence, her stratagems to undermine the reputation of my
+protector, and to bereave him of domestic comfort, were subtle and
+profound. Had she not herself been careless of that good which she
+endeavoured to wrest from others, her artifices could scarcely have been
+frustrated.
+
+In proportion to the hazard which accrued to my protector and friend,
+the more ardent their zeal in my defence and their affection for my
+person became. They watched over me with ineffable solicitude. At all
+hours and in every occupation, I was the companion of Constantia. All my
+wants were supplied in the same proportion as hers. The tenderness of
+Mr. Dudley seemed equally divided between us. I partook of his
+instructions, and the means of every intellectual and personal
+gratification were lavished upon me.
+
+The speed of my mother's career in infamy was at length slackened. She
+left New York, which had long been the theatre of her vices. Actuated by
+a now caprice, she determined to travel through the Southern States.
+Early indulgence was the cause of her ruin, but her parents had given
+her the embellishments of a fashionable education. She delighted to
+assume all parts, and personate the most opposite characters. She now
+resolved to carry a new name, and the mask of virtue, into scenes
+hitherto unvisited.
+
+She journeyed as far as Charleston. Here she met an inexperienced youth,
+lately arrived from England, and in possession of an ample fortune. Her
+speciousness and artifices seduced him into a precipitate marriage. Her
+true character, however, could not be long concealed by herself, and her
+vices had been too conspicuous for her long to escape recognition. Her
+husband was infatuated by her blandishments. To abandon her, or to
+contemplate her depravity with unconcern, were equally beyond his power.
+Romantic in his sentiments, his fortitude was unequal to his
+disappointments, and he speedily sunk into the grave. By a similar
+refinement in generosity, he bequeathed to her his property.
+
+With this accession of wealth, she returned to her ancient abode. The
+mask lately worn seemed preparing to be thrown aside, and her profligate
+habits to be resumed with more eagerness than ever; but an unexpected
+and total revolution was effected, by the exhortations of a Methodist
+divine. Her heart seemed, on a sudden, to be remoulded, her vices and
+the abettors of them were abjured, she shut out the intrusions of
+society, and prepared to expiate, by the rigours of abstinence and the
+bitterness of tears, the offences of her past life.
+
+In this, as in her former career, she was unacquainted with restraint
+and moderation. Her remorses gained strength in proportion as she
+cherished them. She brooded over the images of her guilt, till the
+possibility of forgiveness and remission disappeared. Her treatment of
+her daughter and her husband constituted the chief source of her
+torment. Her awakened conscience refused her a momentary respite from
+its persecutions. Her thoughts became, by rapid degrees, tempestuous and
+gloomy, and it was at length evident that her condition was maniacal.
+
+In this state, she was to me an object, no longer of terror, but
+compassion. She was surrounded by hirelings, devoid of personal
+attachment, and anxious only to convert her misfortunes to their own
+advantage. This evil it was my duty to obviate. My presence, for a time,
+only enhanced the vehemence of her malady; but at length it was only by
+my attendance and soothing that she was diverted from the fellest
+purposes. Shocking execrations and outrages, resolutions and efforts to
+destroy herself and those around her, were sure to take place in my
+absence. The moment I appeared before her, her fury abated, her
+gesticulations were becalmed, and her voice exerted only in incoherent
+and pathetic lamentations.
+
+These scenes, though so different from those which I had formerly been
+condemned to witness, were scarcely less excruciating. The friendship of
+Constantia Dudley was my only consolation. She took up her abode with
+me, and shared with me every disgustful and perilous office which my
+mother's insanity prescribed.
+
+Of this consolation, however, it was my fate to be bereaved. My mother's
+state was deplorable, and no remedy hitherto employed was efficacious. A
+voyage to England was conceived likely to benefit, by change of
+temperature and scenes, and by the opportunity it would afford of trying
+the superior skill of English physicians. This scheme, after various
+struggles on my part, was adopted. It was detestable to my imagination,
+because it severed me from that friend in whose existence mine was
+involved, and without whose participation knowledge lost its attractions
+and society became a torment.
+
+The prescriptions of my duty could not be disguised or disobeyed, and we
+parted. A mutual engagement was formed to record every sentiment and
+relate every event that happened in the life of either, and no
+opportunity of communicating information was to be omitted. This
+engagement was punctually performed on my part. I sought out every
+method of conveyance to my friend, and took infinite pains to procure
+tidings from her; but all were ineffectual.
+
+My mother's malady declined, but was succeeded by a pulmonary disease,
+which threatened her speedy destruction. By the restoration of her
+understanding, the purpose of her voyage was obtained, and my impatience
+to return, which the inexplicable and ominous silence of my friend daily
+increased, prompted me to exert all my powers of persuasion to induce
+her to revisit America.
+
+My mother's frenzy was a salutary crisis in her moral history. She
+looked back upon her past conduct with unspeakable loathing, but this
+retrospect only invigorated her devotion and her virtue; but the thought
+of returning to the scene of her unhappiness and infamy could not be
+endured. Besides, life, in her eyes, possessed considerable attractions,
+and her physicians flattered her with recovery from her present disease,
+if she would change the atmosphere of England for that of Languedoc and
+Naples.
+
+I followed her with murmurs and reluctance. To desert her in her present
+critical state would have been inhuman. My mother's aversions and
+attachments, habits and views, were dissonant with my own. Conformity of
+sentiments and impressions of maternal tenderness did not exist to bind
+us to each other. My attendance was assiduous, but it was the sense of
+duty that rendered my attendance a supportable task.
+
+Her decay was eminently gradual. No time seemed to diminish her appetite
+for novelty and change. During three years we traversed every part of
+France, Switzerland, and Italy. I could not but attend to surrounding
+scenes, and mark the progress of the mighty revolution, whose effects,
+like agitation in a fluid, gradually spread from Paris, the centre, over
+the face of the neighbouring kingdoms; but there passed not a day or an
+hour in which the image of Constantia was not recalled, in which the
+most pungent regrets were not felt at the inexplicable silence which had
+been observed by her, and the most vehement longings indulged to return
+to my native country. My exertions to ascertain her condition by
+indirect means, by interrogating natives of America with whom I chanced
+to meet, were unwearied, but, for a long period, ineffectual.
+
+During this pilgrimage, Rome was thrice visited. My mother's
+indisposition was hastening to a crisis, and she formed the resolution
+of closing her life at the bottom of Vesuvius. We stopped, for the sake
+of a few days' repose, at Rome. On the morning after our arrival, I
+accompanied some friends to view the public edifices. Casting my eyes
+over the vast and ruinous interior of the Coliseum, my attention was
+fixed by the figure of a young man whom, after a moment's pause, I
+recollected to have seen in the streets of New York. At a distance from
+home, mere community of country is no inconsiderable bond of affection.
+The social spirit prompts us to cling even to inanimate objects, when
+they remind us of ancient fellowships and juvenile attachments.
+
+A servant was despatched to summon this stranger, who recognised a
+countrywoman with a pleasure equal to that which I had received. On
+nearer view, this person, whose name was Courtland, did not belie my
+favourable prepossessions. Our intercourse was soon established on a
+footing of confidence and intimacy.
+
+The destiny of Constantia was always uppermost in my thoughts. This
+person's acquaintance was originally sought chiefly in the hope of
+obtaining from him some information respecting my friend. On inquiry, I
+discovered that he had left his native city seven months after me.
+Having tasked his recollection and compared a number of facts, the name
+of Dudley at length recurred to him. He had casually heard the history
+of Craig's imposture and its consequences. These were now related as
+circumstantially as a memory occupied by subsequent incidents enabled
+him. The tale had been told to him, in a domestic circle which he was
+accustomed to frequent, by the person who purchased Mr. Dudley's lute
+and restored it to its previous owner on the conditions formerly
+mentioned.
+
+This tale filled me with anguish and doubt. My impatience to search out
+this unfortunate girl, and share with her her sorrows or relieve them,
+was anew excited by this mournful intelligence. That Constantia Dudley
+was reduced to beggary was too abhorrent to my feelings to receive
+credit; yet the sale of her father's property, comprising even his
+furniture and clothing, seemed to prove that she had fallen even to this
+depth. This enabled me in some degree to account for her silence. Her
+generous spirit would induce her to conceal misfortunes from her friend
+which no communication would alleviate. It was possible that she had
+selected some new abode, and that, in consequence, the letters I had
+written, and which amounted to volumes, had never reached her hands.
+
+My mother's state would not suffer me to obey the impulse of my heart.
+Her frame was verging towards dissolution. Courtland's engagements
+allowed him to accompany us to Naples, and here the long series of my
+mother's pilgrimages closed in death. Her obsequies were no sooner
+performed, than I determined to set out on my long-projected voyage. My
+mother's property, which, in consequence of her decease, devolved upon
+me, was not inconsiderable. There is scarcely any good so dear to a
+rational being as competence. I was not unacquainted with its benefits,
+but this acquisition was valuable to mo chiefly as it enabled me to
+reunite my fate to that of Constantia.
+
+Courtland was my countryman and friend. He was destitute of fortune, and
+had been led to Europe partly by the spirit of adventure, and partly on
+a mercantile project. He had made sale of his property on advantageous
+terms, in the ports of France, and resolved to consume the produce in
+examining this scene of heroic exploits and memorable revolutions. His
+slender stock, though frugally and even parsimoniously administered, was
+nearly exhausted; and, at the time of our meeting at Rome, he was making
+reluctant preparations to return.
+
+Sufficient opportunity was afforded us, in an unrestrained and domestic
+intercourse of three months, which succeeded our Roman interview, to
+gain a knowledge of each other. There was that conformity of tastes and
+views between us which could scarcely fail, at an age and in a situation
+like ours, to give birth to tenderness. My resolution to hasten to
+America was peculiarly unwelcome to my friend. He had offered to be my
+companion, but this offer my regard to his interest obliged me to
+decline; but I was willing to compensate him for this denial, as well as
+to gratify my own heart, by an immediate marriage.
+
+So long a residence in England and Italy had given birth to friendships
+and connections of the dearest kind. I had no view but to spend my life
+with Courtland, in the midst of my maternal kindred, who were English. A
+voyage to America and reunion with Constantia were previously
+indispensable; but I hoped that my friend might be prevailed upon, and
+that her disconnected situation would permit her to return with me to
+Europe. If this end could not be accomplished, it was my inflexible
+purpose to live and die with her. Suitably to this arrangement,
+Courtland was to repair to London, and wait patiently till I should be
+able to rejoin him there, or to summon him to meet me in America.
+
+A week after my mother's death, I became a wife, and embarked the next
+day, at Naples, in a Ragusan ship, destined for New York. The voyage was
+tempestuous and tedious. The vessel was necessitated to make a short
+stay at Toulon. The state of that city, however, then in possession of
+the English and besieged by the revolutionary forces, was adverse to
+commercial views. Happily, we resumed our voyage on the day previous to
+that on which the place was evacuated by the British. Our seasonable
+departure rescued us from witnessing a scene of horrors of which the
+history of former wars furnishes us with few examples.
+
+A cold and boisterous navigation awaited us. My palpitations and
+inquietudes augmented as we approached the American coast. I shall not
+forget the sensations which I experienced on the sight of the Beacon at
+Sandy Hook. It was first seen at midnight, in a stormy and beclouded
+atmosphere, emerging from the waves, whose fluctuation allowed it, for
+some time, to be visible only by fits. This token of approaching land
+affected me as much as if I had reached the threshold of my friend's
+dwelling.
+
+At length we entered the port, and I viewed, with high-raised but
+inexplicable feelings, objects with which I had been from infancy
+familiar. The flagstaff erected on the Battery recalled to my
+imagination the pleasures of the evening and morning walks which I had
+taken on that spot with the lost Constantia. The dream was fondly
+cherished, that the figure which I saw loitering along the terrace was
+hers.
+
+On disembarking, I gazed at every female passenger, in hope that it was
+she whom I sought. An absence of three years had obliterated from my
+memory none of the images which attended me on my departure.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+After a night of repose rather than of sleep, I began the search after
+my friend. I went to the house which the Dudleys formerly inhabited, and
+which had been the asylum of my infancy. It was now occupied by
+strangers, by whom no account could be given of its former tenants. I
+obtained directions to the owner of the house. He was equally unable to
+satisfy my curiosity. The purchase had been made at a public sale, and
+terms had been settled, not with Dudley, but with the sheriff.
+
+It is needless to say that the history of Craig's imposture and its
+consequences were confirmed by every one who resided at that period in
+New York. The Dudleys were well remembered, and their disappearance,
+immediately after their fall, had been generally noticed; but whither
+they had retired was a problem which no one was able to solve.
+
+This evasion was strange. By what motives the Dudleys were induced to
+change their ancient abode could be vaguely guessed. My friend's
+grandfather was a native of the West Indies. Descendants of the same
+stock still resided in Tobago. They might be affluent, and to them it
+was possible that Mr. Dudley, in this change of fortune, had betaken
+himself for relief. This was a mournful expedient, since it would raise
+a barrier between my friend and myself scarcely to be surmounted.
+
+Constantia's mother was stolen by Mr. Dudley from a convent at Amiens.
+There were no affinities, therefore, to draw them to France. Her
+grandmother was a native of Baltimore, of a family of some note, by name
+Ridgeley. This family might still exist, and have either afforded an
+asylum to the Dudleys, or, at least, be apprized of their destiny. It
+was obvious to conclude that they no longer existed within the precincts
+of New York. A journey to Baltimore was the next expedient.
+
+This journey was made in the depth of winter, and by the speediest
+conveyance. I made no more than a day's sojourn in Philadelphia. The
+epidemic by which that city had been lately ravaged, I had not heard of
+till my arrival in America. Its devastations were then painted to my
+fancy in the most formidable colours. A few months only had elapsed
+since its extinction, and I expected to see numerous marks of misery and
+depopulation.
+
+To my no small surprise, however, no vestiges of this calamity were to
+be discerned. All houses were open, all streets thronged, and all faces
+thoughtless or busy. The arts and the amusements of life seemed as
+sedulously cultivated as ever. Little did I then think what had been,
+and what at that moment was, the condition of my friend. I stopped for
+the sake of respite from fatigue, and did not, therefore, pass much time
+in the streets. Perhaps, had I walked seasonably abroad, we might have
+encountered each other, and thus have saved ourselves from a thousand
+anxieties.
+
+At Baltimore I made myself known, without the formality of introduction,
+to the Ridgeleys. They acknowledged their relationship to Mr. Dudley,
+but professed absolute ignorance of his fate. Indirect intercourse only
+had been maintained, formerly, by Dudley with his mother's kindred. They
+had heard of his misfortune a twelvemonth after it happened; but what
+measures had been subsequently pursued, their kinsman had not thought
+proper to inform them.
+
+The failure of this expedient almost bereft me of hope. Neither my own
+imagination nor the Ridgeleys could suggest any new mode by which my
+purpose was likely to be accomplished. To leave America without
+obtaining the end of my visit could not be thought of without agony; and
+yet the continuance of my stay promised me no relief from my
+uncertainties.
+
+On this theme I ruminated without ceasing. I recalled every conversation
+and incident of former times, and sought in them a clue by which my
+present conjectures might be guided. One night, immersed alone in my
+chamber, my thoughts were thus employed. My train of meditation was, on
+this occasion, new. From the review of particulars from which no
+satisfaction had hitherto been gained, I passed to a vague and
+comprehensive retrospect.
+
+Mr. Dudley's early life, his profession of a painter, his zeal in this
+pursuit, and his reluctance to quit it, were remembered. Would he not
+revert to this profession when other means of subsistence were gone? It
+is true, similar obstacles with those which had formerly occasioned his
+resort to a different path existed at present, and no painter of his
+name was to be found in Philadelphia, Baltimore, or New York. But would
+it not occur to him, that the patronage denied to his skill by the
+frugal and unpolished habits of his countrymen might, with more
+probability of success, be sought from the opulence and luxury of
+London? Nay, had he not once affirmed, in my hearing, that, if he ever
+were reduced to poverty, this was the method he would pursue?
+
+This conjecture was too bewitching to be easily dismissed. Every new
+reflection augmented its force. I was suddenly raised by it from the
+deepest melancholy to the region of lofty and gay hopes. Happiness, of
+which I had begun to imagine myself irretrievably bereft, seemed once
+more to approach within my reach. Constantia would not only be found,
+but be met in the midst of those comforts which her father's skill could
+not fail to procure, and on that very stage where I most desired to
+encounter her. Mr. Dudley had many friends and associates of his youth
+in London. Filial duty had repelled their importunities to fix his abode
+in Europe, when summoned home by his father. On his father's death these
+solicitations had been renewed, but were disregarded for reasons which
+he, afterwards, himself confessed were fallacious. That they would a
+third time be preferred, and would regulate his conduct, seemed to me
+incontestable.
+
+I regarded with wonder and deep regret the infatuation that had
+hitherto excluded these images from my understanding and my memory. How
+many dangers and toils had I endured since my embarkation at Naples, to
+the present moment! How many lingering minutes had I told since my first
+interview with Courtland! All were owing to my own stupidity. Had my
+present thoughts been seasonably suggested, I might long since have been
+restored to the embraces of my friend, without the necessity of an
+hour's separation from my husband.
+
+These were evils to be repaired as far as it was possible. Nothing now
+remained but to procure a passage to Europe. For this end diligent
+inquiries were immediately set on foot. A vessel was found, which, in a
+few weeks, would set out upon the voyage. Having bespoken a conveyance,
+it was incumbent on me to sustain with patience the unwelcome delay.
+
+Meanwhile, my mind, delivered from the dejection and perplexities that
+lately haunted it, was capable of some attention to surrounding objects.
+I marked the peculiarities of manners and language in my new abode, and
+studied the effects which a political and religious system so opposite
+to that with which I had conversed in Italy and Switzerland had
+produced. I found that the difference between Europe and America lay
+chiefly in this:--that, in the former, all things tended to extremes,
+whereas, in the latter, all things tended to the same level. Genius, and
+virtue, and happiness, on these shores, were distinguished by a sort of
+mediocrity. Conditions were less unequal, and men were strangers to the
+heights of enjoyment and the depths of misery to which the inhabitants
+of Europe are accustomed.
+
+I received friendly notice and hospitable treatment from the Ridgeleys.
+These people were mercantile and plodding in their habits. I found in
+their social circle little exercise for the sympathies of my heart, and
+willingly accepted their aid to enlarge the sphere of my observation.
+
+About a week before my intended embarkation, and when suitable
+preparation had been made for that event, a lady arrived in town, who
+was cousin to my Constantia. She had frequently been mentioned in
+favourable terms in my hearing. She had passed her life in a rural
+abode with her father, who cultivated his own domain, lying forty miles
+from Baltimore.
+
+On an offer being made to introduce us to each other, I consented to
+know one whose chief recommendation in my eyes consisted in her affinity
+to Constantia Dudley. I found an artless and attractive female,
+unpolished and undepraved by much intercourse with mankind. At first
+sight, I was powerfully struck by the resemblance of her features to
+those of my friend, which sufficiently denoted their connection with a
+common stock.
+
+The first interview afforded mutual satisfaction. On our second meeting,
+discourse insensibly led to the mention of Miss Dudley, and of the
+design which had brought me to America. She was deeply affected by the
+earnestness with which I expatiated on her cousin's merits, and by the
+proofs which my conduct had given of unlimited attachment.
+
+I dwelt immediately on the measures which I had hitherto ineffectually
+pursued to trace her footsteps, and detailed the grounds of my present
+belief that we should meet in London. During this recital, my companion
+sighed and wept. When I finished my tale, her tears, instead of ceasing,
+flowed with new vehemence. This appearance excited some surprise, and I
+ventured to ask the cause of her grief.
+
+"Alas!" she replied, "I am personally a stranger to my cousin, but her
+character has been amply displayed to me by one who knew her well. I
+weep to think how much she has suffered. How much excellence we have
+lost!"
+
+"Nay," said I, "all her sufferings will, I hope, be compensated, and I
+by no means consider her as lost. If my search in London be
+unsuccessful, then shall I indeed despair."
+
+"Despair, then, already," said my sobbing companion, "for your search
+will be unsuccessful. How I feel for your disappointment! but it cannot
+be known too soon. My cousin is dead!"
+
+These tidings were communicated with tokens of sincerity and sorrow that
+left me no room to doubt that they were believed by the relater. My own
+emotions were suspended till interrogations had obtained a knowledge of
+her reasons for crediting this fatal event, and till she had explained
+the time and manner of her death. A friend of Miss Ridgeley's father had
+witnessed the devastations of the yellow fever in Philadelphia. He was
+apprized of the relationship that subsisted between his friend and the
+Dudleys. He gave a minute and circumstantial account of the arts of
+Craig. He mentioned the removal of my friends to Philadelphia, their
+obscure and indigent life, and, finally, their falling victims to the
+pestilence.
+
+He related the means by which he became apprized of their fate, and drew
+a picture of their death, surpassing all that imagination can conceive
+of shocking and deplorable. The quarter where they lived was nearly
+desolate. Their house was shut up, and, for a time, imagined to be
+uninhabited. Some suspicions being awakened in those who superintended
+the burial of the dead, the house was entered, and the father and child
+discovered to be dead. The former was stretched upon his wretched
+pallet, while the daughter was found on the floor of the lower room, in
+a state that denoted the sufferance not only of disease, but of famine.
+
+This tale was false. Subsequent discoveries proved this to be a
+detestable artifice of Craig, who, stimulated by incurable habits, had
+invented these disasters, for the purpose of enhancing the opinion of
+his humanity and of furthering his views on the fortune and daughter of
+Mr. Ridgeley.
+
+Its falsehood, however, I had as yet no means of ascertaining. I
+received it as true, and at once dismissed all my claims upon futurity.
+All hope of happiness, in this mutable and sublunary scene, was fled.
+Nothing remained but to join my friend in a world where woes are at an
+end and virtue finds recompense. "Surely," said I, "there will some time
+be a close to calamity and discord. To those whose lives have been
+blameless, but harassed by inquietudes to which not their own but the
+errors of others have given birth, a fortress will hereafter be
+assigned unassailable by change, impregnable to sorrow.
+
+"O my ill-fated Constantia! I will live to cherish thy remembrance, and
+to emulate thy virtue. I will endure the privation of thy friendship and
+the vicissitudes that shall befall me, and draw my consolation and
+courage from the foresight of no distant close to this terrestrial
+scene, and of ultimate and everlasting union with thee."
+
+This consideration, though it kept me from confusion and despair, could
+not, but with the healing aid of time, render me tranquil or strenuous.
+My strength was unequal to the struggle of my passions. The ship in
+which I engaged to embark could not wait for my restoration to health,
+and I was left behind.
+
+Mary Ridgeley was artless and affectionate. She saw that her society was
+dearer to me than that of any other, and was therefore seldom willing to
+leave my chamber. Her presence, less on her own account than by reason
+of her personal resemblance and her affinity by birth to Constantia, was
+a powerful solace.
+
+I had nothing to detain me longer in America. I was anxious to change my
+present lonely state, for the communion of those friends in England, and
+the performance of those duties, which were left to me. I was informed
+that a British packet would shortly sail from New York. My frame was
+sunk into greater weakness than I had felt at any former period; and I
+conceived that to return to New York by water was more commodious than
+to perform the journey by land.
+
+This arrangement was likewise destined to be disappointed. One morning I
+visited, according to my custom, Mary Ridgeley. I found her in a temper
+somewhat inclined to gayety. She rallied me, with great archness, on the
+care with which I had concealed from her a tender engagement into which
+I had lately entered.
+
+I supposed myself to comprehend her allusion, and therefore answered
+that accident, rather than design, had made me silent on the subject of
+marriage. She had hitherto known me by no appellation but Sophia
+Courtland. I had thought it needless to inform her that I was indebted
+for my name to my husband, Courtland being his name.
+
+"All that," said my friend, "I know already. And so you sagely think
+that my knowledge goes no further than that? We are not bound to love
+our husbands longer than their lives. There is no crime, I believe, in
+referring the living to the dead; and most heartily do congratulate you
+on your present choice."
+
+"What mean you? I confess, your discourse surpasses my comprehension."
+
+At that moment the bell at the door rung a loud peal. Miss Ridgeley
+hastened down at this signal, saying, with much significance,--
+
+"I am a poor hand at solving a riddle. Here comes one who, if I mistake
+not, will find no difficulty in clearing up your doubts."
+
+Presently she came up, and said, with a smile of still greater archness,
+"Here is a young gentleman, a friend of mine, to whom I must have the
+pleasure of introducing you. He has come for the special purpose of
+solving my riddle." I attended her to the parlour without hesitation.
+
+She presented me, with great formality, to a youth, whose appearance did
+not greatly prepossess me in favour of his judgement. He approached me
+with an air supercilious and ceremonious; but the moment he caught a
+glance at my face, he shrunk back, visibly confounded and embarrassed. A
+pause ensued, in which Miss Ridgeley had opportunity to detect the error
+into which she had been led by the vanity of this young man.
+
+"How now, Mr. Martynne!" said my friend, in a tone of ridicule; "is it
+possible you do not know the lady who is the queen of your affections,
+the tender and indulgent fair one whose portrait you carry in your
+bosom, and whose image you daily and nightly bedew with your tears and
+kisses?"
+
+Mr. Martynne's confusion, instead of being subdued by his struggle, only
+grew more conspicuous; and, after a few incoherent speeches and
+apologies, during which he carefully avoided encountering my eyes, he
+hastily departed.
+
+I applied to my friend, with great earnestness, for an explanation of
+this scene. It seems that, in the course of conversation with him on the
+preceding day, he had suffered a portrait which hung at his breast to
+catch Miss Ridgeley's eye. On her betraying a desire to inspect it more
+nearly, he readily produced it. My image had been too well copied by the
+artist not to be instantly recognised.
+
+She concealed her knowledge of the original, and, by questions well
+adapted to the purpose, easily drew from him confessions that this was
+the portrait of his mistress. He let fall sundry innuendoes and
+surmises, tending to impress her with a notion of the rank, fortune, and
+intellectual accomplishments of the nymph, and particularly of the
+doting fondness and measureless confidence with which she regarded him.
+
+Her imperfect knowledge of my situation left her in some doubt as to the
+truth of these pretensions, and she was willing to ascertain the truth
+by bringing about an interview. To guard against evasions and artifice
+in the lover, she carefully concealed from him her knowledge of the
+original, and merely pretended that a friend of hers was far more
+beautiful than her whom this picture represented. She added, that she
+expected a visit from her friend the next morning, and was willing, by
+showing her to Mr. Martynne, to convince him how much he was mistaken in
+supposing the perfections of his mistress unrivalled.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+Martynne, while ho expressed his confidence that the experiment would
+only confirm his triumph, readily assented to the proposal, and the
+interview above described took place, accordingly, the next morning. Had
+he not been taken by surprise, it is likely the address of a man who
+possessed no contemptible powers would have extricated him from some of
+his embarrassment.
+
+That my portrait should be in the possession of one whom I had never
+before seen, and whose character and manners entitled him to no respect,
+was a source of some surprise. This mode of multiplying faces is
+extremely prevalent in this age, and was eminently characteristic of
+those with whom I had associated in different parts of Europe. The
+nature of my thoughts had modified my features into an expression which
+my friends were pleased to consider as a model for those who desired to
+personify the genius of suffering and resignation.
+
+Hence, among those whose religion permitted their devotion to a picture
+of a female, the symbols of their chosen deity were added to features
+and shape that resembled mine. My own caprice, as well as that of
+others, always dictated a symbolical, and, in every new instance, a
+different accompaniment of this kind. Hence was offered the means of
+tracing the history of that picture which Martynne possessed.
+
+It had been accurately examined by Miss Ridgeley, and her description of
+the frame in which it was placed instantly informed me that it was the
+same which, at our parting, I left in the possession of Constantia. My
+friend and myself were desirous of employing the skill of a Saxon
+painter, by name Eckstein. Each of us were drawn by him, she with the
+cincture of Venus, and I with the crescent of Dian. This symbol was
+still conspicuous on the brow of that image which Miss Ridgeley had
+examined, and served to identify the original proprietor.
+
+This circumstance tended to confirm my fears that Constantia was dead,
+since that she would part with this picture during her life was not to
+be believed. It was of little moment to discover how it came into the
+hands of the present possessor. Those who carried her remains to the
+grave had probably torn it from her neck and afterwards disposed of it
+for money.
+
+By whatever means, honest or illicit, it had been acquired by Martynne,
+it was proper that it should be restored to me. It was valuable to me,
+because it had been the property of one whom I loved, and it might prove
+highly injurious to my fame and my happiness, as the tool of this man's
+vanity and the attestor of his falsehood. I therefore wrote him a
+letter, acquainting him with my reasons for desiring the repossession of
+this picture, and offering a price for it at least double its value as a
+mere article of traffic. Martynne accepted the terms. He transmitted the
+picture, and with it a note, apologizing for the artifice of which he
+had been guilty, and mentioning, in order to justify his acceptance of
+the price which I had offered, that he had lately purchased it for an
+equal sum, of a goldsmith in Philadelphia.
+
+This information suggested a new reflection. Constantia had engaged to
+preserve, for the use of her friend, copious and accurate memorials of
+her life. Copies of these were, on suitable occasions, to be transmitted
+to me during my residence abroad. These I had never received, but it was
+highly probable that her punctuality, in the performance of the first
+part of her engagement, had been equal to my own.
+
+What, I asked, had become of these precious memorials? In the wreck of
+her property were these irretrievably engulfed? It was not probable that
+they had been wantonly destroyed. They had fallen, perhaps, into hands
+careless or unconscious of their value, or still lay, unknown and
+neglected, at the bottom of some closet or chest. Their recovery might
+be effected by vehement exertions, or by some miraculous accident.
+Suitable inquiries, carried on among those who were active in those
+scenes of calamity, might afford some clue by which the fate of the
+Dudleys, and the disposition of their property, might come into fuller
+light. These inquiries could be made only in Philadelphia, and thither,
+for that purpose, I now resolved to repair. There was still an interval
+of some weeks before the departure of the packet in which I proposed to
+embark.
+
+Having returned to the capital, I devoted all my zeal to my darling
+project. My efforts, however, were without success. Those who
+administered charity and succour during that memorable season, and who
+survived, could remove none of my doubts, nor answer any of my
+inquiries. Innumerable tales, equally disastrous with those which Miss
+Ridgeley had heard, were related; but, for a considerable period, none
+of their circumstances were sufficiently accordant with the history of
+the Dudleys.
+
+It is worthy of remark, in how many ways, and by what complexity of
+motives, human curiosity is awakened and knowledge obtained. By its
+connection with my darling purpose, every event in the history of this
+memorable pest was earnestly sought and deeply pondered. The powerful
+considerations which governed me made me slight those punctilious
+impediments which, in other circumstances, would have debarred me from
+intercourse with the immediate actors and observers. I found none who
+were unwilling to expatiate on this topic, or to communicate the
+knowledge they possessed. Their details were copious in particulars and
+vivid in minuteness. They exhibited the state of manners, the
+diversified effects of evil or heroic passions, and the endless forms
+which sickness and poverty assume in the obscure recesses of a
+commercial and populous city.
+
+Some of these details are too precious to be lost. It is above all
+things necessary that we should be thoroughly acquainted with the
+condition of our fellow-beings. Justice and compassion are the fruit of
+knowledge. The misery that overspreads so large a part of mankind exists
+chiefly because those who are able to relieve it do not know that it
+exists. Forcibly to paint the evil, seldom fails to excite the virtue of
+the spectator and seduce him into wishes, at least, if not into
+exertions, of beneficence.
+
+The circumstances in which I was placed were, perhaps, wholly singular.
+Hence, the knowledge I obtained was more comprehensive and authentic
+than was possessed by any one, even of the immediate actors or
+sufferers. This knowledge will not be useless to myself or to the world.
+The motives which dictated the present narrative will hinder me from
+relinquishing the pen till my fund of observation and experience be
+exhausted. Meanwhile, let me resume the thread of my tale.
+
+The period allowed me before my departure was nearly expired, and my
+purpose seemed to be as far from its accomplishment as ever. One evening
+I visited a lady who was the widow of a physician whose disinterested
+exertions had cost him his life. She dwelt with pathetic earnestness on
+the particulars of her own distress, and listened with deep attention to
+the inquiries and doubts which I had laid before her.
+
+After a pause of consideration, she said that an incident like that
+related by me she had previously heard from one of her friends, whose
+name she mentioned. This person was one of those whose office consisted
+in searching out the sufferers, and affording them unsought and
+unsolicited relief. She was offering to introduce me to this person,
+when he entered the apartment.
+
+After the usual compliments, my friend led the conversation as I wished.
+Between Mr. Thompson's tale and that related to Miss Ridgeley there was
+an obvious resemblance. The sufferers resided in an obscure alley. They
+had shut themselves up from all intercourse with their neighbours, and
+had died, neglected and unknown. Mr. Thompson was vested with the
+superintendence of this district, and had passed the house frequently
+without suspicion of its being tenanted.
+
+He was at length informed, by one of those who conducted a hearse, that
+he had seen the window in the upper story of this house lifted and a
+female show herself. It was night, and the hearseman chanced to be
+passing the door. He immediately supposed that the person stood in need
+of his services, and stopped.
+
+This procedure was comprehended by the person at the window, who,
+leaning out, addressed him in a broken and feeble voice. She asked him
+why he had not taken a different route, and upbraided him for inhumanity
+in leading his noisy vehicle past her door. She wanted repose, but the
+ceaseless rumbling of his wheels would not allow her the sweet respite
+of a moment.
+
+This invective was singular, and uttered in a voice which united the
+utmost degree of earnestness with a feebleness that rendered it almost
+inarticulate. The man was at a loss for a suitable answer. His pause
+only increased the impatience of the person at the window, who called
+upon him, in a still more anxious tone, to proceed, and entreated him to
+avoid this alley for the future.
+
+He answered that he must come whenever the occasion called him; that
+three persons now lay dead in this alley, and that he must be
+expeditious in their removal; but that he would return as seldom and
+make as little noise as possible.
+
+He was interrupted by new exclamations and upbraidings. These terminated
+in a burst of tears, and assertions that God and man were her
+enemies,--that they were determined to destroy her; but she trusted that
+the time would come when their own experience would avenge her wrongs,
+and teach them some compassion for the misery of others. Saying this,
+she shut the window with violence, and retired from it, sobbing with a
+vehemence that could be distinctly overheard by him in the street.
+
+He paused for some time, listening when this passion should cease. The
+habitation was slight, and he imagined that he heard her traversing the
+floor. While he stayed, she continued to vent her anguish in
+exclamations and sighs and passionate weeping. It did not appear that
+any other person was within.
+
+Mr. Thompson, being next day informed of these incidents, endeavoured to
+enter the house; but his signals, though loud and frequently repeated,
+being unnoticed, he was obliged to gain admission by violence. An old
+man, and a female lovely in the midst of emaciation and decay, were
+discovered without signs of life. The death of the latter appeared to
+have been very recent.
+
+In examining the house, no traces of other inhabitants were to be found.
+Nothing serviceable as food was discovered, but the remnants of mouldy
+bread scattered on a table. No information could be gathered from
+neighbours respecting the condition and name of these unfortunate
+people. They had taken possession of this house during the rage of this
+malady, and refrained from all communication with their neighbours.
+
+There was too much resemblance between this and the story formerly
+heard, not to produce the belief that they related to the same persons.
+All that remained was to obtain directions to the proprietor of this
+dwelling, and exact from him all that he knew respecting his tenants.
+
+I found in him a man of worth and affability. He readily related, that a
+man applied to him for the use of this house, and that the application
+was received. At the beginning of the pestilence, a numerous family
+inhabited this tenement, but had died in rapid succession. This new
+applicant was the first to apprize him of this circumstance, and
+appeared extremely anxious to enter on immediate possession.
+
+It was intimated to him that danger would arise from the pestilential
+condition of the house. Unless cleansed and purified, disease would be
+unavoidably contracted. The inconvenience and hazard this applicant was
+willing to encounter, and, at length, hinted that no alternative was
+allowed him by his present landlord but to lie in the street or to
+procure some other abode.
+
+"What was the external appearance of this person?"
+
+"He was infirm, past the middle age, of melancholy aspect and indigent
+garb. A year had since elapsed, and more characteristic particulars had
+not been remarked, or were forgotten. The name had been mentioned, but,
+in the midst of more recent and momentous transactions, had vanished
+from remembrance. Dudley, or Dolby, or Hadley, seemed to approach more
+nearly than any other sounds."
+
+Permission to inspect the house was readily granted. It had remained,
+since that period, unoccupied. The furniture and goods were scanty and
+wretched, and he did not care to endanger his safety by meddling with
+them. He believed that they had not been removed or touched.
+
+I was insensible of any hazard which attended my visit, and, with the
+guidance of a servant, who felt as little apprehension as myself,
+hastened to the spot. I found nothing but tables and chairs. Clothing
+was nowhere to be seen. An earthen pot, without handle, and broken,
+stood upon the kitchen-hearth. No other implement or vessel for the
+preparation of food appeared.
+
+These forlorn appearances were accounted for by the servant, by
+supposing the house to have been long since rifled of every thing worth
+the trouble of removal, by the villains who occupied the neighbouring
+houses,--this alley, it seems, being noted for the profligacy of its
+inhabitants.
+
+When I reflected that a wretched hovel like this had been, probably, the
+last retreat of the Dudleys, when I painted their sufferings, of which
+the numberless tales of distress of which I had lately been an auditor
+enabled me to form an adequate conception, I felt as if to lie down and
+expire on the very spot where Constantia had fallen was the only
+sacrifice to friendship which time had left to me.
+
+From this house I wandered to the field where the dead had been,
+promiscuously and by hundreds, interred. I counted the long series of
+graves, which were closely ranged, and, being recently levelled,
+exhibited the appearance of a harrowed field. Methought I could have
+given thousands to know in what spot the body of my friend lay, that I
+might moisten the sacred earth with my tears. Boards hastily nailed
+together formed the best receptacle which the exigencies of the time
+could grant to the dead. Many corpses were thrown into a single
+excavation, and all distinctions founded on merit and rank were
+obliterated. The father and child had been placed in the same cart and
+thrown into the same hole.
+
+Despairing, by any longer stay in the city, to effect my purpose, and
+the period of my embarkation being near, I prepared to resume my
+journey. I should have set out the next day, but, a family with whom I
+had made acquaintance expecting to proceed to New York within a week, I
+consented to be their companion, and, for that end, to delay my
+departure.
+
+Meanwhile, I shut myself up in my apartment, and pursued avocations that
+were adapted to the melancholy tenor of my thoughts. The day preceding
+that appointed for my journey arrived. It was necessary to complete my
+arrangements with the family with whom I was to travel, and to settle
+with the lady whose apartments I occupied.
+
+On how slender threads does our destiny hang! Had not a momentary
+impulse tempted me to sing my favourite ditty to the harpsichord, to
+beguile the short interval during which my hostess was conversing with
+her visitor in the next apartment, I should have speeded to New York,
+have embarked for Europe, and been eternally severed from my friend,
+whom I believed to have died in frenzy and beggary, but who was alive
+and affluent, and who sought me with a diligence scarcely inferior to my
+own. We imagined ourselves severed from each other by death or by
+impassable seas; but, at the moment when our hopes had sunk to the
+lowest ebb, a mysterious destiny conducted our footsteps to the same
+spot.
+
+I heard a murmuring exclamation; I heard my hostess call, in a voice of
+terror, for help; I rushed into the room; I saw one stretched on the
+floor, in the attitude of death; I sprung forward and fixed my eyes upon
+her countenance; I clasped my hands and articulated, "Constantia!"
+
+She speedily recovered from her swoon. Her eyes opened; she moved, she
+spoke. Still methought it was an illusion of the senses that created the
+phantom. I could not bear to withdraw my eyes from her countenance. If
+they wandered for a moment, I fell into doubt and perplexity, and again
+fixed them upon her, to assure myself of her existence.
+
+The succeeding three days were spent in a state of dizziness and
+intoxication. The ordinary functions of nature were disturbed. The
+appetite for sleep and for food were confounded and lost amidst the
+impetuosities of a master-passion. To look and to talk to each other
+afforded enchanting occupation for every moment. I would not part from
+her side, but eat and slept, walked and mused and read, with my arm
+locked in hers, and with her breath fanning my cheek.
+
+I have indeed much to learn. Sophia Courtland has never been wise. Her
+affections disdain the cold dictates of discretion, and spurn at every
+limit that contending duties and mixed obligations prescribe.
+
+And yet, O precious inebriation of the heart! O pre-eminent love! what
+pleasure of reason or of sense can stand in competition with those
+attendant upon thee? Whether thou hiest to the fanes of a benevolent
+deity, or layest all thy homage at the feet of one who most visibly
+resembles the perfections of our Maker, surely thy sanction is divine,
+thy boon is happiness!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+The tumults of curiosity and pleasure did not speedily subside. The
+story of each other's wanderings was told with endless amplification and
+minuteness. Henceforth, the stream of our existence was to mix; we were
+to act and to think in common; casual witnesses and written testimony
+should become superfluous. Eyes and ears were to be eternally employed
+upon the conduct of each other; death, when it should come, was not to
+be deplored, because it was an unavoidable and brief privation to her
+that should survive. Being, under any modification, is dear; but that
+state to which death is a passage is all-desirable to virtue and
+all-compensating to grief.
+
+Meanwhile, precedent events were made the themes of endless
+conversation. Every incident and passion in the course of four years was
+revived and exhibited. The name of Ormond was, of course, frequently
+repeated by my friend. His features and deportment were described; her
+meditations and resolutions, with regard to him, fully disclosed. My
+counsel was asked, in what manner it became her to act.
+
+I could not but harbour aversion to a scheme which should tend to sever
+me from Constantia, or to give me a competitor in her affections.
+Besides this, the properties of Ormond were of too mysterious a nature
+to make him worthy of acceptance. Little more was known concerning him
+than what he himself had disclosed to the Dudleys, but this knowledge
+would suffice to invalidate his claims.
+
+He had dwelt, in his conversations with Constantia, sparingly on his own
+concerns. Yet he did not hide from her that he had been left in early
+youth to his own guidance; that he had embraced, when almost a child,
+the trade of arms; that he had found service and promotion in the armies
+of Potemkin and Romanzow; that he had executed secret and diplomatic
+functions at Constantinople and Berlin; that in the latter city he had
+met with schemers and reasoners who aimed at the new-modelling of the
+world, and the subversion of all that has hitherto been conceived
+elementary and fundamental in the constitution of man and of government;
+that some of those reformers had secretly united to break down the
+military and monarchical fabric of German policy; that others, more
+wisely, had devoted their secret efforts, not to overturn, but to build;
+that, for this end, they embraced an exploring and colonizing project;
+that he had allied himself to these, and for the promotion of their
+projects had spent six years of his life in journeys by sea and land, in
+tracts unfrequented till then by any European.
+
+What were the moral or political maxims which this adventurous and
+visionary sect had adopted, and what was the seat of their new-born
+empire,--whether on the shore of an _austral_ continent, or in the heart
+of desert America,--he carefully concealed. These were exhibited or
+hidden, or shifted, according to his purpose. Not to reveal too much,
+and not to tire curiosity or overtask belief, was his daily labour. He
+talked of alliance with the family whose name he bore, and who had lost
+their honours and estates by the Hanoverian succession to the crown of
+England.
+
+I had seen too much of innovation and imposture, in, France and Italy,
+not to regard a man like this with aversion and fear. The mind of my
+friend was wavering and unsuspicious. She had lived at a distance from
+scenes where principles are hourly put to the test of experiment; where
+all extremes of fortitude and pusillanimity are accustomed to meet;
+where recluse virtue and speculative heroism gives place, as if by
+magic, to the last excesses of debauchery and wickedness; where pillage
+and murder are engrafted on systems of all-embracing and self-oblivious
+benevolence, and the good of mankind is professed to be pursued with
+bonds of association and covenants of secrecy. Hence, my friend had
+decided without the sanction of experience, had allowed herself to
+wander into untried paths, and had hearkened to positions pregnant with
+destruction and ignominy.
+
+It was not difficult to exhibit in their true light the enormous errors
+of this man, and the danger of prolonging their intercourse. Her assent
+to accompany me to England was readily obtained. Too much despatch could
+not be used; but the disposal of her property must first take place.
+This was necessarily productive of some delay.
+
+I had been made, contrary to inclination, expert in the management of
+all affairs relative to property. My mother's lunacy, subsequent
+disease, and death, had imposed upon me obligations and cares little
+suitable to my sex and age. They could not be eluded or transferred to
+others; and, by degrees, experience enlarged my knowledge and
+familiarized my tasks.
+
+It was agreed that I should visit and inspect my friend's estate in
+Jersey, while she remained in her present abode, to put an end to the
+views and expectations of Ormond, and to make preparation for her
+voyage. We were reconciled to a temporary separation by the necessity
+that prescribed it.
+
+During our residence together, the mind of Constantia was kept in
+perpetual ferment. The second day after my departure, the turbulence of
+her feelings began to subside, and she found herself at leisure to
+pursue those measures which her present situation prescribed.
+
+The time prefixed by Ormond for the termination of his absence had
+nearly arrived. Her resolutions respecting this man, lately formed, now
+occurred to her. Her heart drooped as she revolved the necessity of
+disuniting their fates; but that this disunion was proper could not
+admit of doubt. How information of her present views might be most
+satisfactorily imparted to him, was a question not instantly decided.
+She reflected on the impetuosity of his character, and conceived that
+her intentions might be most conveniently unfolded in a letter. This
+letter she immediately sat down to write. Just then the door opened, and
+Ormond entered the apartment.
+
+She was somewhat, and for a moment, startled by this abrupt and
+unlooked-for entrance. Yet she greeted him with pleasure. Her greeting
+was received with coldness. A second glance at his countenance informed
+her that his mind was somewhat discomposed.
+
+Folding his hands on his breast, ho stalked to the window and looked up
+at the moon. Presently he withdrew his gaze from this object, and fixed
+it upon Constantia. He spoke, but his words were produced by a kind of
+effort.
+
+"Fit emblem," he exclaimed, "of human versatility! One impediment is
+gone. I hoped it was the only one. But no! the removal of that merely
+made room for another. Let this be removed. Well, fate will interplace a
+third. All our toils will thus be frustrated, and the ruin will finally
+redound upon our heads." There he stopped.
+
+This strain could not be interpreted by Constantia. She smiled, and,
+without noticing his incoherences, proceeded to inquire into his
+adventures during their separation. He listened to her, but his eyes,
+fixed upon hers, and his solemnity of aspect, were immovable. When she
+paused, he seated himself close to her, and, grasping her hand with a
+vehemence that almost pained her, said,--
+
+"Look at me; steadfastly. Can you read my thoughts? Can your discernment
+reach the bounds of my knowledge and the bottom of my purposes? Catch
+you not a view of the monsters that are starting into birth _here_?"
+(and he put his left hand to his forehead.) "But you cannot. Should I
+paint them to you verbally, you would call me jester or deceiver. What
+pity that you have not instruments for piercing into thoughts!"
+
+"I presume," said Constantia, affecting cheerfulness which she did not
+feel, "such instruments would be useless to me. You never scruple to say
+what you think. Your designs are no sooner conceived than they are
+expressed. All you know, all you wish, and all you purpose, are known
+to others as soon as to yourself. No scruples of decorum, no foresight
+of consequences, are obstacles in your way."
+
+"True," replied he; "all obstacles are trampled under foot but one."
+
+"What is the insuperable one?"
+
+"Incredulity in him that hears. I must not say what will not be
+credited. I must not relate feats and avow schemes, when my hearer will
+say, 'Those feats were never performed; these schemes are not yours.' I
+care not if the truth of my tenets and the practicability of my purposes
+be denied. Still, I will openly maintain them; but when my assertions
+will themselves be disbelieved, when it is denied that I adopt the creed
+and project the plans which I affirm to be adopted and projected by me,
+it is needless to affirm.
+
+"To-morrow I mean to ascertain the height of the lunar mountains by
+travelling to the top of them. Then I will station myself in the track
+of the last comet, and wait till its circumvolution suffers me to leap
+upon it; then, by walking on its surface, I will ascertain whether it be
+hot enough to burn my soles. Do you believe that this can be done?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Do you believe, in consequence of my assertion, that I design to do
+this, and that, in my apprehension, it is easy to be done?"
+
+"Not unless I previously believe you to be lunatic."
+
+"Then why should I assert my purposes? Why speak, when the hearer will
+infer nothing from my speech but that I am either lunatic or liar?"
+
+"In that predicament, silence is best."
+
+"In that predicament I now stand. I am not going to unfold myself. Just
+now, I pitied thee for want of eyes. 'Twas a foolish compassion. Thou
+art happy, because thou seest not an inch before thee or behind." Here
+he was for a moment buried in thought; then, breaking from his reverie,
+he said, "So your father is dead?"
+
+"True," said Constantia, endeavouring to suppress her rising emotions;
+"he is no more. It is so recent an event that I imagined you a stranger
+to it."
+
+"False imagination! Thinkest thou I would refrain from knowing what so
+nearly concerns us both? Perhaps your opinion of my ignorance extends
+beyond this. Perhaps I know not your fruitless search for a picture.
+Perhaps I neither followed you nor led you to a being called Sophia
+Courtland. I was not present at the meeting. I am unapprized of the
+effects of your romantic passion for each other. I did not witness the
+rapturous effusions and inexorable counsels of the newcomer. I know not
+the contents of the letter which you are preparing to write."
+
+As he spoke this, the accents of Ormond gradually augmented in
+vehemence. His countenance bespoke a deepening inquietude and growing
+passion. He stopped at the mention of the letter, because his voice was
+overpowered by emotion. This pause afforded room for the astonishment of
+Constantia. Her interviews and conversations with me took place at
+seasons of general repose, when all doors were fast and avenues shut, in
+the midst of silence, and in the bosom of retirement. The theme of our
+discourse was, commonly, too sacred for any ears but our own;
+disclosures were of too intimate and delicate a nature for any but a
+female audience; they were too injurious to the fame and peace of Ormond
+for him to be admitted to partake of them: yet his words implied a full
+acquaintance with recent events, and with purposes and deliberations
+shrouded, as we imagined, in impenetrable secrecy.
+
+As soon as Constantia recovered from the confusion of these thoughts,
+she eagerly questioned him:--"What do you know? How do you know what has
+happened, or what is intended?"
+
+"Poor Constantia!" he exclaimed, in a tone bitter and sarcastic. "How
+hopeless is thy ignorance! To enlighten thee is past my power. What
+do I know? Every thing. Not a tittle has escaped me. Thy letter is
+superfluous; I know its contents before they are written. I was
+to be told that a soldier and a traveller, a man who refused his
+faith to dreams, and his homage to shadows, merited only scorn and
+forgetfulness. That thy affections and person were due to another; that
+intercourse between us was henceforth to cease; that preparation was
+making for a voyage to Britain, and that Ormond was to walk to his grave
+alone!"
+
+In spite of harsh tones and inflexible features, these words were
+accompanied with somewhat that betrayed a mind full of discord and
+agony. Constantia's astonishment was mingled with dejection. The
+discovery of a passion deeper and less curable than she suspected--the
+perception of embarrassments and difficulties in the path which she had
+chosen, that had not previously occurred to her--threw her mind into
+anxious suspense.
+
+The measures she had previously concerted were still approved. To part
+from Ormond was enjoined by every dictate of discretion and duty. An
+explanation of her motives and views could not take place more
+seasonably than at present. Every consideration of justice to herself
+and humanity to Ormond made it desirable that this interview should be
+the last. By inexplicable means, he had gained a knowledge of her
+intentions. It was expedient, therefore, to state them with clearness
+and force. In what words this was to be done, was the subject of
+momentary deliberation.
+
+Her thoughts were discerned, and her speech anticipated, by her
+companion:--"Why droopest thou, and why thus silent, Constantia? The
+secret of thy fate will never be detected. Till thy destiny be finished,
+it will not be the topic of a single fear. But not for thyself, but me,
+art thou concerned. Thou dreadest, yet determinest, to confirm my
+predictions of thy voyage to Europe and thy severance from me.
+
+"Dismiss thy inquietudes on that score. What misery thy scorn and thy
+rejection are able to inflict is inflicted already. Thy decision was
+known to me as soon as it was formed. Thy motives were known. Not an
+argument or plea of thy counsellor, not a syllable of her invective, not
+a sound of her persuasive rhetoric, escaped my hearing. I know thy
+decree to be immutable. As my doubts, so my wishes have taken their
+flight. Perhaps, in the depth of thy ignorance, it was supposed that I
+should struggle to reverse thy purpose by menaces or supplications; that
+I should boast of the cruelty with which I should avenge an imaginary
+wrong upon myself. No. All is very well. Go. Not a whisper of objection
+or reluctance shalt thou hear from me."
+
+"If I could think," said Constantia, with tremulous hesitation, "that
+you part from me without anger; that you see the rectitude of my
+proceeding--"
+
+"Anger! Rectitude! I pr'ythee, peace. I know thou art going.--I know
+that all objection to thy purpose would be vain. Thinkest thou that thy
+stay, undictated by love, the mere fruit of compassion, would afford me
+pleasure or crown my wishes? No. I am not so dastardly a wretch. There
+was something in thy power to bestow, but thy will accords not with thy
+power. I merit not the boon, and thou refusest it. I am content."
+
+Here Ormond fixed more significant eyes upon her. "Poor Constantia!" he
+continued. "Shall I warn thee of the danger that awaits thee? For what
+end? To elude it is impossible. It will come, and thou, perhaps, wilt be
+unhappy. Foresight that enables not to shun, only precreates, the evil.
+
+"Come it will. Though future, it knows not the empire of contingency. An
+inexorable and immutable decree enjoins it. Perhaps it is thy nature to
+meet with calmness what cannot be shunned. Perhaps, when it is past, thy
+reason will perceive its irrevocable nature, and restore thee to peace.
+Such is the conduct of the wise; but such, I fear, the education of
+Constantia Dudley will debar her from pursuing.
+
+"Fain would I regard it as the test of thy wisdom. I look upon thy past
+life. All the forms of genuine adversity have beset thy youth. Poverty,
+disease, servile labour, a criminal and hapless parent, have been evils
+which thou hast not ungracefully sustained. An absent friend and
+murdered father were added to thy list of woes, and here thy courage was
+deficient. Thy soul was proof against substantial misery, but sunk into
+helpless cowardice at the sight of phantoms.
+
+"One more disaster remains. To call it by its true name would be useless
+or pernicious. Useless, because thou wouldst pronounce its occurrence
+impossible; pernicious, because, if its possibility were granted, the
+omen would distract thee with fear. How shall I describe it? Is it loss
+of fame? No. The deed will be unwitnessed by a human creature. Thy
+reputation will be spotless, for nothing will be done by thee unsuitable
+to the tenor of thy past life. Calumny will not be heard to whisper. All
+that know thee will be lavish of their eulogies as ever. Their eulogies
+will be as justly merited. Of this merit thou wilt entertain as just and
+as adequate conceptions as now.
+
+"It is no repetition of the evils thou hast already endured; it is
+neither drudgery, nor sickness, nor privation of friends. Strange
+perverseness of human reason! It is an evil; it will be thought upon
+with agony; it will close up all the sources of pleasurable
+recollection; it will exterminate hope; it will endear oblivion, and
+push thee into an untimely grave. Yet to grasp it is impossible. The
+moment we inspect it nearly, it vanishes. Thy claims to human
+approbation and divine applause will be undiminished and unaltered by
+it. The testimony of approving conscience will have lost none of its
+explicitness and energy. Yet thou wilt feed upon sighs; thy tears will
+flow without remission; thou wilt grow enamoured of death, and perhaps
+wilt anticipate the stroke of disease.
+
+"Yet perhaps my prediction is groundless as my knowledge. Perhaps thy
+discernment will avail to make thee wise and happy. Perhaps thou wilt
+perceive thy privilege of sympathetic and intellectual activity to be
+untouched. Heaven grant the non-fulfilment of my prophecy, thy
+disenthralment from error, and the perpetuation of thy happiness."
+
+Saying this, Ormond withdrew. His words were always accompanied with
+gestures and looks and tones that fastened the attention of the hearer;
+but the terms of his present discourse afforded, independently of
+gesticulation and utterance, sufficient motives to attention and
+remembrance. He was gone, but his image was contemplated by Constantia;
+his words still rung in her ears.
+
+The letter she designed to compose was rendered, by this interview,
+unnecessary. Meanings of which she and her friend alone were conscious
+were discovered by Ormond, through some other medium than words; yet
+that was impossible. A being unendowed with preternatural attributes
+could gain the information which this man possessed, only by the
+exertion of his senses.
+
+All human precautions had been used to baffle the attempts of any secret
+witness. She recalled to mind the circumstances in which conversations
+with her friend had taken place. All had been retirement, secrecy, and
+silence. The hours usually dedicated to sleep had been devoted to this
+better purpose. Much had been said, in a voice low and scarcely louder
+than a whisper. To have overheard it at the distance of a few feet was
+apparently impossible.
+
+Their conversations had not been recorded by her. It could not be
+believed that this had been done by Sophia Courtland. Had Ormond and her
+friend met during the interval that had elapsed between her separation
+from the latter and her meeting with the former? Human events are
+conjoined by links imperceptible to keenest eyes. Of Ormond's means of
+information she was wholly unapprized. Perhaps accident would some time
+unfold them. One thing was incontestable:--that her schemes and her
+reasons for adopting them were known to him.
+
+What unforeseen effects had that knowledge produced! In what ambiguous
+terms had he couched his prognostics of some mighty evil that awaited
+her! He had given a terrible but contradictory description of her
+destiny. An event was to happen, akin to no calamity which she had
+already endured, disconnected with all which the imagination of man is
+accustomed to deprecate, capable of urging her to suicide, and yet of a
+kind which left it undecided whether she would regard it with
+indifference.
+
+What reliance should she place upon prophetic incoherences thus wild?
+What precautions should she take against a danger thus inscrutable and
+imminent?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+These incidents and reflections were speedily transmitted to me. I had
+always believed the character and machinations of Ormond to be worthy of
+caution and fear. His means of information I did not pretend, and
+thought it useless, to investigate. We cannot hide our actions and
+thoughts from one of powerful sagacity, whom the detection sufficiently
+interests to make him use all the methods of detection in his power. The
+study of concealment is, in all cases, fruitless or hurtful. All that
+duty enjoins is to design and to execute nothing which may not be
+approved by a divine and omniscient Observer. Human scrutiny is neither
+to be solicited nor shunned. Human approbation or censure can never be
+exempt from injustice, because our limited perceptions debar us from a
+thorough knowledge of any actions and motives but our own.
+
+On reviewing what had passed between Constantia and me, I recollected
+nothing incompatible with purity and rectitude. That Ormond was apprized
+of all that had passed, I by no means inferred from the tenor of his
+conversation with Constantia; nor, if this had been incontestably
+proved, should I have experienced any trepidation or anxiety on that
+account.
+
+His obscure and indirect menaces of evil were of more importance. His
+discourse on this topic seemed susceptible only of two constructions.
+Either he intended some fatal mischief, and was willing to torment her
+by fears, while he concealed from her the nature of her danger, that he
+might hinder her from guarding her safety by suitable precautions; or,
+being hopeless of rendering her propitious to his wishes, his malice was
+satisfied with leaving her a legacy of apprehension and doubt.
+Constantia's unacquaintance with the doctrines of that school in which
+Ormond was probably instructed led her to regard the conduct of this man
+with more curiosity and wonder than fear. She saw nothing but a
+disposition to sport with her ignorance and bewilder her with doubts.
+
+I do not believe myself destitute of courage. Rightly to estimate the
+danger and encounter it with firmness are worthy of a rational being;
+but to place our security in thoughtlessness and blindness is only less
+ignoble than cowardice. I could not forget the proofs of violence which
+accompanied the death of Mr. Dudley. I could not overlook, in the recent
+conversation with Constantia, Ormond's allusion to her murdered father.
+It was possible that the nature of this death had been accidentally
+imparted to him; but it was likewise possible that his was the knowledge
+of one who performed the act.
+
+The enormity of this deed appeared by no means incongruous with the
+sentiments of Ormond. Human life is momentous or trivial in our eyes,
+according to the course which our habits and opinions have taken.
+Passion greedily accepts, and habit readily offers, the sacrifice of
+another's life, and reason obeys the impulse of education and desire.
+
+A youth of eighteen, a volunteer in a Russian army encamped in
+Bessarabia, made prey of a Tartar girl, found in the field of a recent
+battle. Conducting her to his quarters, he met a friend, who, on some
+pretence, claimed the victim. From angry words they betook themselves to
+swords. A combat ensued, in which the first claimant ran his antagonist
+through the body. He then bore his prize unmolested away, and, having
+exercised brutality of one kind upon the helpless victim, stabbed her to
+the heart, as an offering to the _manes_ of Sarsefield, the friend whom
+he had slain. Next morning, willing more signally to expiate his guilt,
+he rushed alone upon a troop of Turkish foragers, and brought away five
+heads, suspended, by their gory locks, to his horse's mane. These he
+cast upon the grave of Sarsefield, and conceived himself fully to have
+expiated yesterday's offence. In reward for his prowess, the general
+gave him a commission in the Cossack troops. This youth was Ormond; and
+such is a specimen of his exploits during a military career of eight
+years, in a warfare the most savage and implacable, and, at the same
+time, the most iniquitous and wanton, which history records.
+
+With passions and habits like these, the life of another was a trifling
+sacrifice to vengeance or impatience. How Mr. Dudley had excited the
+resentment of Ormond, by what means the assassin had accomplished his
+intention without awakening alarm or incurring suspicion, it was not for
+me to discover. The inextricability of human events, the imperviousness
+of cunning, and the obduracy of malice, I had frequent occasions to
+remark.
+
+I did not labour to vanquish the security of my friend. As to
+precautions, they were useless. There was no fortress, guarded by
+barriers of stone and iron and watched by sentinels that never slept, to
+which she might retire from his stratagems. If there were such a
+retreat, it would scarcely avail her against a foe circumspect and
+subtle as Ormond.
+
+I pondered on the condition of my friend. I reviewed the incidents of
+her life. I compared her lot with that of others. I could not but
+discover a sort of incurable malignity in her fate. I felt as if it were
+denied to her to enjoy a long life or permanent tranquillity. I asked
+myself what she had done, entitling her to this incessant persecution.
+Impatience and murmuring took place of sorrow and fear in my heart. When
+I reflected that all human agency was merely subservient to a divine
+purpose, I fell into fits of accusation and impiety.
+
+This injustice was transient, and soberer views convinced me that every
+scheme, comprising the whole, must be productive of partial and
+temporary evil. The sufferings of Constantia were limited to a moment;
+they were the unavoidable appendages of terrestrial existence; they
+formed the only avenue to wisdom, and the only claim to uninterrupted
+fruition and eternal repose in an after-scene.
+
+The course of my reflections, and the issue to which they led, were
+unforeseen by myself. Fondly as I doted upon this woman, methought I
+could resign her to the grave without a murmur or a tear. While my
+thoughts were calmed by resignation, and my fancy occupied with nothing
+but the briefness of that space and evanescence of that time which
+severs the living from the dead, I contemplated, almost with
+complacency, a violent or untimely close to her existence.
+
+This loftiness of mind could not always be accomplished or constantly
+maintained. One effect of my fears was to hasten my departure to Europe.
+There existed no impediment but the want of a suitable conveyance. In
+the first packet that should leave America, it was determined to secure
+a passage. Mr. Melbourne consented to take charge of Constantia's
+property, and, after the sale of it, to transmit to her the money that
+should thence arise.
+
+Meanwhile, I was anxious that Constantia should leave her present abode
+and join me in New York. She willingly adopted this arrangement, but
+conceived it necessary to spend a few days at her house in Jersey. She
+could reach the latter place without much deviation from the straight
+road, and she was desirous of resurveying a spot where many of her
+infantile days had been spent.
+
+This house and domain I have already mentioned to have once belonged to
+Mr. Dudley. It was selected with the judgement and adorned with the taste
+of a disciple of the schools of Florence and Vicenza. In his view,
+cultivation was subservient to the picturesque, and a mansion was
+erected, eminent for nothing but chastity of ornaments and simplicity of
+structure. The massive parts were of stone; the outer surfaces were
+smooth, snow-white, and diversified by apertures and cornices, in which
+a cement uncommonly tenacious was wrought into proportions the most
+correct and forms the most graceful. The floors, walls, and ceilings,
+consisted of a still more exquisitely-tempered substance, and were
+painted by Mr. Dudley's own hand. All appendages of this building, as
+seats, tables, and cabinets, were modelled by the owner's particular
+direction, and in a manner scrupulously classical.
+
+He had scarcely entered on the enjoyment of this splendid possession,
+when it was ravished away. No privation was endured with more impatience
+than this; but, happily, it was purchased by one who left Mr. Dudley's
+arrangements unmolested, and who shortly after conveyed it entire to
+Ormond. By him it was finally appropriated to the use of Helena Cleves,
+and now, by a singular contexture of events, it had reverted to those
+hands in which the death of the original proprietor, if no other change
+had been made in his condition, would have left it. The farm still
+remained in the tenure of a German emigrant, who held it partly on
+condition of preserving the garden and mansion in safety and in perfect
+order.
+
+This retreat was now revisited by Constantia, after an interval of four
+years. Autumn had made some progress, but the aspect of nature was, so
+to speak, more significant than at any other season. She was agreeably
+accommodated under the tenant's roof, and found a nameless pleasure in
+traversing spaces in which every object prompted an endless train of
+recollections.
+
+Her sensations were not foreseen. They led to a state of mind
+inconsistent, in some degree, with the projects adopted in obedience to
+the suggestions of a friend. Every thing in this scene had been created
+and modelled by the genius of her father. It was a kind of fane,
+sanctified by his imaginary presence.
+
+To consign the fruits of his industry and invention to foreign and
+unsparing hands seemed a kind of sacrilege, for which she almost feared
+that the dead would rise to upbraid her. Those images which bind us to
+our natal soil, to the abode of our innocent and careless youth, were
+recalled to her fancy by the scenes which she now beheld. These were
+enforced by considerations of the dangers which attended her voyage from
+storms and from enemies, and from the tendency to revolution and war
+which seemed to actuate all the nations of Europe. Her native country
+was by no means exempt from similar tendencies, but these evils were
+less imminent, and its manners and government, in their present
+modifications, were unspeakably more favourable to the dignity and
+improvement of the human race than those which prevailed in any part of
+the ancient world.
+
+My solicitations and my obligation to repair to England overweighed her
+objections, but her new reflections led her to form new determinations
+with regard to this part of her property. She concluded to retain
+possession, and hoped that some future event would allow her to return
+to this favourite spot without forfeiture of my society. An abode of
+some years in Europe would more eminently qualify her for the enjoyment
+of retirement and safety in her native country. The time that should
+elapse before her embarkation, she was desirous of passing among the
+shades of this romantic retreat.
+
+I was by no means reconciled to this proceeding. I loved my friend too
+well to endure any needless separation without repining. In addition to
+this, the image of Ormond haunted my thoughts, and gave birth to
+incessant but indefinable fears. I believed that her safety would very
+little depend upon the nature of her abode, or the number or
+watchfulness of her companions. My nearness to her person would
+frustrate no stratagem, nor promote any other end than my own
+entanglement in the same fold. Still, that I was not apprized each hour
+of her condition, that her state was lonely and sequestered, were
+sources of disquiet, the obvious remedy to which was her coming to New
+York. Preparations for departure were assigned to me, and these required
+my continuance in the city.
+
+Once a week, Laffert, her tenant, visited, for purposes of traffic, the
+city. He was the medium of our correspondence. To him I intrusted a
+letter, in which my dissatisfaction at her absence, and the causes which
+gave it birth, were freely confessed.
+
+The confidence of safety seldom deserted my friend. Since her mysterious
+conversation with Ormond, he had utterly vanished. Previous to that
+interview, his visits or his letters were incessant and punctual; but
+since, no token was given that he existed. Two months had elapsed. He
+gave her no reason to expect a cessation of intercourse. He had parted
+from her with his usual abruptness and informality. She did not conceive
+it incumbent on her to search him out, but she would not have been
+displeased with an opportunity to discuss with him more fully the
+motives of her conduct. This opportunity had been hitherto denied.
+
+Her occupations in her present retreat were, for the most part, dictated
+by caprice or by chance. The mildness of autumn permitted her to ramble,
+during the day, from one rock and one grove to another. There was a
+luxury in musing, and in the sensations which the scenery and silence
+produced, which, in consequence of her long estrangement from them, were
+accompanied with all the attractions of novelty, and from which she
+would not consent to withdraw.
+
+In the evening she usually retired to the mansion, and shut herself up
+in that apartment which, in the original structure of the house, had
+been designed for study, and no part of whose furniture had been removed
+or displaced. It was a kind of closet on the second floor, illuminated
+by a spacious window, through which a landscape of uncommon amplitude
+and beauty was presented to the view. Here the pleasures of the day were
+revived, by recalling and enumerating them in letters to her friend. She
+always quitted this recess with reluctance, and seldom till the night
+was half spent.
+
+One evening she retired hither when the sun had just dipped beneath the
+horizon. Her implements of writing were prepared; but, before the pen
+was assumed, her eyes rested for a moment on the variegated hues which
+were poured out upon the western sky and upon the scene of intermingled
+waters, copses, and fields. The view comprised a part of the road which
+led to this dwelling. It was partially and distantly seen, and the
+passage of horses or men was betokened chiefly by the dust which was
+raised by their footsteps.
+
+A token of this kind now caught her attention. It fixed her eye chiefly
+by the picturesque effect produced by interposing its obscurity between
+her and the splendours which the sun had left. Presently she gained a
+faint view of a man and horse. This circumstance laid no claim to
+attention, and she was withdrawing her eye, when the traveller's
+stopping and dismounting at the gate made her renew her scrutiny. This
+was reinforced by something in the figure and movements of the horseman
+which reminded her of Ormond.
+
+She started from her seat with some degree of palpitation. Whence this
+arose, whether from fear or from joy, or from intermixed emotions, it
+would not be easy to ascertain. Having entered the gate, the visitant,
+remounting his horse, set the animal on full speed. Every moment brought
+him nearer, and added to her first belief. He stopped not till he
+reached the mansion. The person of Ormond was distinctly recognised.
+
+An interview at this dusky and lonely hour, in circumstances so abrupt
+and unexpected, could not fail to surprise, and, in some degree, to
+alarm. The substance of his last conversation was recalled. The evils
+which were darkly and ambiguously predicted thronged to her memory. It
+seemed as if the present moment was to be, in some way, decisive of her
+fate. This visit she did not hesitate to suppose designed for her, but
+somewhat uncommonly momentous must have prompted him to take so long a
+journey.
+
+The rooms on the lower floor were dark, the windows and doors being
+fastened. She had entered the house by the principal door, and this was
+the only one at present unlocked. The room in which she sat was over the
+hall, and the massive door beneath could not be opened without noisy
+signals. The question that occurred to her, by what means Ormond would
+gain admittance to her presence, she supposed would be instantly
+decided. She listened to hear his footsteps on the pavement, or the
+creaking of hinges. The silence, however, continued profound as before.
+
+After a minute's pause, she approached the window more nearly and
+endeavoured to gain a view of the space before the house. She saw
+nothing but the horse, whose bridle was thrown over his neck, and who
+was left at liberty to pick up what scanty herbage the lawn afforded to
+his hunger. The rider had disappeared.
+
+It now occurred to her that this visit had a purpose different from that
+which she at first conjectured. It was easily conceived that Ormond was
+unacquainted with her residence at this spot. The knowledge could only
+be imparted to him by indirect or illicit means. That these means had
+been employed by him, she was by no means authorized to infer from the
+silence and distance he had lately maintained. But if an interview with
+her were not the purpose of his coming, how should she interpret it?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+While occupied with these reflections, the light hastily disappeared,
+and darkness, rendered, by a cloudy atmosphere, uncommonly intense,
+succeeded. She had the means of lighting a lamp that hung against the
+wall, but had been too much immersed in thought to notice the deepening
+of the gloom. Recovering from her reverie, she looked around her with
+some degree of trepidation, and prepared to strike a spark that would
+enable her to light her lamp.
+
+She had hitherto indulged an habitual indifference to danger. Now the
+presence of Ormond, the unknown purpose that led him hither, and the
+defencelessness of her condition, inspired her with apprehensions to
+which she had hitherto been a stranger. She had been accustomed to pass
+many nocturnal hours in this closet. Till now, nothing had occurred that
+made her enter it with circumspection or continue in it with reluctance.
+
+Her sensations were no longer tranquil. Each minute that she spent in
+this recess appeared to multiply her hazards. To linger here appeared to
+her the height of culpable temerity. She hastily resolved to return to
+the farmer's dwelling, and, on the morrow, to repair to New York. For
+this end she was desirous to produce a light. The materials were at
+hand.
+
+She lifted her hand to strike the flint, when her ear caught a sound
+which betokened the opening of the door that led into the next
+apartment. Her motion was suspended, and she listened as well as a
+throbbing heart would permit. That Ormond's was the hand that opened,
+was the first suggestion of her fears. The motives of this unseasonable
+entrance could not be reconciled with her safety. He had given no
+warning of his approach, and the door was opened with tardiness and
+seeming caution.
+
+Sounds continued, of which no distinct conception could be obtained, or
+the cause that produced them assigned. The floors of every apartment
+being composed, like the walls and ceiling, of cement, footsteps were
+rendered almost undistinguishable. It was plain, however, that some one
+approached her own door.
+
+The panic and confusion that now invaded her was owing to surprise, and
+to the singularity of her situation. The mansion was desolate and
+lonely. It was night. She was immersed in darkness. She had not the
+means, and was unaccustomed to the office, of repelling personal
+injuries. What injuries she had reason to dread, who was the agent, and
+what were his motives, were subjects Of vague and incoherent meditation.
+
+Meanwhile, low and imperfect sounds, that had in them more of inanimate
+than human, assailed her ear. Presently they ceased. An inexplicable
+fear deterred her from calling. Light would have exercised a friendly
+influence. This it was in her power to produce, but not without motion
+and noise; and these, by occasioning the discovery of her being in the
+closet, might possibly enhance her danger.
+
+Conceptions like these were unworthy of the mind of Constantia. An
+interval of silence succeeded, interrupted only by the whistling of the
+blast without. It was sufficient for the restoration of her courage. She
+blushed at the cowardice which had trembled at a sound. She considered
+that Ormond might, indeed, be near, but that he was probably unconscious
+of her situation. His coming was not with the circumspection of an
+enemy. He might be acquainted with the place of her retreat, and had
+come to obtain an interview, with no clandestine or mysterious purposes.
+The noises she had heard had, doubtless, proceeded from the next
+apartment, but might be produced by some harmless or vagrant creature.
+
+These considerations restored her tranquillity. They enabled her,
+deliberately, to create a light, but they did not dissuade her from
+leaving the house. Omens of evil seemed to be connected with this
+solitary and darksome abode. Besides, Ormond had unquestionably entered
+upon this scene It could not be doubted that she was the object of his
+visit. The farm-house was a place of meeting more suitable and safe than
+any other. Thither, therefore, she determined immediately to return.
+
+The closet had but one door, and this led into the chamber where the
+sounds had arisen. Through this chamber, therefore, she was obliged to
+pass, in order to reach the staircase, which terminated in the hall
+below.
+
+Bearing the light in her left hand, she withdrew the bolt of the door
+and opened. In spite of courageous efforts, she opened with
+unwillingness, and shuddered to throw a glance forward or advance a step
+into the room. This was not needed, to reveal to her the cause of her
+late disturbance. Her eye instantly lighted on the body of a man,
+supine, motionless, stretched on the floor, close to the door through
+which she was about to pass.
+
+A spectacle like this was qualified to startle her. She shrunk back, and
+fixed a more steadfast eye upon the prostrate person. There was no mark
+of blood or of wounds, but there was something in the attitude more
+significant of death than of sleep. His face rested on the floor, and
+his ragged locks concealed what part of his visage was not hidden by his
+posture. His garb was characterized by fashionable elegance, but was
+polluted with dust.
+
+The image that first occurred to her was that of Ormond. This instantly
+gave place to another, which was familiar to her apprehension. It was at
+first too indistinctly seen to suggest a name. She continued to gaze and
+to be lost in fearful astonishment. Was this the person whose entrance
+had been overheard, and who had dragged himself hither to die at her
+door? Yet, in that case, would not groans and expiring efforts have
+testified his condition and invoked her succour? Was he not brought
+hither in the arms of his assassin? She mused upon the possible motives
+that induced some one thus to act, and upon the connection that might
+subsist between her destiny and that of the dead.
+
+Her meditations, however fruitless in other respects, could not fail to
+show her the propriety of hastening from this spot. To scrutinize the
+form or face of the dead was a task to which her courage was unequal.
+Suitably accompanied and guarded, she would not scruple to return and
+ascertain, by the most sedulous examination, the cause of this ominous
+event.
+
+She stepped over the breathless corpse, and hurried to the staircase. It
+became her to maintain the command of her muscles and joints, and to
+proceed without faltering or hesitation. Scarcely had she reached the
+entrance of the hall, when, casting anxious looks forward, she beheld a
+human figure. No scrutiny was requisite to inform her that this was
+Ormond.
+
+She stopped. He approached her with looks and gestures placid but
+solemn. There was nothing in his countenance rugged or malignant. On the
+contrary, there were tokens of compassion.
+
+"So," said he, "I expected to meet you. Alight, gleaming from the
+window, marked you out. This and Laffert's directions have guided me."
+
+"What," said Constantia, with discomposure in her accent, "was your
+motive for seeking me?"
+
+"Have you forgotten," said Ormond, "what passed at our last interview?
+The evil that I then predicted is at hand. Perhaps you were incredulous;
+you accounted me a madman or deceiver; now I am come to witness the
+fulfilment of my words and the completion of your destiny. To rescue you
+I have not come: that is not within the compass of human powers.
+
+"Poor Constantia," he continued, in tones that manifested genuine
+sympathy, "look upon thyself as lost. The toils that beset thee are
+inextricable. Summon up thy patience to endure the evil. Now will the
+last and heaviest trial betide thy fortitude. I could weep for thee, if
+my manly nature would permit. This is the scene of thy calamity, and
+this the hour."
+
+These words were adapted to excite curiosity mingled with terror.
+Ormond's deportment was of an unexampled tenor, as well as that evil
+which he had so ambiguously predicted. He offered no protection from
+danger, and yet gave no proof of being himself an agent or auxiliary.
+After a minute's pause, Constantia, recovering a firm tone, said,--
+
+"Mr. Ormond, your recent deportment but ill accords with your
+professions of sincerity and plain dealing. What your purpose is, or
+whether you have any purpose, I am at a loss to conjecture. Whether you
+most deserve censure or ridicule, is a point which you afford me not the
+means of deciding, and to which, unless on your own account, I am
+indifferent. If you are willing to be more explicit, or if there be any
+topic on which you wish further to converse, I will not refuse your
+company to Laffert's dwelling. Longer to remain here would be indiscreet
+and absurd."
+
+So saying, she motioned towards the door. Ormond was passive, and seemed
+indisposed to prevent her departure, till she laid her hand upon the
+lock. He then, without moving from his place, exclaimed,--
+
+"Stay! Must this meeting, which fate ordains to be the last, be so
+short? Must a time and place so suitable for what remains to be said and
+done be neglected or misused? No. You charge me with duplicity, and deem
+my conduct either ridiculous or criminal. I have stated my reasons for
+concealment, but these have failed to convince you. Well, here is now an
+end to doubt. All ambiguities are preparing to vanish."
+
+When Ormond began to speak, Constantia paused to hearken to him. His
+vehemence was not of that nature which threatened to obstruct her
+passage. It was by entreaty that he apparently endeavoured to detain her
+steps, and not by violence. Hence arose her patience to listen. He
+continued:--
+
+"Constantia! thy father is dead. Art thou not desirous of detecting the
+author of his fate? Will it afford thee no consolation to know that the
+deed is punished? Wilt thou suffer me to drag the murderer to thy feet?
+Thy justice will be gratified by this sacrifice. Somewhat will be due to
+him who avenged thy wrong in the blood of the perpetrator. What sayest
+thou? Grant me thy permission, and in a moment I will drag him hither."
+
+These words called up the image of the person whose corpse she had
+lately seen. It was readily conceived that to him Ormond alluded; but
+this was the assassin of her father, and his crime had been detected and
+punished by Ormond! These images had no other effect than to urge her
+departure: she again applied her hand to the lock, and said,--
+
+"This scene must not be prolonged. My father's death I desire not to
+hear explained or to see revenged, but whatever information you are
+willing or able to communicate must be deferred."
+
+"Nay," interrupted Ormond, with augmented vehemence, "art thou equally
+devoid of curiosity and justice? Thinkest thou that the enmity which
+bereft thy father of life will not seek thy own? There are evils which I
+cannot prevent thee from enduring, but there are, likewise, ills which
+my counsel will enable thee and thy friend to shun. Save me from
+witnessing thy death. Thy father's destiny is sealed; all that remained
+was to punish his assassin; but thou and thy Sophia still live. Why
+should ye perish by a like stroke?"
+
+This intimation was sufficient to arrest the steps of Constantia. She
+withdrew her hand from the door, and fixed eyes of the deepest anxiety
+on Ormond:--"What mean you? How am I to understand--"
+
+"Ah!" said Ormond, "I see thou wilt consent to stay. Thy detention shall
+not be long. Remain where thou art during one moment,--merely while I
+drag hither thy enemy and show thee a visage which thou wilt not be slow
+to recognise." Saying this, he hastily ascended the staircase, and
+quickly passed beyond her sight.
+
+Deportment thus mysterious could not fail of bewildering her thoughts.
+There was somewhat in the looks and accents of Ormond, different from
+former appearances; tokens of a hidden purpose and a smothered meaning
+were perceptible,--a mixture of the inoffensive and the lawless, which,
+added to the loneliness and silence that encompassed her, produced a
+faltering emotion. Her curiosity was overpowered by her fear, and the
+resolution was suddenly conceived of seizing this opportunity to escape.
+
+A third time she put her hand to the lock and attempted to open. The
+effort was ineffectual. The door that was accustomed to obey the
+gentlest touch was now immovable. She had lately unlocked and passed
+through it. Her eager inspection convinced her that the principal bolt
+was still withdrawn, but a small one was now perceived, of whose
+existence she had not been apprized, and over which her key had no
+power.
+
+Now did she first harbour a fear that was intelligible in its dictates.
+Now did she first perceive herself sinking in the toils of some lurking
+enemy. Hope whispered that this foe was not Ormond. His conduct had
+bespoken no willingness to put constraint upon her steps. He talked not
+as if he was aware of this obstruction, and yet his seeming acquiescence
+might have flowed from a knowledge that she had no power to remove
+beyond his reach.
+
+He warned her of danger to her life, of which he was her self-appointed
+rescuer. His counsel was to arm her with sufficient caution; the peril
+that awaited her was imminent; this was the time and place of its
+occurrence, and here she was compelled to remain, till the power that
+fastened would condescend to loose the door. There were other avenues to
+the hall. These were accustomed to be locked; but Ormond had found
+access, and, if all continued fast, it was incontestable that he was the
+author of this new impediment.
+
+The other avenues were hastily examined. All were bolted and locked. The
+first impulse led her to call for help from without; but the mansion was
+distant from Laffert's habitation. This spot was wholly unfrequented. No
+passenger was likely to be stationed where her call could be heard.
+Besides, this forcible detention might operate for a short time, and be
+attended with no mischievous consequences. Whatever was to come, it was
+her duty to collect her courage and encounter it.
+
+Tho steps of Ormond above now gave tokens of his approach. Vigilant
+observance of this man was all that her situation permitted. A vehement
+effort restored her to some degree of composure. Her stifled
+palpitations allowed her steadfastly to notice him as he now descended
+the stairs, bearing a lifeless body in his arms. "There!" said he, as he
+cast it at her feet; "whose countenance is that? Who would imagine that
+features like those belonged to an assassin and impostor?"
+
+Closed eyelids and fallen muscles could not hide from her lineaments so
+often seen. She shrunk back and exclaimed, "Thomas Craig!"
+
+A pause succeeded, in which she alternately gazed at the countenance of
+this unfortunate wretch and at Ormond. At length, the latter
+exclaimed,--
+
+"Well, my girl, hast thou examined him? Dost thou recognise a friend or
+an enemy?"
+
+"I know him well: but how came this? What purpose brought him hither?
+Who was the author of his fate?"
+
+"Have I not already told thee that Ormond was his own avenger and thine?
+To thee and to me he has been a robber. To him thy father is indebted
+for the loss not only of property but life. Did crimes like these merit
+a less punishment? And what recompense is due to him whose vigilance
+pursued him hither and made him pay for his offences with his blood?
+What benefit have I received at thy hand to authorize me, for thy sake,
+to take away his life?"
+
+"No benefit received from me," said Constantia, "would justify such an
+act. I should have abhorred myself for annexing to my benefits so bloody
+a condition. It calls for no gratitude or recompense. Its suitable
+attendant is remorse. That he is a thief, I know but too well; that my
+father died by his hand is incredible. No motives or means--"
+
+"Why so?" interrupted Ormond. "Does not sleep seal up the senses? Cannot
+closets be unlocked at midnight? Cannot adjoining houses communicate by
+doors? Cannot these doors be hidden from suspicion by a sheet of
+canvas?"
+
+These words were of startling and abundant import. They reminded her of
+circumstances in her father's chamber, which sufficiently explained the
+means by which his life was assailed. The closet, and its canvas-covered
+wall; the adjoining house untenanted and shut up--but this house, though
+unoccupied, belonged to Ormond. From the inferences which flowed hence,
+her attention was withdrawn by her companion, who continued:--
+
+"Do these means imply the interposal of a miracle? His motives? What
+scruples can be expected from a man inured from infancy to cunning and
+pillage? Will he abstain from murder when urged by excruciating poverty,
+by menaces of persecution, by terror of expiring on the gallows?"
+
+Tumultuous suspicions were now awakened in the mind of Constantia. Her
+faltering voice scarcely allowed her to ask, "How know _you_ that Craig
+was thus guilty?--that these were his incitements and means?"
+
+Ormond's solemnity now gave place to a tone of sarcasm and looks of
+exultation:--"Poor Constantia! Thou art still pestered with incredulity
+and doubts! My veracity is still in question! My knowledge, girl, is
+infallible. That these were his means of access I cannot be ignorant,
+for I pointed them out. He was urged by these motives, for they were
+stated and enforced by me. His was the deed, for I stood beside him when
+it was done."
+
+These, indeed, were terms that stood in no need of further explanation.
+The veil that shrouded this formidable being was lifted high enough to
+make him be regarded with inexplicable horror. What his future acts
+should be, how his omens of ill were to be solved, were still involved
+in uncertainty.
+
+In the midst of fears for her own safety, by which Constantia was now
+assailed, the image of her father was revived; keen regret and vehement
+upbraiding were conjured up.
+
+"Craig, then, was the instrument, and yours the instigation, that
+destroyed my father! In what had he offended you? What cause had he
+given for resentment?"
+
+"Cause!" replied he, with impetuous accents. "Resentment! None. My
+motive was benevolent; my deed conferred a benefit. I gave him sight and
+took away his life, from motives equally wise. Know you not that Ormond
+was fool enough to set value on the affections of a woman? These were
+sought with preposterous anxiety and endless labour. Among other
+facilitators of his purpose, he summoned gratitude to his aid. To
+snatch you from poverty, to restore his sight to your father, were
+expected to operate as incentives to love.
+
+"But here I was the dupe of error. A thousand prejudices stood in my
+way. These, provided our intercourse were not obstructed, I hoped to
+subdue. The rage of innovation seized your father: this, blended with a
+mortal antipathy to me, made him labour to seduce you from the bosom of
+your peaceful country; to make you enter on a boisterous sea; to visit
+lands where all is havoc and hostility; to snatch you from the influence
+of my arguments.
+
+"This new obstacle I was bound to remove. While revolving the means,
+chance and his evil destiny threw Craig in my way. I soon convinced him
+that his reputation and his life were in my hands. His retention of
+these depended upon my will, on the performance of conditions which I
+prescribed.
+
+"My happiness and yours depended on your concurrence with my wishes.
+Your father's life was an obstacle to your concurrence. For killing him,
+therefore, I may claim your gratitude. His death was a due and
+disinterested offering at the altar of your felicity and mine.
+
+"My deed was not injurious to him. At his age, death, whose coming at
+some period is inevitable, could not be distant. To make it unforeseen
+and brief, and void of pain,--to preclude the torments of a lingering
+malady, a slow and visible descent to the grave,--was the dictate of
+beneficence. But of what value was a continuance of his life? Either you
+would have gone with him to Europe or have stayed at home with me. In
+the first case, his life would have been rapidly consumed by perils and
+cares. In the second, separation from you, and union with me,--a being
+so detestable,--would equally have poisoned his existence.
+
+"Craig's cowardice and crimes made him a pliant and commodious tool. I
+pointed out the way. The unsuspected door which led into the closet of
+your father's chamber was made, by my direction, during the life of
+Helena. By this avenue I was wont to post myself where all your
+conversations could be overheard. By this avenue an entrance and
+retreat were afforded to the agent of my newest purpose.
+
+"Fool that I was! I solaced myself with the belief that all impediments
+were now smoothed, when a new enemy appeared. My folly lasted as long as
+my hope. I saw that to gain your affections, fortified by antiquated
+scruples and obsequious to the guidance of this new monitor, was
+impossible. It is not my way to toil after that which is beyond my
+reach. If the greater good be inaccessible, I learn to be contented with
+the less.
+
+"I have served you with successless sedulity. I have set an engine in
+act to obliterate an obstacle to your felicity, and lay your father at
+rest. Under my guidance, this engine was productive only of good.
+Governed by itself or by another, it will only work you harm. I have,
+therefore, hastened to destroy it. Lo! it is now before you motionless
+and impotent.
+
+"For this complexity of benefit I look for no reward. I am not tired of
+well-doing. Having ceased to labour for an unattainable good, I have
+come hither to possess myself of all that I now crave, and by the same
+deed to afford you an illustrious opportunity to signalize your wisdom
+and your fortitude."
+
+During this speech, the mind of Constantia became more deeply pervaded
+with dread of some overhanging but incomprehensible evil. The strongest
+impulse was to gain a safe asylum, at a distance from this spot and from
+the presence of this extraordinary being. This impulse was followed by
+the recollection that her liberty was taken away, that egress from the
+hall was denied her, and that this restriction might be part of some
+conspiracy of Ormond against her life.
+
+Security from danger like this would be, in the first place, sought, by
+one of Constantia's sex and opinions, in flight. This had been rendered,
+by some fatal chance or by the precautions of her foe, impracticable.
+Stratagem or force was all that remained to elude or disarm her
+adversary. For the contrivance and execution of fraud, all the habits of
+her life and all the maxims of her education had conspired to unfit her.
+Her force of muscles would avail her nothing against the superior
+energy of Ormond.
+
+She remembered that to inflict death was no iniquitous exertion of
+self-defence, and that the penknife which she held in her hand was
+capable of this service. She had used it to remove any lurking
+obstruction in the wards of her key, supposing, for a time, this to be
+the cause of her failing to withdraw the bolt of the door. This resource
+was, indeed, scarcely less disastrous and deplorable than any fate from
+which it could rescue her. Some uncertainty still involved the
+intentions of Ormond. As soon as he paused, she spoke:--
+
+"How am I to understand this prelude? Let me know the full extent of my
+danger,--why it is that I am hindered from leaving this house, and why
+this interview was sought."
+
+"Ah, Constantia, this, indeed, is merely a prelude to a scene that is to
+terminate my influence over thy fate. When this is past I have sworn to
+part with thee forever. Art thou still dubious of my purpose? Art thou
+not a woman? And have I not entreated for thy love and been rejected?
+
+"Canst thou imagine that I aim at thy life? My avowals of love were
+sincere; my passion was vehement and undisguised. It gave dignity and
+value to a gift in thy power, as a woman, to bestow. This has been
+denied. That gift has lost none of its value in my eyes. What thou
+refusest to bestow it is in my power to extort. I came for that end.
+When this end is accomplished, I will restore thee to liberty."
+
+These words were accompanied by looks that rendered all explanation of
+their meaning useless. The evil reserved for her, hitherto obscured by
+half-disclosed and contradictory attributes, was now sufficiently
+apparent. The truth in this respect unveiled itself with the rapidity
+and brightness of an electrical flash.
+
+She was silent. She cast her eyes at the windows and doors. Escape
+through them was hopeless. She looked at those lineaments of Ormond
+which evinced his disdain of supplication and inexorable passions. She
+felt that entreaty and argument would be vain; that all appeals to his
+compassion and benevolence would counteract her purpose, since, in the
+unexampled conformation of this man's mind, these principles were made
+subservient to his most flagitious designs. Considerations of justice
+and pity were made, by a fatal perverseness of reasoning, champions and
+bulwarks of his most atrocious mistakes.
+
+The last extremes of opposition, the most violent expedients for
+defence, would be justified by being indispensable. To find safety for
+her honour, even in the blood of an assailant, was the prescription of
+duty. Tho equity of this species of defence was not, in the present
+confusion of her mind, a subject of momentary doubt.
+
+To forewarn him of her desperate purpose would be to furnish him with
+means of counteraction. Her weapon would easily be wrested from her
+feeble hand. Ineffectual opposition would only precipitate her evil
+destiny. A rage, contented with nothing less than her life, might be
+awakened in his bosom. But was not this to be desired? Death, untimely
+and violent, was better than the loss of honour.
+
+This thought led to a new series of reflections. She involuntarily
+shrunk from the act of killing: but would her efforts to destroy her
+adversary be effectual? Would not his strength and dexterity easily
+repel or elude them? Her power in this respect was questionable, but her
+power was undeniably sufficient to a different end. The instrument which
+could not rescue her from this injury by the destruction of another
+might save her from it by her own destruction.
+
+These thoughts rapidly occurred; but the resolution to which they led
+was scarcely formed, when Ormond advanced towards her. She recoiled a
+few steps, and, showing the knife which she held, said,--
+
+"Ormond! Beware! Know that my unalterable resolution is to die
+uninjured. I have the means in my power. Stop where you are; one step
+more, and I plunge this knife into my heart. I know that to contend with
+your strength or your reason would be vain. To turn this weapon against
+you I should not fear, if I were sure of success; but to that I will
+not trust. To save a greater good by the sacrifice of life is in my
+power, and that sacrifice shall be made."
+
+"Poor Constantia!" replied Ormond, in a tone of contempt; "so thou
+preferrest thy imaginary honour to life! To escape this injury without a
+name or substance, without connection with the past or future, without
+contamination of thy purity or thraldom of thy will, thou wilt kill
+thyself; put an end to thy activity in virtue's cause; rob thy friend of
+her solace, the world of thy beneficence, thyself of being and pleasure?
+
+"I shall be grieved for the fatal issue of my experiment; I shall mourn
+over thy martyrdom to the most opprobrious and contemptible of all
+errors: but that thou shouldst undergo the trial is decreed. There is
+still an interval of hope that thy cowardice is counterfeited, or that
+it will give place to wisdom and courage.
+
+"Whatever thou intendest by way of prevention or cure, it behooves thee
+to employ with steadfastness. Die with the guilt of suicide and the
+brand of cowardice upon thy memory, or live with thy claims to felicity
+and approbation undiminished. Choose which thou wilt. Thy decision is of
+moment to thyself, but of none to me. Living or dead, the prize that I
+have in view shall be mine."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+
+It will be requisite to withdraw your attention from this scene for a
+moment, and fix it on myself. My impatience of my friend's delay, for
+some days preceding this disastrous interview, became continually more
+painful. As the time of our departure approached, my dread of some
+misfortune or impediment increased. Ormond's disappearance from the
+scene contributed but little to my consolation. To wrap his purposes in
+mystery, to place himself at seeming distance, was the usual artifice of
+such as he,--was necessary to the maturing of his project and the
+hopeless entanglement of his victim. I saw no means of placing the
+safety of my friend beyond his reach. Between different methods of
+procedure, there was, however, room for choice. Her present abode was
+more hazardous than an abode in the city. To be alone argued a state
+more defenceless and perilous than to be attended by me.
+
+I wrote her an urgent admonition to return. My remonstrances were
+couched in such terms as, in my own opinion, laid her under the
+necessity of immediate compliance. The letter was despatched by the
+usual messenger, and for some hours I solaced myself with the prospect
+of a speedy meeting.
+
+These thoughts gave place to doubt and apprehension. I began to distrust
+the efficacy of my arguments, and to invent a thousand reasons, inducing
+her, in defiance of my rhetoric, at least to protract her absence. These
+reasons I had not previously conceived, and had not, therefore,
+attempted, in my letter, to invalidate their force. This omission was
+possible to be supplied in a second epistle; but, meanwhile, time would
+be lost, and my new arguments might, like the old, fail to convince
+her. At least, the tongue was a much more versatile and powerful
+advocate than the pen; and, by hastening to her habitation, I might
+either compel her to return with me, or ward off danger by my presence,
+or share it with her. I finally resolved to join her by the speediest
+conveyance.
+
+This resolution was suggested by the meditations of a sleepless night. I
+rose with the dawn, and sought out the means of transporting myself,
+with most celerity, to the abode of my friend. A stage-boat, accustomed
+twice a day to cross New York Bay to Staten Island, was prevailed upon,
+by liberal offers, to set out upon the voyage at the dawn of day. The
+sky was gloomy, and the air boisterous and unsettled. The wind, suddenly
+becoming tempestuous and adverse, rendered the voyage at once tedious
+and full of peril. A voyage of nine miles was not effected in less than
+eight hours and without imminent and hairbreadth danger of being
+drowned.
+
+Fifteen miles of the journey remained to be performed by land. A
+carriage, with the utmost difficulty, was procured, but lank horses and
+a crazy vehicle were but little in unison with my impatience. We reached
+not Amboy ferry till some hours after nightfall. I was rowed across the
+Sound, and proceeded to accomplish the remainder of my journey--about
+three miles--on foot.
+
+I was actuated to this speed by indefinite but powerful motives. The
+belief that my speedy arrival was essential to the rescue of my friend
+from some inexplicable injury haunted me with ceaseless importunity. On
+no account would I have consented to postpone this precipitate
+expedition till the morrow.
+
+I at length arrived at Dudley's farm-house. The inhabitants were struck
+with wonder at the sight of me. My clothes were stained by the water by
+which every passenger was copiously sprinkled during our boisterous
+navigation, and soiled by dust; my frame was almost overpowered by
+fatigue and abstinence.
+
+To my anxious inquiries respecting my friend, they told me that her
+evenings were usually spent at the mansion, where it was probable she
+was now to be found. They were not apprized of any inconvenience or
+danger that betided her. It was her custom sometimes to prolong her
+absence till midnight.
+
+I could not applaud the discretion nor censure the temerity of this
+proceeding. My mind was harassed by unintelligible omens and
+self-confuted fears. To obviate the danger and to banish my inquietudes
+was my first duty. For this end I hastened to the mansion. Having passed
+the intervening hillocks and copses, I gained a view of the front of the
+building. My heart suddenly sunk, on observing that no apartment--not
+even that in which I knew it was her custom to sit at these unseasonable
+hours--was illuminated. A gleam from the window of the study I should
+have regarded as an argument at once of her presence and her safety.
+
+I approached the house with misgiving and faltering steps. The gate
+leading into a spacious court was open. A sound on one side attracted my
+attention. In the present state of my thoughts, any near or unexplained
+sound sufficed to startle me. Looking towards the quarter whence my
+panic was excited, I espied, through the dusk, a horse grazing, with his
+bridle thrown over his neck.
+
+This appearance was a new source of perplexity and alarm. The inference
+was unavoidable that a visitant was here. Who that visitant was, and how
+he was now employed, was a subject of eager but fruitless curiosity.
+Within and around the mansion, all was buried in the deepest repose. I
+now approached the principal door, and, looking through the keyhole,
+perceived a lamp, standing on the lowest step of the staircase. It shed
+a pale light over the lofty ceiling and marble balustrades. No face or
+movement of a human being was perceptible.
+
+These tokens assured me that some one was within: they also accounted
+for the non-appearance of light at the window above. I withdrew my eye
+from this avenue, and was preparing to knock loudly for admission, when
+my attention was awakened by some one who advanced to the door from the
+inside and seemed busily engaged in unlocking. I started back and waited
+with impatience till the door should open and the person issue forth.
+
+Presently I heard a voice within exclaim, in accents of mingled terror
+and grief, "Oh, what--what will become of me? Shall I never be released
+from this detested prison?"
+
+The voice was that of Constantia. It penetrated to my heart like an
+icebolt. I once more darted a glance through the crevice. A figure, with
+difficulty recognised to be that of my friend, now appeared in sight.
+Her hands were clasped on her breast, her eyes wildly fixed upon the
+ceiling and streaming with tears, and her hair unbound and falling
+confusedly over her bosom and neck.
+
+My sensations scarcely permitted me to call, "Constantia! For Heaven's
+sake, what has happened to you? Open the door, I beseech you."
+
+"What voice is that? Sophia Courtland! O my friend! I am imprisoned!
+Some demon has barred the door, beyond my power to unfasten. Ah, why
+comest thou so late? Thy succour would have somewhat profited if sooner
+given; but now, the lost Constantia--" Here her voice sunk into
+convulsive sobs.
+
+In the midst of my own despair, on perceiving the fulfilment of my
+apprehensions, and what I regarded as the fatal execution of some
+project of Ormond, I was not insensible to the suggestions of prudence.
+I entreated my friend to retain her courage, while I flew to Laffert's
+and returned with suitable assistance to burst open the door.
+
+The people of the farm-house readily obeyed my summons. Accompanied by
+three men of powerful sinews, sons and servants of the farmer, I
+returned with the utmost expedition to the mansion. The lamp still
+remained in its former place, but our loudest calls were unanswered. The
+silence was uninterrupted and profound.
+
+The door yielded to strenuous and repeated efforts, and I rushed into
+the hall. The first object that met my sight was my friend, stretched
+upon the floor, pale and motionless, supine, and with all the tokens of
+death.
+
+From this object my attention was speedily attracted by two figures,
+breathless and supine like that of Constantia. One of them was Ormond. A
+smile of disdain still sat upon his features. The wound by which he fell
+was secret, and was scarcely betrayed by the effusion of a drop of
+blood. The face of the third victim was familiar to my early days. It
+was that of the impostor whose artifice had torn from Mr. Dudley his
+peace and fortune.
+
+An explication of this scene was hopeless. By what disastrous and
+inscrutable fate a place like this became the scene of such complicated
+havoc, to whom Craig was indebted for his death, what evil had been
+meditated or inflicted by Ormond, and by what means his project had
+arrived at this bloody consummation, were topics of wild and fearful
+conjecture.
+
+But my friend--the first impulse of my fears was to regard her as dead.
+Hope and a closer observation outrooted, or, at least, suspended, this
+opinion. One of the men lifted her in his arms. No trace of blood or
+mark of fatal violence was discoverable, and the effusion of cold water
+restored her, though slowly, to life.
+
+To withdraw her from this spectacle of death was my first care. She
+suffered herself to be led to the farm-house. She was carried to her
+chamber. For a time she appeared incapable of recollection. She grasped
+my hand, as I sat by her bedside, but scarcely gave any other tokens of
+life.
+
+From this state of inactivity she gradually recovered. I was actuated by
+a thousand forebodings, but refrained from molesting her by
+interrogation or condolence. I watched by her side in silence, but was
+eager to collect from her own lips an account of this mysterious
+transaction.
+
+At length she opened her eyes, and appeared to recollect her present
+situation, and the events which led to it. I inquired into her
+condition, and asked if there were any thing in my power to procure or
+perform for her.
+
+"Oh, my friend," she answered, "what have I done, what have I suffered,
+within the last dreadful hour! The remembrance, though insupportable,
+will never leave me. You can do nothing for my relief. All I claim is
+your compassion and your sympathy."
+
+"I hope," said I, "that nothing has happened to load you with guilt or
+with shame?"
+
+"Alas! I know not. My deed was scarcely the fruit of intention. It was
+suggested by a momentary frenzy. I saw no other means of escaping from
+vileness and pollution. I was menaced with an evil worse than death. I
+forebore till my strength was almost subdued: the lapse of another
+moment would have placed me beyond hope.
+
+"My stroke was desperate and at random. It answered my purpose too well.
+He cast at me a look of terrible upbraiding, but spoke not. His heart
+was pierced, and he sunk, as if struck by lightning, at my feet. O much
+erring and unhappy Ormond! That thou shouldst thus untimely perish! That
+I should be thy executioner!"
+
+These words sufficiently explained the scene that I had witnessed. The
+violence of Ormond had been repulsed by equal violence. His foul
+attempts had been prevented by his death. Not to deplore the necessity
+which had produced this act was impossible; but, since this necessity
+existed, it was surely not a deed to be thought upon with lasting
+horror, or to be allowed to generate remorse.
+
+In consequence of this catastrophe, arduous duties had devolved upon me.
+The people that surrounded me were powerless with terror. Their
+ignorance and cowardice left them at a loss how to act in this
+emergency. They besought my direction, and willingly performed whatever
+I thought proper to enjoin upon them.
+
+No deliberation was necessary to acquaint me with my duty. Laffert was
+despatched to the nearest magistrate with a letter, in which his
+immediate presence was entreated and these transactions were briefly
+explained. Early the next day the formalities of justice, in the
+inspection of the bodies and the examination of witnesses, were
+executed. It would be needless to dwell on the particulars of this
+catastrophe. A sufficient explanation has been given of the causes that
+led to it. They were such as exempted my friend from legal
+animadversion. Her act was prompted by motives which every scheme of
+jurisprudence known in the world not only exculpates, but applauds. To
+state these motives before a tribunal hastily formed and exercising its
+functions on the spot was a task not to be avoided, though infinitely
+painful. Remonstrances the most urgent and pathetic could scarcely
+conquer her reluctance.
+
+This task, however, was easy, in comparison with that which remained. To
+restore health and equanimity to my friend; to repel the erroneous
+accusations of her conscience; to hinder her from musing, with eternal
+anguish, upon this catastrophe; to lay the spirit of secret upbraiding
+by which she was incessantly tormented, which bereft her of repose,
+empoisoned all her enjoyments, and menaced not only the subversion of
+her peace but the speedy destruction of her life, became my next
+employment.
+
+My counsels and remonstrances were not wholly inefficacious. They
+afforded me the prospect of her ultimate restoration to tranquillity.
+Meanwhile, I called to my aid the influence of time and of a change of
+scene. I hastened to embark with her for Europe. Our voyage was
+tempestuous and dangerous, but storms and perils at length gave way to
+security and repose.
+
+Before our voyage was commenced, I endeavoured to procure tidings of the
+true condition and designs of Ormond. My information extended no further
+than that he had put his American property into the hands of Mr.
+Melbourne, and was preparing to embark for France. Courtland, who has
+since been at Paris, and who, while there, became confidentially
+acquainted with Martinette de Beauvais, has communicated facts of an
+unexpected nature.
+
+At the period of Ormond's return to Philadelphia, at which his last
+interview with Constantia in that city took place, he visited
+Martinette. He avowed himself to be her brother, and supported his
+pretensions by relating the incidents of his early life. A separation at
+the age of fifteen, and which had lasted for the same number of years,
+may be supposed to have considerably changed the countenance and figure
+she had formerly known. His relationship was chiefly proved by the
+enumeration of incidents of which her brother only could be apprized.
+
+He possessed a minute acquaintance with her own adventures, but
+concealed from her the means by which he had procured the knowledge. He
+had rarely and imperfectly alluded to his own opinions and projects, and
+had maintained an invariable silence on the subject of his connection
+with Constantia and Helena. Being informed of her intention to return to
+France, he readily complied with her request to accompany her in this
+voyage. His intentions in this respect were frustrated by the dreadful
+catastrophe that has been just related. Respecting this event,
+Martinette had collected only vague and perplexing information.
+Courtland, though able to remove her doubts, thought proper to withhold
+from her the knowledge he possessed.
+
+Since her arrival in England, the life of my friend has experienced
+little variation. Of her personal deportment and domestic habits you
+have been a witness. These, therefore, it would be needless for me to
+exhibit. It is sufficient to have related events which the recentness of
+your intercourse with her hindered you from knowing but by means of some
+formal narrative like the present. She and her friend only were able to
+impart to you the knowledge which you have so anxiously sought. In
+consideration of your merits and of your attachment to my friend, I have
+consented to devote my leisure to this task.
+
+It is now finished; and I have only to add my wishes that the perusal of
+this tale may afford you as much instruction as the contemplation of the
+sufferings and vicissitudes of Constantia Dudley has afforded to me.
+Farewell.
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
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+<body>
+<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Ormond, Volume III (of 3), by Charles
+Brockden Brown</h1>
+<pre>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre>
+<p>Title: Ormond, Volume III (of 3)</p>
+<p>       or, The Secret Witness</p>
+<p>Author: Charles Brockden Brown</p>
+<p>Release Date: May 31, 2011  [eBook #36291]</p>
+<p>Language: English</p>
+<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p>
+<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ORMOND, VOLUME III (OF 3)***</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h4>E-text prepared by Andrea Ball, Christine Bell, &amp; Marc D'Hooghe<br />
+    (<a href="http://www.freeliterature.org">http://www.freeliterature.org</a>)<br />
+    from page images generously made available by<br />
+    the Google Books Library Project<br />
+    (<a href="http://books.google.com/">http://books.google.com/</a>)</h4>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10">
+  <tr>
+    <td valign="top">
+      Note:
+    </td>
+    <td>
+      Project Gutenberg also has the other two volumes of
+	  this book.<br />
+	  <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/36289/36289-h/36289-h.htm">Volume I</a>: See http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/36289<br />
+	  <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/36290/36290-h/36290-h.htm">Volume II</a>: See http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/36290<br />
+	  <br />
+      Images of the original pages are available through
+      the the Google Books Library Project. See
+      <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=aRgGAAAAQAAJ&amp;oe=UTF-8">
+      http://books.google.com/books?id=aRgGAAAAQAAJ&amp;oe=UTF-8</a>
+	</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="center">
+<table style="margin: 0 auto" cellpadding="0"><tr><td>
+<p class="small">
+<a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.</a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.</a><br />
+</p>
+</td></tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h1>ORMOND;</h1>
+
+<h3>OR,</h3>
+
+<h3><i>THE SECRET WITNESS.</i></h3>
+
+<h4>BY</h4>
+
+<h2>B.C. BROWN,</h2>
+
+<h4>AUTHOR OF WIELAND, OR TRANSFORMATION.</h4>
+
+
+<h4><i>IN THREE VOLUMES.</i></h4>
+
+<h4>VOL. III.</h4>
+
+
+<p class="center">"Sæpe intereunt aliis meditantes necem."</p>
+
+<p style="margin-left: 35em; font-size: 0.8em;">PHÆDRUS</p>
+
+<p class="center">"Those who plot the destruction of others, very often fall,
+themselves the victims."</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h5>PHILADELPHIA  PRINTED,</h5>
+
+<h5>LONDON, RE-PRINTED FOR HENRY COLBURN,</h5>
+
+<h5>ENGLISH AND FOREIGN PUBLIC LIBRARY,</h5>
+
+<h5>CONDUIT-STREET, BOND-STREET.</h5>
+
+<h5>1811</h5>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+
+<h4>TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE</h4>
+
+<h4>LADY CASTLEREAGH,</h4>
+
+<h4>THESE VOLUMES</h4>
+
+<h4>are respectfully inscribed,</h4>
+
+<h4>by her Ladyship's</h4>
+
+<h4>most obedient, and humble Servant,</h4>
+
+<h4>HENRY COLBURN.</h4>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"My father, in proportion as he grew old and rich, became weary of
+Aleppo. His natal soil, had it been the haunt of Calmucks or Bedouins,
+his fancy would have transformed into Paradise. No wonder that the
+equitable aristocracy and the peaceful husbandmen of Ragusa should be
+endeared to his heart by comparison with Egyptian plagues and Turkish
+tyranny. Besides, he lived for his children as well as himself. Their
+education and future lot required him to seek a permanent home.</p>
+
+<p>"He embarked, with his wife and offspring, at Scanderoon. No immediate
+conveyance to Ragusa offering, the appearance of the plague in Syria
+induced him to hasten his departure. He entered a French vessel for
+Marseilles. After being three days at sea, one of the crew was seized by
+the fatal disease which had depopulated all the towns upon the coast.
+The voyage was made with more than usual despatch; but, before we
+reached our port, my mother and half the crew perished. My father died
+in the Lazaretto, more through grief than disease.</p>
+
+<p>"My brother and I were children and helpless. My father's fortune was on
+board this vessel, and was left by his death to the mercy of the
+captain. This man was honest, and consigned us and our property to the
+merchant with whom he dealt. Happily for us, our protector was childless
+and of scrupulous integrity. We henceforth became his adopted children.
+My brother's education and my own were conducted on the justest
+principles.</p>
+
+<p>"At the end of four years, our protector found it expedient to make a
+voyage to Cayenne. His brother was an extensive proprietor in that
+colony, but his sudden death made way for the succession of our friend.
+To establish his claims, his presence was necessary on the spot. He was
+little qualified for arduous enterprises, and his age demanded repose;
+but, his own acquisitions having been small, and being desirous of
+leaving us in possession of competence, he cheerfully embarked.</p>
+
+<p>"Meanwhile, my brother was placed at a celebrated seminary in the Pays
+de Vaud, and I was sent to a sister who resided at Verona. I was at this
+time fourteen years old,&mdash;one year younger than my brother, whom, since
+that period, I have neither heard of nor seen.</p>
+
+<p>"I was now a woman, and qualified to judge and act for myself. The
+character of my new friend was austere and devout, and there were so
+many incongenial points between us that but little tranquillity was
+enjoyed under her control. The priest who discharged the office of her
+confessor thought proper to entertain views with regard to me, grossly
+inconsistent with the sanctity of his profession. He was a man of
+profound dissimulation and masterly address. His efforts, however, were
+repelled with disdain. My security against his attempts lay in the
+uncouthness and deformity which nature had bestowed upon his person and
+visage, rather than in the firmness of my own principles.</p>
+
+<p>"The courtship of Father Bartoli, the austerities of Madame Roselli, the
+disgustful or insipid occupations to which I was condemned, made me
+impatiently wish for a change; but my father (so I will call him) had
+decreed that I should remain under his sister's guardianship till his
+return from Guiana. When this would happen was uncertain. Events
+unforeseen might protract it for years, but it could not arrive in less
+than a twelvemonth.</p>
+
+<p>"I was incessantly preyed upon by discontent. My solitude was loathsome.
+I panted after liberty and friendship, and the want of these were not
+recompensed by luxury and quiet, and by the instructions in useful
+science which I received from Bartoli, who, though detested as a
+hypocrite and lover, was venerable as a scholar. He would fain have been
+an Abelard, but it was not his fate to meet with an Eloisa.</p>
+
+<p>"Two years passed away in this durance. My miseries were exquisite. I am
+almost at a loss to account for the unhappiness of that time, for,
+looking back upon it, I perceive that an equal period could not have
+been spent with more benefit. For the sake of being near me, Bartoli
+importunately offered his instructions. He had nothing to communicate
+but metaphysics and geometry. These were little to my taste, but I could
+not keep him at a distance. I had no other alternative than to endure
+him as a lover or a teacher. His passion for science was at least equal
+to that which ho entertained for me, and both these passions combined to
+make him a sedulous instructor. He was a disciple of the newest
+doctrines respecting matter and mind. He denied the impenetrability of
+the first, and the immateriality of the second. These he endeavoured to
+inculcate upon me, as well as to subvert my religious tenets, because he
+delighted, like all men, in transfusing his opinions, and because he
+regarded my piety as the only obstacle to his designs. He succeeded in
+dissolving the spell of ignorance, but not in producing that kind of
+acquiescence he wished. He had, in this respect, to struggle not only
+with my principles, but my weakness. He might have overcome every
+obstacle but my abhorrence of deformity and age. To cure me of this
+aversion was beyond his power. My servitude grew daily more painful. I
+grew tired of chasing a comet to its aphelion, and of untying the knot
+of an infinite series. A change in my condition became indispensable to
+my very existence. Languor and sadness, and unwillingness to eat or to
+move, were at last my perpetual attendants!</p>
+
+<p>"Madame Roselli was alarmed at my condition. The sources of my
+inquietude were incomprehensible to her. The truth was, that I scarcely
+understood them myself, and my endeavours to explain them to my friend
+merely instilled into her an opinion that I was either lunatic or
+deceitful. She complained and admonished; but my disinclination to my
+usual employments would not be conquered, and my health rapidly
+declined. A physician, who was called, confessed that my case was beyond
+his power to understand, but recommended, as a sort of desperate
+expedient, a change of scene. A succession and variety of objects might
+possibly contribute to my cure.</p>
+
+<p>"At this time there arrived, at Verona, Lady D'Arcy,&mdash;an Englishwoman
+of fortune and rank, and a strenuous Catholic. Her husband had lately
+died; and, in order to divert her grief, as well as to gratify her
+curiosity in viewing the great seat of her religion, she had come to
+Italy. Intercourse took place between her and Madame Roselli. By this
+means she gained a knowledge of my person and condition, and kindly
+offered to take me under her protection. She meant to traverse every
+part of Italy, and was willing that I should accompany her in all her
+wanderings.</p>
+
+<p>"This offer was gratefully accepted, in spite of the artifices and
+remonstrances of Bartoli. My companion speedily contracted for me the
+affection of a mother. She was without kindred of her own religion,
+having acquired her faith, not by inheritance, but conversion. She
+desired to abjure her native country, and to bind herself, by every
+social tie, to a people who adhered to the same faith. Me she promised
+to adopt as her daughter, provided her first impressions in my favour
+were not belied by my future deportment.</p>
+
+<p>"My principles were opposite to hers; but habit, an aversion to
+displease my friend, my passion for knowledge, which my new condition
+enabled me to gratify, all combined to make me a deceiver. But my
+imposture was merely of a negative kind; I deceived her rather by
+forbearance to contradict, and by acting as she acted, than by open
+assent and zealous concurrence. My new state was, on this account, not
+devoid of inconvenience. The general deportment and sentiments of Lady
+D'Arcy testified a vigorous and pure mind. New avenues to knowledge, by
+converse with mankind and with books, and by the survey of new scenes,
+were open for my use. Gratitude and veneration attached me to my friend,
+and made the task of pleasing her, by a seeming conformity of
+sentiments, less irksome.</p>
+
+<p>"During this interval, no tidings were received by his sister, at
+Verona, respecting the fate of Sebastian Roselli. The supposition of
+his death was too plausible not to be adopted. What influence this
+disaster possessed over my brother's destiny, I know not. The generosity
+of Lady D'Arcy hindered me from experiencing any disadvantage from this
+circumstance. Fortune seemed to have decreed that I should not be
+reduced to the condition of an orphan.</p>
+
+<p>"At an age and in a situation like mine, I could not remain long
+unacquainted with love. My abode at Rome introduced me to the knowledge
+of a youth from England, who had every property which I regarded as
+worthy of esteem. He was a kinsman of&mdash;Lady D'Arcy, and as such admitted
+at her house on the most familiar footing. His patrimony was extremely
+slender, but was in his own possession. He had no intention of
+increasing it by any professional pursuit, but was contented with the
+frugal provision it afforded. He proposed no other end of his existence
+than the acquisition of virtue and knowledge.</p>
+
+<p>"The property of Lady D'Arcy was subject to her own disposal, but, on
+the failure of a testament, this youth was, in legal succession, the
+next heir. He was well acquainted with her temper and views, but, in the
+midst of urbanity and gentleness, studied none of those concealments of
+opinion which would have secured him her favour. That he was not of her
+own faith was an insuperable, but the only, obstacle to the admission of
+his claims.</p>
+
+<p>"If conformity of age and opinions, and the mutual fascination of love,
+be a suitable basis for marriage, Wentworth and I were destined for each
+other. Mutual disclosure added sanctity to our affection; but, the
+happiness of Lady D'Arcy being made to depend upon the dissolution of
+our compact, the heroism of Wentworth made him hasten to dissolve it. As
+soon as she discovered our attachment, she displayed symptoms of the
+deepest anguish. In addition to religious motives, her fondness for me
+forbade her to exist but in my society and in the belief of the purity
+of my faith. The contention, on my part, was vehement between the
+regards due to her felicity and to my own. Had Wentworth left me the
+power to decide, my decision would doubtless have evinced the frailty of
+my fortitude and the strength of my passion; but, having informed me
+fully of the reasons of his conduct, he precipitately retired from Rome.
+He left me no means of tracing his footsteps and of assailing his
+weakness by expostulation and entreaty.</p>
+
+<p>"Lady D'Arcy was no less eager to abandon a spot where her happiness had
+been so imminently endangered. Our next residence was Palermo. I will
+not dwell upon the sensations produced by this disappointment in me. I
+review them with astonishment and self-compassion. If I thought it
+possible for me to sink again into imbecility so ignominious, I should
+be disposed to kill myself.</p>
+
+<p>"There was no end to vows of fondness and tokens of gratitude in Lady
+D'Arcy. Her future life should be devoted to compensate me for this
+sacrifice. Nothing could console her in that single state in which she
+intended to live, but the consolations of my fellowship. Her conduct
+coincided for some time with these professions, and my anguish was
+allayed by the contemplation of the happiness conferred upon one whom I
+revered.</p>
+
+<p>"My friend could not be charged with dissimulation and artifice. Her
+character had been mistaken by herself as well as by me. Devout
+affections seemed to have filled her heart, to the exclusion of any
+object besides myself. She cherished with romantic tenderness the memory
+of her husband, and imagined that a single state was indispensably
+enjoined upon her by religious duty. This persuasion, however, was
+subverted by the arts of a Spanish cavalier, young, opulent, and
+romantic as herself in devotion. An event like this might, indeed, have
+been easily predicted, by those who reflected that the lady was still in
+the bloom of life, ardent in her temper, and bewitching in her manners.</p>
+
+<p>"The fondness she had lavished upon me was now, in some degree,
+transferred to a new object; but I still received the treatment due to a
+beloved daughter. She was solicitous as ever to promote my
+gratification, and a diminution of kindness would not have been
+suspected by those who had not witnessed the excesses of her former
+passion. Her marriage with the Spaniard removed the obstacle to union
+with Wentworth. This man, however, had set himself beyond the reach of
+my inquiries. Had there been the shadow of a clue afforded me, I should
+certainly have sought him to the ends of the world.</p>
+
+<p>"I continued to reside with my friend, and accompanied her and her
+husband to Spain. Antonio de Leyva was a man of probity. His mind was
+enlightened by knowledge and his actions dictated by humanity. Though
+but little older than myself, and young enough to be the son of his
+spouse, his deportment to me was a model of rectitude and delicacy. I
+spent a year in Spain, partly in the mountains of Castile and partly at
+Segovia. New manners and a new language occupied my attention for a
+time; but these, losing their novelty, lost their power to please. I
+betook myself to books, to beguile the tediousness and diversify the
+tenor of my life.</p>
+
+<p>"This would not have long availed; but I was relieved from new
+repinings, by the appointment of Antonio de Leyva to a diplomatic office
+at Vienna. Thither we accordingly repaired. A coincidence of
+circumstances had led me wide from the path of ambition and study
+usually allotted to my sex and age. From the computation of eclipses, I
+now betook myself to the study of man. My proficiency, when I allowed it
+to be seen, attracted great attention. Instead of adulation and
+gallantry, I was engaged in watching the conduct of states and revolving
+the theories of politicians.</p>
+
+<p>"Superficial observers were either incredulous with regard to my
+character, or connected a stupid wonder with their belief. My
+attainments and habits they did not see to be perfectly consonant with
+the principles of human nature. They unavoidably flowed from the illicit
+attachment of Bartoli, and the erring magnanimity of Wentworth. Aversion
+to the priest was the grand inciter of my former studies; the love of
+Wentworth, whom I hoped once more to meet, made me labour to exclude the
+importunities of others, and to qualify myself for securing his
+affections.</p>
+
+<p>"Since our parting in Italy, Wentworth had traversed Syria and Egypt,
+and arrived some months after me at Vienna. He was on the point of
+leaving the city, when accident informed me of his being there. An
+interview was effected, and, our former sentiments respecting each other
+having undergone no change, we were united. Madame de Leyva reluctantly
+concurred with our wishes, and, at parting, forced upon me a
+considerable sum of money.</p>
+
+<p>"Wentworth's was a character not frequently met with in the world. He
+was a political enthusiast, who esteemed nothing more graceful or
+glorious than to die for the liberties of mankind. He had traversed
+Greece with an imagination full of the exploits of ancient times, and
+derived, from contemplating Thermopylæ and Marathon, an enthusiasm that
+bordered upon frenzy.</p>
+
+<p>"It was now the third year of the Revolutionary War in America, and,
+previous to our meeting at Vienna, he had formed the resolution of
+repairing thither and tendering his service to the Congress as a
+volunteer. Our marriage made no change in his plans. My soul was
+engrossed by two passions,&mdash;a wild spirit of adventure, and a boundless
+devotion to him. I vowed to accompany him in every danger, to vie with
+him in military ardour, to combat and to die by his side.</p>
+
+<p>"I delighted to assume the male dress, to acquire skill at the sword,
+and dexterity in every boisterous exercise. The timidity that commonly
+attends women gradually vanished. I felt as if imbued by a soul that was
+a stranger to the sexual distinction. We embarked at Brest, in a frigate
+destined for St. Domingo. A desperate conflict with an English ship in
+the Bay of Biscay was my first introduction to a scene of tumult and
+danger of whose true nature I had formed no previous conception. At
+first I was spiritless and full of dismay. Experience, however,
+gradually reconciled me to the life that I had chosen.</p>
+
+<p>"A fortunate shot, by dismasting the enemy, allowed us to prosecute our
+voyage unmolested. At Cape François we found a ship which transported
+us, after various perils, to Richmond, in Virginia. I will not carry you
+through the adventures of four years. You, sitting all your life in
+peaceful corners, can scarcely imagine that variety of hardship and
+turmoil which attends the female who lives in a camp.</p>
+
+<p>"Few would sustain these hardships with better grace than I did. I could
+seldom be prevailed on to remain at a distance, and inactive, when my
+husband was in battle, and more than once rescued him from death by the
+seasonable destruction of his adversary.</p>
+
+<p>"At the repulse of the Americans at Germantown, Wentworth was wounded
+and taken prisoner. I obtained permission to attend his sick-bed and
+supply that care without which he would assuredly have died. Being
+imperfectly recovered, he was sent to England and subjected to a
+rigorous imprisonment. Milder treatment might have permitted his
+complete restoration to health; but, as it was, he died.</p>
+
+<p>"His kindred were noble, and rich, and powerful; but it was difficult to
+make them acquainted with Wentworth's situation. Their assistance, when
+demanded, was readily afforded; but it came too late to prevent his
+death. Me they snatched from my voluntary prison, and employed every
+friendly art to efface from my mind the images of recent calamity.</p>
+
+<p>"Wentworth's singularities of conduct and opinion had estranged him at
+an early age from his family. They felt little regret at his fate, but
+every motive concurred to secure their affection and succour to me. My
+character was known to many officers, returned from America, whose
+report, joined with the influence of my conversation, rendered me an
+object to be gazed at by thousands. Strange vicissitude! Now immersed in
+the infection of a military hospital, the sport of a wayward fortune,
+struggling with cold and hunger, with negligence and contumely. A month
+after, passing into scenes of gayety and luxury, exhibited at operas and
+masquerades, made the theme of inquiry and encomium at every place of
+resort, and caressed by the most illustrious among the votaries of
+science and the advocates of the American cause.</p>
+
+<p>"Here I again met Madame de Leyva. This woman was perpetually assuming
+new forms. She was a sincere convert to the Catholic religion, but she
+was open to every new impression. She was the dupe of every powerful
+reasoner, and assumed with equal facility the most opposite shapes. She
+had again reverted to the Protestant religion, and, governed by a
+headlong zeal in whatever cause she engaged, she had sacrificed her
+husband and child to a new conviction.</p>
+
+<p>"The instrument of this change was a man who passed, at that time, for a
+Frenchman. He was young, accomplished, and addressful, but was not
+suspected of having been prompted by illicit views, or of having seduced
+the lady from allegiance to her husband as well as to her God. De Leyva,
+however, who was sincere in his religion as well as his love, was hasty
+to avenge this injury, and, in a contest with the Frenchman, was killed.
+His wife adopted at once her ancient religion and country, and was once
+more an Englishwoman.</p>
+
+<p>"At our meeting her affection for me seemed to be revived, and the most
+passionate entreaties were used to detain me in England. My previous
+arrangements would not suffer it. I foresaw restraints and
+inconveniences from the violence and caprice of her passions, and
+intended henceforth to keep my liberty inviolate by any species of
+engagement, either of friendship or marriage. My habits were French, and
+I proposed henceforward to take up my abode at Paris. Since his voyage
+to Guiana, I had heard no tidings of Sebastian Roselli. This man's image
+was cherished with filial emotions, and I conceived that the sight of
+him would amply reward a longer journey than from London to Marseilles.</p>
+
+<p>"Beyond my hopes, I found him in his ancient abode. The voyage, and a
+residence of three years at Cayenne, had been beneficial to his
+appearance and health. He greeted me with paternal tenderness, and
+admitted me to a full participation of his fortune, which the sale of
+his American property had greatly enhanced. He was a stranger to the
+fate of my brother. On his return home he had gone to Switzerland, with
+a view of ascertaining his destiny. The youth, a few months after his
+arrival at Lausanne, had eloped with a companion, and had hitherto
+eluded all Roselli's searches and inquiries. My father was easily
+prevailed upon to transfer his residence from Provence to Paris."</p>
+
+<p>Here Martinette paused, and, marking the clock, "It is time," resumed
+she, "to begone. Are you not weary of my tale? On the day I entered
+France, I entered the twenty-third year of my age, so that my promise of
+detailing my youthful adventures is fulfilled. I must away. Till we meet
+again, farewell."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Such was the wild series of Martinette's adventures. Each incident
+fastened on the memory of Constantia, and gave birth to numberless
+reflections. Her prospect of mankind seemed to be enlarged, on a sudden,
+to double its ancient dimensions. Ormond's narratives had carried her
+beyond the Mississippi, and into the deserts of Siberia. He had
+recounted the perils of a Russian war, and painted the manners of
+Mongols and Naudowessies. Her new friend had led her back to the
+civilized world and portrayed the other half of the species. Men, in
+their two forms of savage and refined, had been scrutinized by these
+observers; and what was wanting in the delineations of the one was
+liberally supplied by the other.</p>
+
+<p>Eleven years in the life of Martinette was unrelated. Her conversation
+suggested the opinion that this interval had been spent in France. It
+was obvious to suppose that a woman thus fearless and sagacious had not
+been inactive at a period like the present, which called forth talents
+and courage without distinction of sex, and had been particularly
+distinguished by female enterprise and heroism. Her name easily led to
+the suspicion of concurrence with the subverters of monarchy, and of
+participation in their fall. Her flight from the merciless tribunals of
+the faction that now reigned would explain present appearances.</p>
+
+<p>Martinette brought to their next interview an air of uncommon
+exultation. On this being remarked, she communicated the tidings of the
+fall of the sanguinary tyranny of Robespierre. Her eyes sparkled, and
+every feature was pregnant with delight, while she unfolded, with her
+accustomed energy, the particulars of this tremendous revolution. The
+blood which it occasioned to flow was mentioned without any symptoms of
+disgust or horror.</p>
+
+<p>Constantia ventured to ask if this incident was likely to influence her
+own condition.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. It will open the way for my return."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you think of returning to a scene of so much danger?"</p>
+
+<p>"Danger, my girl? It is my element. I am an adorer of liberty, and
+liberty without peril can never exist."</p>
+
+<p>"But so much bloodshed and injustice! Does not your heart shrink from
+the view of a scene of massacre and tumult, such as Paris has lately
+exhibited and will probably continue to exhibit?"</p>
+
+<p>"Thou talkest, Constantia, in a way scarcely worthy of thy good sense.
+Have I not been three years in a camp? What are bleeding wounds and
+mangled corpses, when accustomed to the daily sight of them for years?
+Am I not a lover of liberty? and must I not exult in the fall of
+tyrants, and regret only that my hand had no share in their
+destruction?"</p>
+
+<p>"But a woman&mdash;how can the heart of woman be inured to the shedding of
+blood?"</p>
+
+<p>"Have women, I beseech thee, no capacity to reason and infer? Are they
+less open than men to the influence of habit? My hand never faltered
+when liberty demanded the victim. If thou wert with me at Paris, I could
+show thee a fusil of two barrels, which is precious beyond any other
+relic, merely because it enabled me to kill thirteen officers at
+Jemappe. Two of these were emigrant nobles, whom I knew and loved before
+the Revolution, but the cause they had since espoused cancelled their
+claims to mercy."</p>
+
+<p>"What!" said the startled Constantia; "have you fought in the ranks?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly. Hundreds of my sex have done the same. Some were impelled by
+the enthusiasm of love, and some by a mere passion for war; some by the
+contagion of example; and some&mdash;with whom I myself must be ranked&mdash;by a
+generous devotion to liberty. Brunswick and Saxe-Coburg had to contend
+with whole regiments of women,&mdash;regiments they would have formed, if
+they had been collected into separate bodies.</p>
+
+<p>"I will tell thee a secret. Thou wouldst never have seen Martinette de
+Beauvais, if Brunswick had deferred one day longer his orders for
+retreating into Germany."</p>
+
+<p>"How so?"</p>
+
+<p>"She would have died by her own hand."</p>
+
+<p>"What could lead to such an outrage?"</p>
+
+<p>"The love of liberty."</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot comprehend how that love should prompt you to suicide."</p>
+
+<p>"I will tell thee. The plan was formed, and could not miscarry. A woman
+was to play the part of a banished Royalist, was to repair to the
+Prussian camp, and to gain admission to the general. This would have
+easily been granted to a female and an ex-noble. There she was to
+assassinate the enemy of her country, and to attest her magnanimity by
+slaughtering herself. I was weak enough to regret the ignominious
+retreat of the Prussians, because it precluded the necessity of such a
+sacrifice."</p>
+
+<p>This was related with accents and looks that sufficiently attested its
+truth. Constantia shuddered, and drew back, to contemplate more
+deliberately the features of her guest. Hitherto she had read in them
+nothing that bespoke the desperate courage of a martyr and the deep
+designing of an assassin. The image which her mind had reflected from
+the deportment of this woman was changed. The likeness which she had,
+feigned to herself was no longer seen. She felt that antipathy was
+preparing to displace love. These sentiments, however, she concealed,
+and suffered the conversation to proceed.</p>
+
+<p>Their discourse now turned upon the exploits of several women who
+mingled in the tumults of the capital and in the armies on the
+frontiers. Instances were mentioned of ferocity in some, and magnanimity
+in others, which almost surpassed belief. Constantia listened greedily,
+though not with approbation, and acquired, at every sentence, new desire
+to be acquainted with the personal history of Martinette. On mentioning
+this wish, her friend said that she endeavoured to amuse her exile by
+composing her own memoirs, and that, on her next visit, she would bring
+with her the volume, which she would suffer Constantia to read.</p>
+
+<p>A separation of a week elapsed. She felt some impatience for the renewal
+of their intercourse, and for the perusal of the volume that had been
+mentioned. One evening Sarah Baxter, whom Constantia had placed in her
+own occasional service, entered the room with marks of great joy and
+surprise, and informed her that she at length had discovered Miss
+Monrose. From her abrupt and prolix account, it appeared that Sarah had
+overtaken Miss Monrose in the street, and, guided by her own curiosity,
+as well as by the wish to gratify her mistress, she had followed the
+stranger. To her utter astonishment, the lady had paused at Mr. Dudley's
+door, with a seeming resolution to enter it, but presently resumed her
+way. Instead of pursuing her steps farther, Sarah had stopped to
+communicate this intelligence to Constantia. Having delivered her news,
+she hastened away, but, returning, in a moment, with a countenance of
+new surprise, she informed her mistress that on leaving the house she
+had met Miss Monrose at the door, on the point of entering. She added
+that the stranger had inquired for Constantia, and was now waiting
+below.</p>
+
+<p>Constantia took no time to reflect upon an incident so unexpected and so
+strange, but proceeded forthwith to the parlour. Martinette only was
+there. It did not instantly occur to her that this lady and Mademoiselle
+Monrose might possibly be the same. The inquiries she made speedily
+removed her doubts, and it now appeared that the woman about whose
+destiny she had formed so many conjectures and fostered so much anxiety
+was no other than the daughter of Roselli.</p>
+
+<p>Having readily answered her questions, Martinette inquired, in her turn,
+into the motives of her friend's curiosity. These were explained by a
+succinct account of the transactions to which the deceased Baxter had
+been a witness. Constantia concluded with mentioning her own reflections
+on the tale, and intimating her wish to be informed how Martinette had
+extricated herself from a situation so calamitous.</p>
+
+<p>"Is there any room for wonder on that head?" replied the guest. "It was
+absurd to stay longer in the house. Having finished the interment of
+Roselli, (soldier-fashion,) for he was the man who suffered his foolish
+regrets to destroy him, I forsook the house. Roselli was by no means
+poor, but he could not consent to live at ease, or to live at all, while
+his country endured such horrible oppressions, and when so many of his
+friends had perished. I complied with his humour, because it could not
+be changed, and I revered him too much to desert him."</p>
+
+<p>"But whither," said Constantia, "could you seek shelter at a time like
+that? The city was desolate, and a wandering female could scarcely be
+received under any roof. All inhabited houses were closed at that hour,
+and the fear of infection would have shut them against you if they had
+not been already so."</p>
+
+<p>"Hast thou forgotten that there were at that time at least ten thousand
+French in this city, fugitives from Marat and from St. Domingo? That
+they lived in utter fearlessness of the reigning disease,&mdash;sung and
+loitered in the public walks, and prattled at their doors, with all
+their customary unconcern? Supposest thou that there were none among
+these who would receive a countrywoman, even if her name had not been
+Martinette de Beauvais? Thy fancy has depicted strange things; but
+believe me that, without a farthing and without a name, I should not
+have incurred the slightest inconvenience. The death of Roselli I
+foresaw, because it was gradual in its approach, and was sought by him
+as a good. My grief, therefore, was exhausted before it came, and I
+rejoiced at his death, because it was the close of all his sorrows. The
+rueful pictures of my distress and weakness which were given by Baxter
+existed only in his own fancy."</p>
+
+<p>Martinette pleaded an engagement, and took her leave, professing to have
+come merely to leave with her the promised manuscript. This interview,
+though short, was productive of many reflections on the deceitfulness of
+appearances, and on the variety of maxims by which the conduct of human
+beings is regulated. She was accustomed to impart all her thoughts and
+relate every new incident to her father. With this view she now hied to
+his apartment. This hour it was her custom, when disengaged, always to
+spend with him.</p>
+
+<p>She found Mr. Dudley busy in revolving a scheme which various
+circumstances had suggested and gradually conducted to maturity. No
+period of his life had been equally delightful with that portion of his
+youth which he had spent in Italy. The climate, the language, the
+manners of the people, and the sources of intellectual gratification in
+painting and music, were congenial to his taste. He had reluctantly
+forsaken these enchanting seats, at the summons of his father, but, on
+his return to his native country, had encountered nothing but ignominy
+and pain. Poverty and blindness had beset his path, and it seemed as if
+it were impossible to fly too far from the scene of his disasters. His
+misfortunes could not be concealed from others, and every thing around
+him seemed to renew the memory of all that he had suffered. All the
+events of his youth served to entice him to Italy, while all the
+incidents of his subsequent life concurred to render disgustful his
+present abode.</p>
+
+<p>His daughter's happiness was not to be forgotten. This he imagined would
+be eminently promoted by the scheme. It would open to her new avenues to
+knowledge. It would snatch her from the odious pursuit of Ormond, and,
+by a variety of objects and adventures, efface from her mind any
+impression which his dangerous artifices might have made upon it.</p>
+
+<p>This project was now communicated to Constantia. Every argument adapted
+to influence her choice was employed. He justly conceived that the only
+obstacle to her adoption of it related to Ormond. He expatiated on the
+dubious character of this man, the wildness of his schemes, and the
+magnitude of his errors. What could be expected from a man, half of
+whose life had been spent at the head of a band of Cossacks, spreading
+devastation in the regions of the Danube, and supporting by flagitious
+intrigues the tyranny of Catharine, and the other half in traversing
+inhospitable countries, and extinguishing what remained of clemency and
+justice by intercourse with savages?</p>
+
+<p>It was admitted that his energies were great, but misdirected, and that
+to restore them to the guidance of truth was not in itself impossible;
+but it was so with relation to any power that she possessed. Conformity
+would flow from their marriage, but this conformity was not to be
+expected from him. It was not his custom to abjure any of his doctrines
+or recede from any of his claims. She knew likewise the conditions of
+their union. She must go with him to some corner of the world where his
+boasted system was established. What was the road to it he had carefully
+concealed, but it was evident that it lay beyond the precincts of
+civilized existence.</p>
+
+<p>Whatever were her ultimate decision, it was at least proper to delay it.
+Six years were yet wanting of that period at which only she formerly
+considered marriage as proper. To all the general motives for deferring
+her choice, the conduct of Ormond superadded the weightiest. Their
+correspondence might continue, but her residence in Europe and converse
+with mankind might enlighten her judgement and qualify her for a more
+rational decision.</p>
+
+<p>Constantia was not uninfluenced by these reasonings. Instead of
+reluctantly admitting them, she somewhat wondered that they had not been
+suggested by her own reflections. Her imagination anticipated her
+entrance on that mighty scene with emotions little less than rapturous.
+Her studies had conferred a thousand ideal charms on a theatre where
+Scipio and Cæsar had performed their parts. Her wishes were no less
+importunate to gaze upon the Alps and Pyrenees, and to vivify and
+chasten the images collected from books, by comparing them with their
+real prototypes.</p>
+
+<p>No social ties existed to hold her to America. Her only kinsman and
+friend would be the companion of her journeys. This project was likewise
+recommended by advantages of which she only was qualified to judge.
+Sophia Westwyn had embarked, four years previous to this date, for
+England, in company with an English lady and her husband. The
+arrangements that were made forbade either of the friends to hope for a
+future meeting. Yet now, by virtue of this project, this meeting seemed
+no longer to be hopeless.</p>
+
+<p>This burst of new ideas and now hopes on the mind of Constantia took
+place in the course of a single hour. No change in her external
+situation had been wrought, and yet her mind had undergone the most
+signal revolution. Tho novelty as well as greatness of the prospect kept
+her in a state of elevation and awe, more ravishing than any she had
+ever experienced. Anticipations of intercourse with nature in her most
+august forms, with men in diversified states of society, with the
+posterity of Greeks and Romans, and with the actors that were now upon
+the stage, and, above all, with the being whom absence and the want of
+other attachments had, in some sort, contributed to deify, made this
+night pass away upon the wings of transport.</p>
+
+<p>The hesitation which existed on parting with her father speedily gave
+place to an ardour impatient of the least delay. She saw no impediments
+to the immediate commencement of the voyage. To delay it a month, or
+even a week, seemed to be unprofitable tardiness. In this ferment of her
+thoughts, she was neither able nor willing to sleep. In arranging the
+means of departure and anticipating the events that would successively
+arise, there was abundant food for contemplation.</p>
+
+<p>She marked the first dawnings of the day, and rose. She felt reluctance
+to break upon her father's morning slumbers, but considered that her
+motives were extremely urgent, and that the pleasure afforded him by her
+zealous approbation of his scheme would amply compensate him for this
+unseasonable intrusion on his rest. She hastened therefore to his
+chamber. She entered with blithesome steps, and softly drew aside the
+curtain.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Unhappy Constantia! At the moment when thy dearest hopes had budded
+afresh, when the clouds of insecurity and disquiet had retired from thy
+vision, wast thou assailed by the great subverter of human schemes. Thou
+sawest nothing in futurity but an eternal variation and succession of
+delights. Thou wast hastening to forget dangers and sorrows which thou
+fondly imaginedst were never to return. This day was to be the outset of
+a new career; existence was henceforth to be embellished with enjoyments
+hitherto scarcely within the reach of hope.</p>
+
+<p>Alas! thy predictions of calamity seldom failed to be verified. Not so
+thy prognostics of pleasure. These, though fortified by every
+calculation of contingencies, were edifices grounded upon nothing. Thy
+life was a struggle with malignant destiny,&mdash;a contest for happiness in
+which thou wast fated to be overcome.</p>
+
+<p>She stooped to kiss the venerable cheek of her father, and, by
+whispering, to break his slumber. Her eye was no sooner fixed upon his
+countenance, than she started back and shrieked. She had no power to
+forbear. Her outcries were piercing and vehement. They ceased only with
+the cessation of breath. She sunk upon a chair in a state partaking more
+of death than of life, mechanically prompted to give vent to her agonies
+in shrieks, but incapable of uttering a sound.</p>
+
+<p>The alarm called her servants to the spot. They beheld her dumb, wildly
+gazing, and gesticulating in a way that indicated frenzy. She made no
+resistance to their efforts, but permitted them to carry her back to her
+own chamber. Sarah called upon her to speak, and to explain the cause
+of these appearances; but the shock which she had endured seemed to have
+irretrievably destroyed her powers of utterance.</p>
+
+<p>The terrors of the affectionate Sarah were increased. She kneeled by the
+bedside of her mistress, and, with streaming eyes, besought the unhappy
+lady to compose herself. Perhaps the sight of weeping in another
+possessed a sympathetic influence, or nature had made provision for this
+salutary change. However that be, a torrent of tears now came to her
+succour, and rescued her from a paroxysm of insanity which its longer
+continuance might have set beyond the reach of cure.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, a glance at his master's countenance made Fabian fully
+acquainted with the nature of the scene. The ghastly visage of Mr.
+Dudley showed that he was dead, and that he had died in some terrific
+and mysterious manner. As soon as this faithful servant recovered from
+surprise, the first expedient which his ingenuity suggested was to fly
+with tidings of this event to Mr. Melbourne. That gentleman instantly
+obeyed the summons. With the power of weeping, Constantia recovered the
+power of reflection. This, for a time, served her only as a medium of
+anguish. Melbourne mingled his tears with hers, and endeavoured, by
+suitable remonstrances, to revive her fortitude.</p>
+
+<p>The filial passion is perhaps instinctive to man; but its energy is
+modified by various circumstances. Every event in the life of Constantia
+contributed to heighten this passion beyond customary bounds. In the
+habit of perpetual attendance on her father, of deriving from him her
+knowledge, and sharing with him the hourly fruits of observation and
+reflection, his existence seemed blended with her own. There was no
+other whose concurrence and council she could claim, with whom a
+domestic and uninterrupted alliance could be maintained. The only bond
+of consanguinity was loosened, the only prop of friendship was taken
+away.</p>
+
+<p>Others, perhaps, would have observed that her father's existence had
+been merely a source of obstruction and perplexity; that she had
+hitherto acted by her own wisdom, and would find, hereafter, less
+difficulty in her choice of schemes, and fewer impediments to the
+execution. These reflections occurred not to her. This disaster had
+increased, to an insupportable degree, the vacancy and dreariness of her
+existence. The face she was habituated to behold had disappeared
+forever; the voice whose mild and affecting tones had so long been
+familiar to her ears was hushed into eternal silence. The felicity to
+which she clung was ravished away; nothing remained to hinder her from
+sinking into utter despair.</p>
+
+<p>The first transports of grief having subsided, a source of consolation
+seemed to be opened in the belief that her father had only changed one
+form of being for another; that he still lived to be the guardian of her
+peace and honour, to enter the recesses of her thought, to forewarn her
+of evil and invite her to good. She grasped at these images with
+eagerness, and fostered them as the only solaces of her calamity. They
+were not adapted to inspire her with cheerfulness, but they sublimed her
+sensations, and added an inexplicable fascination to sorrow.</p>
+
+<p>It was unavoidable sometimes to reflect upon the nature of that death
+which had occurred. Tokens were sufficiently apparent that outward
+violence had been the cause. Who could be the performer of so black a
+deed, by what motives he was guided, were topics of fruitless
+conjecture. She mused upon this subject, not from the thirst of
+vengeance, but from a mournful curiosity. Had the perpetrator stood
+before her and challenged retribution, she would not have lifted a
+finger to accuse or to punish. The evil already endured left her no
+power to concert and execute projects for extending that evil to others.
+Her mind was unnerved, and recoiled with loathing from considerations of
+abstract justice, or political utility, when they prompted to the
+prosecution of the murderer.</p>
+
+<p>Melbourne was actuated by different views, but on this subject he was
+painfully bewildered. Mr. Dudley's deportment to his servants and
+neighbours was gentle and humane. He had no dealings with the
+trafficking or labouring part of mankind. The fund which supplied his
+cravings of necessity or habit was his daughter's. His recreations and
+employments were harmless and lonely. The evil purpose was limited to
+his death, for his chamber was exactly in the same state in which
+negligent security had left it. No midnight footstep or voice, no
+unbarred door or lifted window, afforded tokens of the presence or
+traces of the entrance or flight of the assassin.</p>
+
+<p>The meditations of Constantia, however, could not fail in some of their
+circuities to encounter the image of Craig. His agency in the
+impoverishment of her father, and in the scheme by which she had like to
+have been loaded with the penalties of forgery, was of an impervious and
+unprecedented kind. Motives were unveiled by time, in some degree
+accounting for his treacherous proceeding; but there was room to suppose
+an inborn propensity to mischief. Was he not the author of this new
+evil? His motives and his means were equally inscrutable, but their
+inscrutability might flow from her own defects in discernment and
+knowledge, and time might supply her defects in this as in former
+instances.</p>
+
+<p>These images were casual. The causes of the evil were seldom
+contemplated. Her mind was rarely at liberty to wander from reflection
+on her irremediable loss. Frequently, when confused by distressful
+recollections, she would detect herself going to her father's chamber.
+Often his well-known accents would ring in her ears, and the momentary
+impulse would be to answer his calls. Her reluctance to sit down to her
+meals without her usual companion could scarcely be surmounted.</p>
+
+<p>In this state of mind, the image of the only friend who survived, or
+whose destiny, at least, was doubtful, occurred to her. She sunk into
+fits of deeper abstraction and dissolved away in tears of more agonizing
+tenderness. A week after her father's interment, she shut herself up in
+her chamber, to torment herself with fruitless remembrances. The name of
+Sophia Westwyn was pronounced, and the ditty that solemnized their
+parting was sung. Now, more than formerly, she became sensible of the
+loss of that portrait which had been deposited in the hands of M'Crea as
+a pledge. As soon as her change of fortune had supplied her with the
+means of redeeming it, she hastened to M'Crea for that end. To her
+unspeakable disappointment, he was absent from the city; he had taken a
+long journey, and the exact period of his return could not be
+ascertained. His clerks refused to deliver the picture, or even, by
+searching, to discover whether it was still in their master's
+possession. This application had frequently and lately been repeated,
+but without success; M'Crea had not yet returned, and his family were
+equally in the dark as to the day on which his return might be expected.</p>
+
+<p>She determined, on this occasion, to renew her visit. Her incessant
+disappointments had almost extinguished hope, and she made inquiries at
+his door, with a faltering accent and sinking heart. These emotions were
+changed into surprise and delight, when answer was made that he had just
+arrived. She was instantly conducted into his presence.</p>
+
+<p>The countenance of M'Crea easily denoted that his visitant was by no
+means acceptable. There was a mixture of embarrassment and sullenness in
+his air, which was far from being diminished when the purpose of this
+visit was explained. Constantia reminded him of the offer and acceptance
+of this pledge, and of the conditions with which the transaction was
+accompanied.</p>
+
+<p>He acknowledged, with some hesitation, that a promise had been given to
+retain the pledge until it were in her power to redeem it; but the long
+delay, the urgency of his own wants, and particularly the ill treatment
+which he conceived himself to have suffered in the transaction
+respecting the forged note, had, in his own opinion, absolved him from
+this promise. He had therefore sold the picture to a goldsmith, for as
+much as the gold about it was worth.</p>
+
+<p>This information produced, in the heart of Constantia, a contest between
+indignation and sorrow, that for a time debarred her from speech. She
+stifled the anger that was, at length, rising to her lips, and calmly
+inquired to whom the picture had been sold.</p>
+
+<p>M'Crea answered that for his part he had little dealings in gold and
+silver, but every thing of that kind which fell to his share he
+transacted with Mr. D&mdash;&mdash;. This person was one of the most eminent of
+his profession. His character and place of abode were universally
+known. Tho only expedient that remained was to apply to him, and to
+ascertain, forthwith, the destiny of the picture. It was too probable
+that, when separated from its case, the portrait was thrown away or
+destroyed, as a mere encumbrance, but the truth was too momentous to be
+made the sport of mere probability. She left the house of M'Crea, and
+hastened to that of the goldsmith.</p>
+
+<p>The circumstance was easily recalled to his remembrance. It was true
+that such a picture had been offered for sale, and that he had purchased
+it. The workmanship was curious, and he felt unwilling to destroy it. He
+therefore hung it up in his shop and indulged the hope that a purchaser
+would some time be attracted by the mere beauty of the toy.</p>
+
+<p>Constantia's hopes were revived by these tidings, and she earnestly
+inquired if it were still in his possession.</p>
+
+<p>"No. A young gentleman had entered his shop some months before: the
+picture had caught his fancy, and he had given a price which the artist
+owned he should not have demanded, had he not been encouraged by the
+eagerness which the gentleman betrayed to possess it."</p>
+
+<p>"Who was this gentleman? Had there been any previous acquaintance
+between them? What was his name, his profession, and where was he to be
+found?"</p>
+
+<p>"Really," the goldsmith answered, "he was ignorant respecting all those
+particulars. Previously to this purchase, the gentleman had sometimes
+visited his shop; but he did not recollect to have since seen him. He
+was unacquainted with his name and his residence."</p>
+
+<p>"What appeared to be his motives for purchasing this picture?"</p>
+
+<p>"The customer appeared highly pleased with it. Pleasure, rather than
+surprise, seemed to be produced by the sight of it. If I were permitted
+to judge," continued the artist, "I should imagine that the young man
+was acquainted with the original. To say the truth, I hinted as much at
+the time, and I did not see that he discouraged the supposition. Indeed,
+I cannot conceive how the picture could otherwise have gained any value
+in his eyes."</p>
+
+<p>This only heightened the eagerness of Constantia to trace the footsteps
+of the youth. It was obvious to suppose some communication or connection
+between her friend and this purchaser. She repeated her inquiries, and
+the goldsmith, after some consideration, said, "Why, on second thoughts,
+I seem to have some notion of having seen a figure like that of my
+customer go into a lodging-house in Front Street, some time before I met
+with him at my shop."</p>
+
+<p>The situation of this house being satisfactorily described, and the
+artist being able to afford her no further information, except as to
+stature and guise, she took her leave. There were two motives impelling
+her to prosecute her search after this person,&mdash;the desire of regaining
+this portrait and of procuring tidings of her friend. Involved as she
+was in ignorance, it was impossible to conjecture how far this incident
+would be subservient to these inestimable purposes. To procure an
+interview with this stranger was the first measure which prudence
+suggested.</p>
+
+<p>She knew not his name or his person. He was once seen entering a
+lodging-house. Thither she must immediately repair; but how to introduce
+herself, how to describe the person of whom she was in search, she knew
+not. She was beset with embarrassments and difficulties. While her
+attention was entangled by these, she proceeded unconsciously on her
+way, and stopped not until she reached the mansion that had been
+described. Here she paused to collect her thoughts.</p>
+
+<p>She found no relief in deliberation. Every moment added to her
+perplexity and indecision. Irresistibly impelled by her wishes, she at
+length, in a mood that partook of desperate, advanced to the door and
+knocked. The summons was immediately obeyed by a woman of decent
+appearance. A pause ensued, which Constantia at length terminated by a
+request to see the mistress of the house.</p>
+
+<p>The lady courteously answered that she was the person, and immediately
+ushered her visitant into an apartment. Constantia being seated, the
+lady waited for the disclosure of her message. To prolong the silence
+was only to multiply embarrassments. She reverted to the state of her
+feelings, and saw that they flowed from inconsistency and folly. One
+vigorous effort was sufficient to restore her to composure and
+self-command.</p>
+
+<p>She began with apologizing for a visit unpreceded by an introduction.
+The object of her inquiries was a person with whom it was of the utmost
+moment that she should procure a meeting, but whom, by an unfortunate
+concurrence of circumstances, she was unable to describe by the usual
+incidents of name and profession. Her knowledge was confined to his
+external appearance, and to the probability of his being an inmate of
+this house at the beginning of the year. She then proceeded to describe
+his person and dress.</p>
+
+<p>"It is true," said the lady; "such a one as you describe has boarded in
+this house. His name was Martynne. I have good reason to remember him,
+for he lived with me three months, and then left the country without
+paying for his board."</p>
+
+<p>"He has gone, then?" said Constantia, greatly discouraged by these
+tidings.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. He was a man of specious manners and loud pretensions. He came
+from England, bringing with him forged recommendatory letters, and,
+after passing from one end of the country to the other, contracting
+debts which he never paid and making bargains which he never fulfilled,
+he suddenly disappeared. It is likely that he has returned to Europe."</p>
+
+<p>"Had he no kindred, no friends, no companions?"</p>
+
+<p>"He found none here. He made pretences to alliances in England, which
+better information has, I believe, since shown to be false."</p>
+
+<p>This was the sum of the information procurable from this source.
+Constantia was unable to conceal her chagrin. These symptoms were
+observed by the lady, whose curiosity was awakened in turn. Questions
+were obliquely started, inviting Constantia to a disclosure of her
+thoughts. No advantage would arise from confidence, and the guest, after
+a few minutes of abstraction and silence, rose to take her leave.</p>
+
+<p>During this conference, some one appeared to be negligently sporting
+with the keys of a harpsichord, in the next apartment. The notes were
+too irregular and faint to make a forcible impression on the ear. In the
+present state of her mind, Constantia was merely conscious of the sound,
+in the intervals of conversation. Having arisen from her seat, her
+anxiety to obtain some information that might lead to the point she
+wished made her again pause. She endeavoured to invent some new
+interrogatory better suited to her purpose than those which had already
+been employed. A silence on both sides ensued.</p>
+
+<p>During this interval, the unseen musician suddenly refrained from
+rambling, and glided into notes of some refinement and complexity. The
+cadence was aerial; but a thunderbolt, falling at her feet, would not
+have communicated a more visible shock to the senses of Constantia. A
+glance that denoted a tumult of soul bordering on distraction was now
+fixed upon the door that led into the room from whence the harmony
+proceeded. Instantly the cadence was revived, and some accompanying
+voice was heard to warble,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">"Ah! far beyond this world of woes</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">We meet to part,&mdash;to part no more."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Joy and grief, in their sudden onset and their violent extremes,
+approach so nearly in their influence on human beings as scarce to be
+distinguished. Constantia's frame was still enfeebled by her recent
+distresses. The torrent of emotion was too abrupt and too vehement. Her
+faculties were overwhelmed, and she sunk upon the floor motionless and
+without sense, but not till she had faintly articulated,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"My God! My God! This is a joy unmerited and too great."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h3>
+
+
+<p>I must be forgiven if I now introduce myself on the stage. Sophia
+Westwyn is the friend of Constantia, and the writer of this narrative.
+So far as my fate was connected with that of my friend, it is worthy to
+be known. That connection has constituted the joy and misery of my
+existence, and has prompted me to undertake this task.</p>
+
+<p>I assume no merit from the desire of knowledge and superiority to
+temptation. There is little of which I can boast; but that little I
+derived, instrumentally, from Constantia. Poor as my attainments are, it
+is to her that I am indebted for them all. Life itself was the gift of
+her father, but my virtue and felicity are her gifts. That I am neither
+indigent nor profligate, flows from her bounty.</p>
+
+<p>I am not unaware of the divine superintendence,&mdash;of the claims upon my
+gratitude and service which pertain to my God. I know that all physical
+and moral agents are merely instrumental to the purpose that he wills;
+but, though the great Author of being and felicity must not be
+forgotten, it is neither possible nor just to overlook the claims upon
+our love with which our fellow-beings are invested.</p>
+
+<p>The supreme love does not absorb, but chastens and enforces, all
+subordinate affections. In proportion to the rectitude of my perceptions
+and the ardour of my piety, must I clearly discern and fervently love
+the excellence discovered in my fellow-beings, and industriously promote
+their improvement and felicity.</p>
+
+<p>From my infancy to my seventeenth year, I lived in the house of Mr.
+Dudley. On the day of my birth I was deserted by my mother. Her temper
+was more akin to that of tigress than woman. Yet that is unjust; for
+beasts cherish their offspring. No natures but human are capable of that
+depravity which makes insensible to the claims of innocence and
+helplessness.</p>
+
+<p>But let me not recall her to memory. Have I not enough of sorrow? Yet to
+omit my causes of disquiet, the unprecedented forlornness of my
+condition, and the persecutions of an unnatural parent, would be to
+leave my character a problem, and the sources of my love of Miss Dudley
+unexplored. Yet I must not dwell upon that complication of iniquities,
+that savage ferocity and unextinguishable hatred of me, which
+characterized my unhappy mother.</p>
+
+<p>I was not safe under the protection of Mr. Dudley, nor happy in the
+caresses of his daughter. My mother asserted the privilege of that
+relation: she laboured for years to obtain the control of my person and
+actions, to snatch me from a peaceful and chaste asylum, and detain me
+in her own house, where, indeed, I should not have been in want of
+raiment and food; but where&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>O my mother! Let me not dishonour thy name! Yet it is not in my power to
+enhance thy infamy. Thy crimes, unequalled as they were, were perhaps
+expiated by thy penitence. Thy offences are too well known; but perhaps
+they who witnessed thy freaks of intoxication, thy defiance of public
+shame, the enormity of thy pollutions, the infatuation that made thee
+glory in the pursuit of a loathsome and detestable trade, may be
+strangers to the remorse and the abstinence which accompanied the close
+of thy ignominious life.</p>
+
+<p>For ten years was my peace incessantly molested by the menaces or
+machinations of my mother. The longer she meditated my destruction, the
+more tenacious of her purpose and indefatigable in her efforts she
+became. That my mind was harassed with perpetual alarms was not enough.
+The fame and tranquillity of Mr. Dudley and his daughter were hourly
+assailed. My mother resigned herself to the impulses of malignity and
+rage. Headlong passions, and a vigorous though perverted understanding,
+were hers. Hence, her stratagems to undermine the reputation of my
+protector, and to bereave him of domestic comfort, were subtle and
+profound. Had she not herself been careless of that good which she
+endeavoured to wrest from others, her artifices could scarcely have been
+frustrated.</p>
+
+<p>In proportion to the hazard which accrued to my protector and friend,
+the more ardent their zeal in my defence and their affection for my
+person became. They watched over me with ineffable solicitude. At all
+hours and in every occupation, I was the companion of Constantia. All my
+wants were supplied in the same proportion as hers. The tenderness of
+Mr. Dudley seemed equally divided between us. I partook of his
+instructions, and the means of every intellectual and personal
+gratification were lavished upon me.</p>
+
+<p>The speed of my mother's career in infamy was at length slackened. She
+left New York, which had long been the theatre of her vices. Actuated by
+a now caprice, she determined to travel through the Southern States.
+Early indulgence was the cause of her ruin, but her parents had given
+her the embellishments of a fashionable education. She delighted to
+assume all parts, and personate the most opposite characters. She now
+resolved to carry a new name, and the mask of virtue, into scenes
+hitherto unvisited.</p>
+
+<p>She journeyed as far as Charleston. Here she met an inexperienced youth,
+lately arrived from England, and in possession of an ample fortune. Her
+speciousness and artifices seduced him into a precipitate marriage. Her
+true character, however, could not be long concealed by herself, and her
+vices had been too conspicuous for her long to escape recognition. Her
+husband was infatuated by her blandishments. To abandon her, or to
+contemplate her depravity with unconcern, were equally beyond his power.
+Romantic in his sentiments, his fortitude was unequal to his
+disappointments, and he speedily sunk into the grave. By a similar
+refinement in generosity, he bequeathed to her his property.</p>
+
+<p>With this accession of wealth, she returned to her ancient abode. The
+mask lately worn seemed preparing to be thrown aside, and her profligate
+habits to be resumed with more eagerness than ever; but an unexpected
+and total revolution was effected, by the exhortations of a Methodist
+divine. Her heart seemed, on a sudden, to be remoulded, her vices and
+the abettors of them were abjured, she shut out the intrusions of
+society, and prepared to expiate, by the rigours of abstinence and the
+bitterness of tears, the offences of her past life.</p>
+
+<p>In this, as in her former career, she was unacquainted with restraint
+and moderation. Her remorses gained strength in proportion as she
+cherished them. She brooded over the images of her guilt, till the
+possibility of forgiveness and remission disappeared. Her treatment of
+her daughter and her husband constituted the chief source of her
+torment. Her awakened conscience refused her a momentary respite from
+its persecutions. Her thoughts became, by rapid degrees, tempestuous and
+gloomy, and it was at length evident that her condition was maniacal.</p>
+
+<p>In this state, she was to me an object, no longer of terror, but
+compassion. She was surrounded by hirelings, devoid of personal
+attachment, and anxious only to convert her misfortunes to their own
+advantage. This evil it was my duty to obviate. My presence, for a time,
+only enhanced the vehemence of her malady; but at length it was only by
+my attendance and soothing that she was diverted from the fellest
+purposes. Shocking execrations and outrages, resolutions and efforts to
+destroy herself and those around her, were sure to take place in my
+absence. The moment I appeared before her, her fury abated, her
+gesticulations were becalmed, and her voice exerted only in incoherent
+and pathetic lamentations.</p>
+
+<p>These scenes, though so different from those which I had formerly been
+condemned to witness, were scarcely less excruciating. The friendship of
+Constantia Dudley was my only consolation. She took up her abode with
+me, and shared with me every disgustful and perilous office which my
+mother's insanity prescribed.</p>
+
+<p>Of this consolation, however, it was my fate to be bereaved. My mother's
+state was deplorable, and no remedy hitherto employed was efficacious. A
+voyage to England was conceived likely to benefit, by change of
+temperature and scenes, and by the opportunity it would afford of trying
+the superior skill of English physicians. This scheme, after various
+struggles on my part, was adopted. It was detestable to my imagination,
+because it severed me from that friend in whose existence mine was
+involved, and without whose participation knowledge lost its attractions
+and society became a torment.</p>
+
+<p>The prescriptions of my duty could not be disguised or disobeyed, and we
+parted. A mutual engagement was formed to record every sentiment and
+relate every event that happened in the life of either, and no
+opportunity of communicating information was to be omitted. This
+engagement was punctually performed on my part. I sought out every
+method of conveyance to my friend, and took infinite pains to procure
+tidings from her; but all were ineffectual.</p>
+
+<p>My mother's malady declined, but was succeeded by a pulmonary disease,
+which threatened her speedy destruction. By the restoration of her
+understanding, the purpose of her voyage was obtained, and my impatience
+to return, which the inexplicable and ominous silence of my friend daily
+increased, prompted me to exert all my powers of persuasion to induce
+her to revisit America.</p>
+
+<p>My mother's frenzy was a salutary crisis in her moral history. She
+looked back upon her past conduct with unspeakable loathing, but this
+retrospect only invigorated her devotion and her virtue; but the thought
+of returning to the scene of her unhappiness and infamy could not be
+endured. Besides, life, in her eyes, possessed considerable attractions,
+and her physicians flattered her with recovery from her present disease,
+if she would change the atmosphere of England for that of Languedoc and
+Naples.</p>
+
+<p>I followed her with murmurs and reluctance. To desert her in her present
+critical state would have been inhuman. My mother's aversions and
+attachments, habits and views, were dissonant with my own. Conformity of
+sentiments and impressions of maternal tenderness did not exist to bind
+us to each other. My attendance was assiduous, but it was the sense of
+duty that rendered my attendance a supportable task.</p>
+
+<p>Her decay was eminently gradual. No time seemed to diminish her appetite
+for novelty and change. During three years we traversed every part of
+France, Switzerland, and Italy. I could not but attend to surrounding
+scenes, and mark the progress of the mighty revolution, whose effects,
+like agitation in a fluid, gradually spread from Paris, the centre, over
+the face of the neighbouring kingdoms; but there passed not a day or an
+hour in which the image of Constantia was not recalled, in which the
+most pungent regrets were not felt at the inexplicable silence which had
+been observed by her, and the most vehement longings indulged to return
+to my native country. My exertions to ascertain her condition by
+indirect means, by interrogating natives of America with whom I chanced
+to meet, were unwearied, but, for a long period, ineffectual.</p>
+
+<p>During this pilgrimage, Rome was thrice visited. My mother's
+indisposition was hastening to a crisis, and she formed the resolution
+of closing her life at the bottom of Vesuvius. We stopped, for the sake
+of a few days' repose, at Rome. On the morning after our arrival, I
+accompanied some friends to view the public edifices. Casting my eyes
+over the vast and ruinous interior of the Coliseum, my attention was
+fixed by the figure of a young man whom, after a moment's pause, I
+recollected to have seen in the streets of New York. At a distance from
+home, mere community of country is no inconsiderable bond of affection.
+The social spirit prompts us to cling even to inanimate objects, when
+they remind us of ancient fellowships and juvenile attachments.</p>
+
+<p>A servant was despatched to summon this stranger, who recognised a
+countrywoman with a pleasure equal to that which I had received. On
+nearer view, this person, whose name was Courtland, did not belie my
+favourable prepossessions. Our intercourse was soon established on a
+footing of confidence and intimacy.</p>
+
+<p>The destiny of Constantia was always uppermost in my thoughts. This
+person's acquaintance was originally sought chiefly in the hope of
+obtaining from him some information respecting my friend. On inquiry, I
+discovered that he had left his native city seven months after me.
+Having tasked his recollection and compared a number of facts, the name
+of Dudley at length recurred to him. He had casually heard the history
+of Craig's imposture and its consequences. These were now related as
+circumstantially as a memory occupied by subsequent incidents enabled
+him. The tale had been told to him, in a domestic circle which he was
+accustomed to frequent, by the person who purchased Mr. Dudley's lute
+and restored it to its previous owner on the conditions formerly
+mentioned.</p>
+
+<p>This tale filled me with anguish and doubt. My impatience to search out
+this unfortunate girl, and share with her her sorrows or relieve them,
+was anew excited by this mournful intelligence. That Constantia Dudley
+was reduced to beggary was too abhorrent to my feelings to receive
+credit; yet the sale of her father's property, comprising even his
+furniture and clothing, seemed to prove that she had fallen even to this
+depth. This enabled me in some degree to account for her silence. Her
+generous spirit would induce her to conceal misfortunes from her friend
+which no communication would alleviate. It was possible that she had
+selected some new abode, and that, in consequence, the letters I had
+written, and which amounted to volumes, had never reached her hands.</p>
+
+<p>My mother's state would not suffer me to obey the impulse of my heart.
+Her frame was verging towards dissolution. Courtland's engagements
+allowed him to accompany us to Naples, and here the long series of my
+mother's pilgrimages closed in death. Her obsequies were no sooner
+performed, than I determined to set out on my long-projected voyage. My
+mother's property, which, in consequence of her decease, devolved upon
+me, was not inconsiderable. There is scarcely any good so dear to a
+rational being as competence. I was not unacquainted with its benefits,
+but this acquisition was valuable to mo chiefly as it enabled me to
+reunite my fate to that of Constantia.</p>
+
+<p>Courtland was my countryman and friend. He was destitute of fortune, and
+had been led to Europe partly by the spirit of adventure, and partly on
+a mercantile project. He had made sale of his property on advantageous
+terms, in the ports of France, and resolved to consume the produce in
+examining this scene of heroic exploits and memorable revolutions. His
+slender stock, though frugally and even parsimoniously administered, was
+nearly exhausted; and, at the time of our meeting at Rome, he was making
+reluctant preparations to return.</p>
+
+<p>Sufficient opportunity was afforded us, in an unrestrained and domestic
+intercourse of three months, which succeeded our Roman interview, to
+gain a knowledge of each other. There was that conformity of tastes and
+views between us which could scarcely fail, at an age and in a situation
+like ours, to give birth to tenderness. My resolution to hasten to
+America was peculiarly unwelcome to my friend. He had offered to be my
+companion, but this offer my regard to his interest obliged me to
+decline; but I was willing to compensate him for this denial, as well as
+to gratify my own heart, by an immediate marriage.</p>
+
+<p>So long a residence in England and Italy had given birth to friendships
+and connections of the dearest kind. I had no view but to spend my life
+with Courtland, in the midst of my maternal kindred, who were English. A
+voyage to America and reunion with Constantia were previously
+indispensable; but I hoped that my friend might be prevailed upon, and
+that her disconnected situation would permit her to return with me to
+Europe. If this end could not be accomplished, it was my inflexible
+purpose to live and die with her. Suitably to this arrangement,
+Courtland was to repair to London, and wait patiently till I should be
+able to rejoin him there, or to summon him to meet me in America.</p>
+
+<p>A week after my mother's death, I became a wife, and embarked the next
+day, at Naples, in a Ragusan ship, destined for New York. The voyage was
+tempestuous and tedious. The vessel was necessitated to make a short
+stay at Toulon. The state of that city, however, then in possession of
+the English and besieged by the revolutionary forces, was adverse to
+commercial views. Happily, we resumed our voyage on the day previous to
+that on which the place was evacuated by the British. Our seasonable
+departure rescued us from witnessing a scene of horrors of which the
+history of former wars furnishes us with few examples.</p>
+
+<p>A cold and boisterous navigation awaited us. My palpitations and
+inquietudes augmented as we approached the American coast. I shall not
+forget the sensations which I experienced on the sight of the Beacon at
+Sandy Hook. It was first seen at midnight, in a stormy and beclouded
+atmosphere, emerging from the waves, whose fluctuation allowed it, for
+some time, to be visible only by fits. This token of approaching land
+affected me as much as if I had reached the threshold of my friend's
+dwelling.</p>
+
+<p>At length we entered the port, and I viewed, with high-raised but
+inexplicable feelings, objects with which I had been from infancy
+familiar. The flagstaff erected on the Battery recalled to my
+imagination the pleasures of the evening and morning walks which I had
+taken on that spot with the lost Constantia. The dream was fondly
+cherished, that the figure which I saw loitering along the terrace was
+hers.</p>
+
+<p>On disembarking, I gazed at every female passenger, in hope that it was
+she whom I sought. An absence of three years had obliterated from my
+memory none of the images which attended me on my departure.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h3>
+
+
+<p>After a night of repose rather than of sleep, I began the search after
+my friend. I went to the house which the Dudleys formerly inhabited, and
+which had been the asylum of my infancy. It was now occupied by
+strangers, by whom no account could be given of its former tenants. I
+obtained directions to the owner of the house. He was equally unable to
+satisfy my curiosity. The purchase had been made at a public sale, and
+terms had been settled, not with Dudley, but with the sheriff.</p>
+
+<p>It is needless to say that the history of Craig's imposture and its
+consequences were confirmed by every one who resided at that period in
+New York. The Dudleys were well remembered, and their disappearance,
+immediately after their fall, had been generally noticed; but whither
+they had retired was a problem which no one was able to solve.</p>
+
+<p>This evasion was strange. By what motives the Dudleys were induced to
+change their ancient abode could be vaguely guessed. My friend's
+grandfather was a native of the West Indies. Descendants of the same
+stock still resided in Tobago. They might be affluent, and to them it
+was possible that Mr. Dudley, in this change of fortune, had betaken
+himself for relief. This was a mournful expedient, since it would raise
+a barrier between my friend and myself scarcely to be surmounted.</p>
+
+<p>Constantia's mother was stolen by Mr. Dudley from a convent at Amiens.
+There were no affinities, therefore, to draw them to France. Her
+grandmother was a native of Baltimore, of a family of some note, by name
+Ridgeley. This family might still exist, and have either afforded an
+asylum to the Dudleys, or, at least, be apprized of their destiny. It
+was obvious to conclude that they no longer existed within the precincts
+of New York. A journey to Baltimore was the next expedient.</p>
+
+<p>This journey was made in the depth of winter, and by the speediest
+conveyance. I made no more than a day's sojourn in Philadelphia. The
+epidemic by which that city had been lately ravaged, I had not heard of
+till my arrival in America. Its devastations were then painted to my
+fancy in the most formidable colours. A few months only had elapsed
+since its extinction, and I expected to see numerous marks of misery and
+depopulation.</p>
+
+<p>To my no small surprise, however, no vestiges of this calamity were to
+be discerned. All houses were open, all streets thronged, and all faces
+thoughtless or busy. The arts and the amusements of life seemed as
+sedulously cultivated as ever. Little did I then think what had been,
+and what at that moment was, the condition of my friend. I stopped for
+the sake of respite from fatigue, and did not, therefore, pass much time
+in the streets. Perhaps, had I walked seasonably abroad, we might have
+encountered each other, and thus have saved ourselves from a thousand
+anxieties.</p>
+
+<p>At Baltimore I made myself known, without the formality of introduction,
+to the Ridgeleys. They acknowledged their relationship to Mr. Dudley,
+but professed absolute ignorance of his fate. Indirect intercourse only
+had been maintained, formerly, by Dudley with his mother's kindred. They
+had heard of his misfortune a twelvemonth after it happened; but what
+measures had been subsequently pursued, their kinsman had not thought
+proper to inform them.</p>
+
+<p>The failure of this expedient almost bereft me of hope. Neither my own
+imagination nor the Ridgeleys could suggest any new mode by which my
+purpose was likely to be accomplished. To leave America without
+obtaining the end of my visit could not be thought of without agony; and
+yet the continuance of my stay promised me no relief from my
+uncertainties.</p>
+
+<p>On this theme I ruminated without ceasing. I recalled every conversation
+and incident of former times, and sought in them a clue by which my
+present conjectures might be guided. One night, immersed alone in my
+chamber, my thoughts were thus employed. My train of meditation was, on
+this occasion, new. From the review of particulars from which no
+satisfaction had hitherto been gained, I passed to a vague and
+comprehensive retrospect.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Dudley's early life, his profession of a painter, his zeal in this
+pursuit, and his reluctance to quit it, were remembered. Would he not
+revert to this profession when other means of subsistence were gone? It
+is true, similar obstacles with those which had formerly occasioned his
+resort to a different path existed at present, and no painter of his
+name was to be found in Philadelphia, Baltimore, or New York. But would
+it not occur to him, that the patronage denied to his skill by the
+frugal and unpolished habits of his countrymen might, with more
+probability of success, be sought from the opulence and luxury of
+London? Nay, had he not once affirmed, in my hearing, that, if he ever
+were reduced to poverty, this was the method he would pursue?</p>
+
+<p>This conjecture was too bewitching to be easily dismissed. Every new
+reflection augmented its force. I was suddenly raised by it from the
+deepest melancholy to the region of lofty and gay hopes. Happiness, of
+which I had begun to imagine myself irretrievably bereft, seemed once
+more to approach within my reach. Constantia would not only be found,
+but be met in the midst of those comforts which her father's skill could
+not fail to procure, and on that very stage where I most desired to
+encounter her. Mr. Dudley had many friends and associates of his youth
+in London. Filial duty had repelled their importunities to fix his abode
+in Europe, when summoned home by his father. On his father's death these
+solicitations had been renewed, but were disregarded for reasons which
+he, afterwards, himself confessed were fallacious. That they would a
+third time be preferred, and would regulate his conduct, seemed to me
+incontestable.</p>
+
+<p>I regarded with wonder and deep regret the infatuation that had
+hitherto excluded these images from my understanding and my memory. How
+many dangers and toils had I endured since my embarkation at Naples, to
+the present moment! How many lingering minutes had I told since my first
+interview with Courtland! All were owing to my own stupidity. Had my
+present thoughts been seasonably suggested, I might long since have been
+restored to the embraces of my friend, without the necessity of an
+hour's separation from my husband.</p>
+
+<p>These were evils to be repaired as far as it was possible. Nothing now
+remained but to procure a passage to Europe. For this end diligent
+inquiries were immediately set on foot. A vessel was found, which, in a
+few weeks, would set out upon the voyage. Having bespoken a conveyance,
+it was incumbent on me to sustain with patience the unwelcome delay.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, my mind, delivered from the dejection and perplexities that
+lately haunted it, was capable of some attention to surrounding objects.
+I marked the peculiarities of manners and language in my new abode, and
+studied the effects which a political and religious system so opposite
+to that with which I had conversed in Italy and Switzerland had
+produced. I found that the difference between Europe and America lay
+chiefly in this:&mdash;that, in the former, all things tended to extremes,
+whereas, in the latter, all things tended to the same level. Genius, and
+virtue, and happiness, on these shores, were distinguished by a sort of
+mediocrity. Conditions were less unequal, and men were strangers to the
+heights of enjoyment and the depths of misery to which the inhabitants
+of Europe are accustomed.</p>
+
+<p>I received friendly notice and hospitable treatment from the Ridgeleys.
+These people were mercantile and plodding in their habits. I found in
+their social circle little exercise for the sympathies of my heart, and
+willingly accepted their aid to enlarge the sphere of my observation.</p>
+
+<p>About a week before my intended embarkation, and when suitable
+preparation had been made for that event, a lady arrived in town, who
+was cousin to my Constantia. She had frequently been mentioned in
+favourable terms in my hearing. She had passed her life in a rural
+abode with her father, who cultivated his own domain, lying forty miles
+from Baltimore.</p>
+
+<p>On an offer being made to introduce us to each other, I consented to
+know one whose chief recommendation in my eyes consisted in her affinity
+to Constantia Dudley. I found an artless and attractive female,
+unpolished and undepraved by much intercourse with mankind. At first
+sight, I was powerfully struck by the resemblance of her features to
+those of my friend, which sufficiently denoted their connection with a
+common stock.</p>
+
+<p>The first interview afforded mutual satisfaction. On our second meeting,
+discourse insensibly led to the mention of Miss Dudley, and of the
+design which had brought me to America. She was deeply affected by the
+earnestness with which I expatiated on her cousin's merits, and by the
+proofs which my conduct had given of unlimited attachment.</p>
+
+<p>I dwelt immediately on the measures which I had hitherto ineffectually
+pursued to trace her footsteps, and detailed the grounds of my present
+belief that we should meet in London. During this recital, my companion
+sighed and wept. When I finished my tale, her tears, instead of ceasing,
+flowed with new vehemence. This appearance excited some surprise, and I
+ventured to ask the cause of her grief.</p>
+
+<p>"Alas!" she replied, "I am personally a stranger to my cousin, but her
+character has been amply displayed to me by one who knew her well. I
+weep to think how much she has suffered. How much excellence we have
+lost!"</p>
+
+<p>"Nay," said I, "all her sufferings will, I hope, be compensated, and I
+by no means consider her as lost. If my search in London be
+unsuccessful, then shall I indeed despair."</p>
+
+<p>"Despair, then, already," said my sobbing companion, "for your search
+will be unsuccessful. How I feel for your disappointment! but it cannot
+be known too soon. My cousin is dead!"</p>
+
+<p>These tidings were communicated with tokens of sincerity and sorrow that
+left me no room to doubt that they were believed by the relater. My own
+emotions were suspended till interrogations had obtained a knowledge of
+her reasons for crediting this fatal event, and till she had explained
+the time and manner of her death. A friend of Miss Ridgeley's father had
+witnessed the devastations of the yellow fever in Philadelphia. He was
+apprized of the relationship that subsisted between his friend and the
+Dudleys. He gave a minute and circumstantial account of the arts of
+Craig. He mentioned the removal of my friends to Philadelphia, their
+obscure and indigent life, and, finally, their falling victims to the
+pestilence.</p>
+
+<p>He related the means by which he became apprized of their fate, and drew
+a picture of their death, surpassing all that imagination can conceive
+of shocking and deplorable. The quarter where they lived was nearly
+desolate. Their house was shut up, and, for a time, imagined to be
+uninhabited. Some suspicions being awakened in those who superintended
+the burial of the dead, the house was entered, and the father and child
+discovered to be dead. The former was stretched upon his wretched
+pallet, while the daughter was found on the floor of the lower room, in
+a state that denoted the sufferance not only of disease, but of famine.</p>
+
+<p>This tale was false. Subsequent discoveries proved this to be a
+detestable artifice of Craig, who, stimulated by incurable habits, had
+invented these disasters, for the purpose of enhancing the opinion of
+his humanity and of furthering his views on the fortune and daughter of
+Mr. Ridgeley.</p>
+
+<p>Its falsehood, however, I had as yet no means of ascertaining. I
+received it as true, and at once dismissed all my claims upon futurity.
+All hope of happiness, in this mutable and sublunary scene, was fled.
+Nothing remained but to join my friend in a world where woes are at an
+end and virtue finds recompense. "Surely," said I, "there will some time
+be a close to calamity and discord. To those whose lives have been
+blameless, but harassed by inquietudes to which not their own but the
+errors of others have given birth, a fortress will hereafter be
+assigned unassailable by change, impregnable to sorrow.</p>
+
+<p>"O my ill-fated Constantia! I will live to cherish thy remembrance, and
+to emulate thy virtue. I will endure the privation of thy friendship and
+the vicissitudes that shall befall me, and draw my consolation and
+courage from the foresight of no distant close to this terrestrial
+scene, and of ultimate and everlasting union with thee."</p>
+
+<p>This consideration, though it kept me from confusion and despair, could
+not, but with the healing aid of time, render me tranquil or strenuous.
+My strength was unequal to the struggle of my passions. The ship in
+which I engaged to embark could not wait for my restoration to health,
+and I was left behind.</p>
+
+<p>Mary Ridgeley was artless and affectionate. She saw that her society was
+dearer to me than that of any other, and was therefore seldom willing to
+leave my chamber. Her presence, less on her own account than by reason
+of her personal resemblance and her affinity by birth to Constantia, was
+a powerful solace.</p>
+
+<p>I had nothing to detain me longer in America. I was anxious to change my
+present lonely state, for the communion of those friends in England, and
+the performance of those duties, which were left to me. I was informed
+that a British packet would shortly sail from New York. My frame was
+sunk into greater weakness than I had felt at any former period; and I
+conceived that to return to New York by water was more commodious than
+to perform the journey by land.</p>
+
+<p>This arrangement was likewise destined to be disappointed. One morning I
+visited, according to my custom, Mary Ridgeley. I found her in a temper
+somewhat inclined to gayety. She rallied me, with great archness, on the
+care with which I had concealed from her a tender engagement into which
+I had lately entered.</p>
+
+<p>I supposed myself to comprehend her allusion, and therefore answered
+that accident, rather than design, had made me silent on the subject of
+marriage. She had hitherto known me by no appellation but Sophia
+Courtland. I had thought it needless to inform her that I was indebted
+for my name to my husband, Courtland being his name.</p>
+
+<p>"All that," said my friend, "I know already. And so you sagely think
+that my knowledge goes no further than that? We are not bound to love
+our husbands longer than their lives. There is no crime, I believe, in
+referring the living to the dead; and most heartily do congratulate you
+on your present choice."</p>
+
+<p>"What mean you? I confess, your discourse surpasses my comprehension."</p>
+
+<p>At that moment the bell at the door rung a loud peal. Miss Ridgeley
+hastened down at this signal, saying, with much significance,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I am a poor hand at solving a riddle. Here comes one who, if I mistake
+not, will find no difficulty in clearing up your doubts."</p>
+
+<p>Presently she came up, and said, with a smile of still greater archness,
+"Here is a young gentleman, a friend of mine, to whom I must have the
+pleasure of introducing you. He has come for the special purpose of
+solving my riddle." I attended her to the parlour without hesitation.</p>
+
+<p>She presented me, with great formality, to a youth, whose appearance did
+not greatly prepossess me in favour of his judgement. He approached me
+with an air supercilious and ceremonious; but the moment he caught a
+glance at my face, he shrunk back, visibly confounded and embarrassed. A
+pause ensued, in which Miss Ridgeley had opportunity to detect the error
+into which she had been led by the vanity of this young man.</p>
+
+<p>"How now, Mr. Martynne!" said my friend, in a tone of ridicule; "is it
+possible you do not know the lady who is the queen of your affections,
+the tender and indulgent fair one whose portrait you carry in your
+bosom, and whose image you daily and nightly bedew with your tears and
+kisses?"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Martynne's confusion, instead of being subdued by his struggle, only
+grew more conspicuous; and, after a few incoherent speeches and
+apologies, during which he carefully avoided encountering my eyes, he
+hastily departed.</p>
+
+<p>I applied to my friend, with great earnestness, for an explanation of
+this scene. It seems that, in the course of conversation with him on the
+preceding day, he had suffered a portrait which hung at his breast to
+catch Miss Ridgeley's eye. On her betraying a desire to inspect it more
+nearly, he readily produced it. My image had been too well copied by the
+artist not to be instantly recognised.</p>
+
+<p>She concealed her knowledge of the original, and, by questions well
+adapted to the purpose, easily drew from him confessions that this was
+the portrait of his mistress. He let fall sundry innuendoes and
+surmises, tending to impress her with a notion of the rank, fortune, and
+intellectual accomplishments of the nymph, and particularly of the
+doting fondness and measureless confidence with which she regarded him.</p>
+
+<p>Her imperfect knowledge of my situation left her in some doubt as to the
+truth of these pretensions, and she was willing to ascertain the truth
+by bringing about an interview. To guard against evasions and artifice
+in the lover, she carefully concealed from him her knowledge of the
+original, and merely pretended that a friend of hers was far more
+beautiful than her whom this picture represented. She added, that she
+expected a visit from her friend the next morning, and was willing, by
+showing her to Mr. Martynne, to convince him how much he was mistaken in
+supposing the perfections of his mistress unrivalled.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Martynne, while ho expressed his confidence that the experiment would
+only confirm his triumph, readily assented to the proposal, and the
+interview above described took place, accordingly, the next morning. Had
+he not been taken by surprise, it is likely the address of a man who
+possessed no contemptible powers would have extricated him from some of
+his embarrassment.</p>
+
+<p>That my portrait should be in the possession of one whom I had never
+before seen, and whose character and manners entitled him to no respect,
+was a source of some surprise. This mode of multiplying faces is
+extremely prevalent in this age, and was eminently characteristic of
+those with whom I had associated in different parts of Europe. The
+nature of my thoughts had modified my features into an expression which
+my friends were pleased to consider as a model for those who desired to
+personify the genius of suffering and resignation.</p>
+
+<p>Hence, among those whose religion permitted their devotion to a picture
+of a female, the symbols of their chosen deity were added to features
+and shape that resembled mine. My own caprice, as well as that of
+others, always dictated a symbolical, and, in every new instance, a
+different accompaniment of this kind. Hence was offered the means of
+tracing the history of that picture which Martynne possessed.</p>
+
+<p>It had been accurately examined by Miss Ridgeley, and her description of
+the frame in which it was placed instantly informed me that it was the
+same which, at our parting, I left in the possession of Constantia. My
+friend and myself were desirous of employing the skill of a Saxon
+painter, by name Eckstein. Each of us were drawn by him, she with the
+cincture of Venus, and I with the crescent of Dian. This symbol was
+still conspicuous on the brow of that image which Miss Ridgeley had
+examined, and served to identify the original proprietor.</p>
+
+<p>This circumstance tended to confirm my fears that Constantia was dead,
+since that she would part with this picture during her life was not to
+be believed. It was of little moment to discover how it came into the
+hands of the present possessor. Those who carried her remains to the
+grave had probably torn it from her neck and afterwards disposed of it
+for money.</p>
+
+<p>By whatever means, honest or illicit, it had been acquired by Martynne,
+it was proper that it should be restored to me. It was valuable to me,
+because it had been the property of one whom I loved, and it might prove
+highly injurious to my fame and my happiness, as the tool of this man's
+vanity and the attestor of his falsehood. I therefore wrote him a
+letter, acquainting him with my reasons for desiring the repossession of
+this picture, and offering a price for it at least double its value as a
+mere article of traffic. Martynne accepted the terms. He transmitted the
+picture, and with it a note, apologizing for the artifice of which he
+had been guilty, and mentioning, in order to justify his acceptance of
+the price which I had offered, that he had lately purchased it for an
+equal sum, of a goldsmith in Philadelphia.</p>
+
+<p>This information suggested a new reflection. Constantia had engaged to
+preserve, for the use of her friend, copious and accurate memorials of
+her life. Copies of these were, on suitable occasions, to be transmitted
+to me during my residence abroad. These I had never received, but it was
+highly probable that her punctuality, in the performance of the first
+part of her engagement, had been equal to my own.</p>
+
+<p>What, I asked, had become of these precious memorials? In the wreck of
+her property were these irretrievably engulfed? It was not probable that
+they had been wantonly destroyed. They had fallen, perhaps, into hands
+careless or unconscious of their value, or still lay, unknown and
+neglected, at the bottom of some closet or chest. Their recovery might
+be effected by vehement exertions, or by some miraculous accident.
+Suitable inquiries, carried on among those who were active in those
+scenes of calamity, might afford some clue by which the fate of the
+Dudleys, and the disposition of their property, might come into fuller
+light. These inquiries could be made only in Philadelphia, and thither,
+for that purpose, I now resolved to repair. There was still an interval
+of some weeks before the departure of the packet in which I proposed to
+embark.</p>
+
+<p>Having returned to the capital, I devoted all my zeal to my darling
+project. My efforts, however, were without success. Those who
+administered charity and succour during that memorable season, and who
+survived, could remove none of my doubts, nor answer any of my
+inquiries. Innumerable tales, equally disastrous with those which Miss
+Ridgeley had heard, were related; but, for a considerable period, none
+of their circumstances were sufficiently accordant with the history of
+the Dudleys.</p>
+
+<p>It is worthy of remark, in how many ways, and by what complexity of
+motives, human curiosity is awakened and knowledge obtained. By its
+connection with my darling purpose, every event in the history of this
+memorable pest was earnestly sought and deeply pondered. The powerful
+considerations which governed me made me slight those punctilious
+impediments which, in other circumstances, would have debarred me from
+intercourse with the immediate actors and observers. I found none who
+were unwilling to expatiate on this topic, or to communicate the
+knowledge they possessed. Their details were copious in particulars and
+vivid in minuteness. They exhibited the state of manners, the
+diversified effects of evil or heroic passions, and the endless forms
+which sickness and poverty assume in the obscure recesses of a
+commercial and populous city.</p>
+
+<p>Some of these details are too precious to be lost. It is above all
+things necessary that we should be thoroughly acquainted with the
+condition of our fellow-beings. Justice and compassion are the fruit of
+knowledge. The misery that overspreads so large a part of mankind exists
+chiefly because those who are able to relieve it do not know that it
+exists. Forcibly to paint the evil, seldom fails to excite the virtue of
+the spectator and seduce him into wishes, at least, if not into
+exertions, of beneficence.</p>
+
+<p>The circumstances in which I was placed were, perhaps, wholly singular.
+Hence, the knowledge I obtained was more comprehensive and authentic
+than was possessed by any one, even of the immediate actors or
+sufferers. This knowledge will not be useless to myself or to the world.
+The motives which dictated the present narrative will hinder me from
+relinquishing the pen till my fund of observation and experience be
+exhausted. Meanwhile, let me resume the thread of my tale.</p>
+
+<p>The period allowed me before my departure was nearly expired, and my
+purpose seemed to be as far from its accomplishment as ever. One evening
+I visited a lady who was the widow of a physician whose disinterested
+exertions had cost him his life. She dwelt with pathetic earnestness on
+the particulars of her own distress, and listened with deep attention to
+the inquiries and doubts which I had laid before her.</p>
+
+<p>After a pause of consideration, she said that an incident like that
+related by me she had previously heard from one of her friends, whose
+name she mentioned. This person was one of those whose office consisted
+in searching out the sufferers, and affording them unsought and
+unsolicited relief. She was offering to introduce me to this person,
+when he entered the apartment.</p>
+
+<p>After the usual compliments, my friend led the conversation as I wished.
+Between Mr. Thompson's tale and that related to Miss Ridgeley there was
+an obvious resemblance. The sufferers resided in an obscure alley. They
+had shut themselves up from all intercourse with their neighbours, and
+had died, neglected and unknown. Mr. Thompson was vested with the
+superintendence of this district, and had passed the house frequently
+without suspicion of its being tenanted.</p>
+
+<p>He was at length informed, by one of those who conducted a hearse, that
+he had seen the window in the upper story of this house lifted and a
+female show herself. It was night, and the hearseman chanced to be
+passing the door. He immediately supposed that the person stood in need
+of his services, and stopped.</p>
+
+<p>This procedure was comprehended by the person at the window, who,
+leaning out, addressed him in a broken and feeble voice. She asked him
+why he had not taken a different route, and upbraided him for inhumanity
+in leading his noisy vehicle past her door. She wanted repose, but the
+ceaseless rumbling of his wheels would not allow her the sweet respite
+of a moment.</p>
+
+<p>This invective was singular, and uttered in a voice which united the
+utmost degree of earnestness with a feebleness that rendered it almost
+inarticulate. The man was at a loss for a suitable answer. His pause
+only increased the impatience of the person at the window, who called
+upon him, in a still more anxious tone, to proceed, and entreated him to
+avoid this alley for the future.</p>
+
+<p>He answered that he must come whenever the occasion called him; that
+three persons now lay dead in this alley, and that he must be
+expeditious in their removal; but that he would return as seldom and
+make as little noise as possible.</p>
+
+<p>He was interrupted by new exclamations and upbraidings. These terminated
+in a burst of tears, and assertions that God and man were her
+enemies,&mdash;that they were determined to destroy her; but she trusted that
+the time would come when their own experience would avenge her wrongs,
+and teach them some compassion for the misery of others. Saying this,
+she shut the window with violence, and retired from it, sobbing with a
+vehemence that could be distinctly overheard by him in the street.</p>
+
+<p>He paused for some time, listening when this passion should cease. The
+habitation was slight, and he imagined that he heard her traversing the
+floor. While he stayed, she continued to vent her anguish in
+exclamations and sighs and passionate weeping. It did not appear that
+any other person was within.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Thompson, being next day informed of these incidents, endeavoured to
+enter the house; but his signals, though loud and frequently repeated,
+being unnoticed, he was obliged to gain admission by violence. An old
+man, and a female lovely in the midst of emaciation and decay, were
+discovered without signs of life. The death of the latter appeared to
+have been very recent.</p>
+
+<p>In examining the house, no traces of other inhabitants were to be found.
+Nothing serviceable as food was discovered, but the remnants of mouldy
+bread scattered on a table. No information could be gathered from
+neighbours respecting the condition and name of these unfortunate
+people. They had taken possession of this house during the rage of this
+malady, and refrained from all communication with their neighbours.</p>
+
+<p>There was too much resemblance between this and the story formerly
+heard, not to produce the belief that they related to the same persons.
+All that remained was to obtain directions to the proprietor of this
+dwelling, and exact from him all that he knew respecting his tenants.</p>
+
+<p>I found in him a man of worth and affability. He readily related, that a
+man applied to him for the use of this house, and that the application
+was received. At the beginning of the pestilence, a numerous family
+inhabited this tenement, but had died in rapid succession. This new
+applicant was the first to apprize him of this circumstance, and
+appeared extremely anxious to enter on immediate possession.</p>
+
+<p>It was intimated to him that danger would arise from the pestilential
+condition of the house. Unless cleansed and purified, disease would be
+unavoidably contracted. The inconvenience and hazard this applicant was
+willing to encounter, and, at length, hinted that no alternative was
+allowed him by his present landlord but to lie in the street or to
+procure some other abode.</p>
+
+<p>"What was the external appearance of this person?"</p>
+
+<p>"He was infirm, past the middle age, of melancholy aspect and indigent
+garb. A year had since elapsed, and more characteristic particulars had
+not been remarked, or were forgotten. The name had been mentioned, but,
+in the midst of more recent and momentous transactions, had vanished
+from remembrance. Dudley, or Dolby, or Hadley, seemed to approach more
+nearly than any other sounds."</p>
+
+<p>Permission to inspect the house was readily granted. It had remained,
+since that period, unoccupied. The furniture and goods were scanty and
+wretched, and he did not care to endanger his safety by meddling with
+them. He believed that they had not been removed or touched.</p>
+
+<p>I was insensible of any hazard which attended my visit, and, with the
+guidance of a servant, who felt as little apprehension as myself,
+hastened to the spot. I found nothing but tables and chairs. Clothing
+was nowhere to be seen. An earthen pot, without handle, and broken,
+stood upon the kitchen-hearth. No other implement or vessel for the
+preparation of food appeared.</p>
+
+<p>These forlorn appearances were accounted for by the servant, by
+supposing the house to have been long since rifled of every thing worth
+the trouble of removal, by the villains who occupied the neighbouring
+houses,&mdash;this alley, it seems, being noted for the profligacy of its
+inhabitants.</p>
+
+<p>When I reflected that a wretched hovel like this had been, probably, the
+last retreat of the Dudleys, when I painted their sufferings, of which
+the numberless tales of distress of which I had lately been an auditor
+enabled me to form an adequate conception, I felt as if to lie down and
+expire on the very spot where Constantia had fallen was the only
+sacrifice to friendship which time had left to me.</p>
+
+<p>From this house I wandered to the field where the dead had been,
+promiscuously and by hundreds, interred. I counted the long series of
+graves, which were closely ranged, and, being recently levelled,
+exhibited the appearance of a harrowed field. Methought I could have
+given thousands to know in what spot the body of my friend lay, that I
+might moisten the sacred earth with my tears. Boards hastily nailed
+together formed the best receptacle which the exigencies of the time
+could grant to the dead. Many corpses were thrown into a single
+excavation, and all distinctions founded on merit and rank were
+obliterated. The father and child had been placed in the same cart and
+thrown into the same hole.</p>
+
+<p>Despairing, by any longer stay in the city, to effect my purpose, and
+the period of my embarkation being near, I prepared to resume my
+journey. I should have set out the next day, but, a family with whom I
+had made acquaintance expecting to proceed to New York within a week, I
+consented to be their companion, and, for that end, to delay my
+departure.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, I shut myself up in my apartment, and pursued avocations that
+were adapted to the melancholy tenor of my thoughts. The day preceding
+that appointed for my journey arrived. It was necessary to complete my
+arrangements with the family with whom I was to travel, and to settle
+with the lady whose apartments I occupied.</p>
+
+<p>On how slender threads does our destiny hang! Had not a momentary
+impulse tempted me to sing my favourite ditty to the harpsichord, to
+beguile the short interval during which my hostess was conversing with
+her visitor in the next apartment, I should have speeded to New York,
+have embarked for Europe, and been eternally severed from my friend,
+whom I believed to have died in frenzy and beggary, but who was alive
+and affluent, and who sought me with a diligence scarcely inferior to my
+own. We imagined ourselves severed from each other by death or by
+impassable seas; but, at the moment when our hopes had sunk to the
+lowest ebb, a mysterious destiny conducted our footsteps to the same
+spot.</p>
+
+<p>I heard a murmuring exclamation; I heard my hostess call, in a voice of
+terror, for help; I rushed into the room; I saw one stretched on the
+floor, in the attitude of death; I sprung forward and fixed my eyes upon
+her countenance; I clasped my hands and articulated, "Constantia!"</p>
+
+<p>She speedily recovered from her swoon. Her eyes opened; she moved, she
+spoke. Still methought it was an illusion of the senses that created the
+phantom. I could not bear to withdraw my eyes from her countenance. If
+they wandered for a moment, I fell into doubt and perplexity, and again
+fixed them upon her, to assure myself of her existence.</p>
+
+<p>The succeeding three days were spent in a state of dizziness and
+intoxication. The ordinary functions of nature were disturbed. The
+appetite for sleep and for food were confounded and lost amidst the
+impetuosities of a master-passion. To look and to talk to each other
+afforded enchanting occupation for every moment. I would not part from
+her side, but eat and slept, walked and mused and read, with my arm
+locked in hers, and with her breath fanning my cheek.</p>
+
+<p>I have indeed much to learn. Sophia Courtland has never been wise. Her
+affections disdain the cold dictates of discretion, and spurn at every
+limit that contending duties and mixed obligations prescribe.</p>
+
+<p>And yet, O precious inebriation of the heart! O pre-eminent love! what
+pleasure of reason or of sense can stand in competition with those
+attendant upon thee? Whether thou hiest to the fanes of a benevolent
+deity, or layest all thy homage at the feet of one who most visibly
+resembles the perfections of our Maker, surely thy sanction is divine,
+thy boon is happiness!</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h3>
+
+
+<p>The tumults of curiosity and pleasure did not speedily subside. The
+story of each other's wanderings was told with endless amplification and
+minuteness. Henceforth, the stream of our existence was to mix; we were
+to act and to think in common; casual witnesses and written testimony
+should become superfluous. Eyes and ears were to be eternally employed
+upon the conduct of each other; death, when it should come, was not to
+be deplored, because it was an unavoidable and brief privation to her
+that should survive. Being, under any modification, is dear; but that
+state to which death is a passage is all-desirable to virtue and
+all-compensating to grief.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, precedent events were made the themes of endless
+conversation. Every incident and passion in the course of four years was
+revived and exhibited. The name of Ormond was, of course, frequently
+repeated by my friend. His features and deportment were described; her
+meditations and resolutions, with regard to him, fully disclosed. My
+counsel was asked, in what manner it became her to act.</p>
+
+<p>I could not but harbour aversion to a scheme which should tend to sever
+me from Constantia, or to give me a competitor in her affections.
+Besides this, the properties of Ormond were of too mysterious a nature
+to make him worthy of acceptance. Little more was known concerning him
+than what he himself had disclosed to the Dudleys, but this knowledge
+would suffice to invalidate his claims.</p>
+
+<p>He had dwelt, in his conversations with Constantia, sparingly on his own
+concerns. Yet he did not hide from her that he had been left in early
+youth to his own guidance; that he had embraced, when almost a child,
+the trade of arms; that he had found service and promotion in the armies
+of Potemkin and Romanzow; that he had executed secret and diplomatic
+functions at Constantinople and Berlin; that in the latter city he had
+met with schemers and reasoners who aimed at the new-modelling of the
+world, and the subversion of all that has hitherto been conceived
+elementary and fundamental in the constitution of man and of government;
+that some of those reformers had secretly united to break down the
+military and monarchical fabric of German policy; that others, more
+wisely, had devoted their secret efforts, not to overturn, but to build;
+that, for this end, they embraced an exploring and colonizing project;
+that he had allied himself to these, and for the promotion of their
+projects had spent six years of his life in journeys by sea and land, in
+tracts unfrequented till then by any European.</p>
+
+<p>What were the moral or political maxims which this adventurous and
+visionary sect had adopted, and what was the seat of their new-born
+empire,&mdash;whether on the shore of an <i>austral</i> continent, or in the heart
+of desert America,&mdash;he carefully concealed. These were exhibited or
+hidden, or shifted, according to his purpose. Not to reveal too much,
+and not to tire curiosity or overtask belief, was his daily labour. He
+talked of alliance with the family whose name he bore, and who had lost
+their honours and estates by the Hanoverian succession to the crown of
+England.</p>
+
+<p>I had seen too much of innovation and imposture, in, France and Italy,
+not to regard a man like this with aversion and fear. The mind of my
+friend was wavering and unsuspicious. She had lived at a distance from
+scenes where principles are hourly put to the test of experiment; where
+all extremes of fortitude and pusillanimity are accustomed to meet;
+where recluse virtue and speculative heroism gives place, as if by
+magic, to the last excesses of debauchery and wickedness; where pillage
+and murder are engrafted on systems of all-embracing and self-oblivious
+benevolence, and the good of mankind is professed to be pursued with
+bonds of association and covenants of secrecy. Hence, my friend had
+decided without the sanction of experience, had allowed herself to
+wander into untried paths, and had hearkened to positions pregnant with
+destruction and ignominy.</p>
+
+<p>It was not difficult to exhibit in their true light the enormous errors
+of this man, and the danger of prolonging their intercourse. Her assent
+to accompany me to England was readily obtained. Too much despatch could
+not be used; but the disposal of her property must first take place.
+This was necessarily productive of some delay.</p>
+
+<p>I had been made, contrary to inclination, expert in the management of
+all affairs relative to property. My mother's lunacy, subsequent
+disease, and death, had imposed upon me obligations and cares little
+suitable to my sex and age. They could not be eluded or transferred to
+others; and, by degrees, experience enlarged my knowledge and
+familiarized my tasks.</p>
+
+<p>It was agreed that I should visit and inspect my friend's estate in
+Jersey, while she remained in her present abode, to put an end to the
+views and expectations of Ormond, and to make preparation for her
+voyage. We were reconciled to a temporary separation by the necessity
+that prescribed it.</p>
+
+<p>During our residence together, the mind of Constantia was kept in
+perpetual ferment. The second day after my departure, the turbulence of
+her feelings began to subside, and she found herself at leisure to
+pursue those measures which her present situation prescribed.</p>
+
+<p>The time prefixed by Ormond for the termination of his absence had
+nearly arrived. Her resolutions respecting this man, lately formed, now
+occurred to her. Her heart drooped as she revolved the necessity of
+disuniting their fates; but that this disunion was proper could not
+admit of doubt. How information of her present views might be most
+satisfactorily imparted to him, was a question not instantly decided.
+She reflected on the impetuosity of his character, and conceived that
+her intentions might be most conveniently unfolded in a letter. This
+letter she immediately sat down to write. Just then the door opened, and
+Ormond entered the apartment.</p>
+
+<p>She was somewhat, and for a moment, startled by this abrupt and
+unlooked-for entrance. Yet she greeted him with pleasure. Her greeting
+was received with coldness. A second glance at his countenance informed
+her that his mind was somewhat discomposed.</p>
+
+<p>Folding his hands on his breast, ho stalked to the window and looked up
+at the moon. Presently he withdrew his gaze from this object, and fixed
+it upon Constantia. He spoke, but his words were produced by a kind of
+effort.</p>
+
+<p>"Fit emblem," he exclaimed, "of human versatility! One impediment is
+gone. I hoped it was the only one. But no! the removal of that merely
+made room for another. Let this be removed. Well, fate will interplace a
+third. All our toils will thus be frustrated, and the ruin will finally
+redound upon our heads." There he stopped.</p>
+
+<p>This strain could not be interpreted by Constantia. She smiled, and,
+without noticing his incoherences, proceeded to inquire into his
+adventures during their separation. He listened to her, but his eyes,
+fixed upon hers, and his solemnity of aspect, were immovable. When she
+paused, he seated himself close to her, and, grasping her hand with a
+vehemence that almost pained her, said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Look at me; steadfastly. Can you read my thoughts? Can your discernment
+reach the bounds of my knowledge and the bottom of my purposes? Catch
+you not a view of the monsters that are starting into birth <i>here</i>?"
+(and he put his left hand to his forehead.) "But you cannot. Should I
+paint them to you verbally, you would call me jester or deceiver. What
+pity that you have not instruments for piercing into thoughts!"</p>
+
+<p>"I presume," said Constantia, affecting cheerfulness which she did not
+feel, "such instruments would be useless to me. You never scruple to say
+what you think. Your designs are no sooner conceived than they are
+expressed. All you know, all you wish, and all you purpose, are known
+to others as soon as to yourself. No scruples of decorum, no foresight
+of consequences, are obstacles in your way."</p>
+
+<p>"True," replied he; "all obstacles are trampled under foot but one."</p>
+
+<p>"What is the insuperable one?"</p>
+
+<p>"Incredulity in him that hears. I must not say what will not be
+credited. I must not relate feats and avow schemes, when my hearer will
+say, 'Those feats were never performed; these schemes are not yours.' I
+care not if the truth of my tenets and the practicability of my purposes
+be denied. Still, I will openly maintain them; but when my assertions
+will themselves be disbelieved, when it is denied that I adopt the creed
+and project the plans which I affirm to be adopted and projected by me,
+it is needless to affirm.</p>
+
+<p>"To-morrow I mean to ascertain the height of the lunar mountains by
+travelling to the top of them. Then I will station myself in the track
+of the last comet, and wait till its circumvolution suffers me to leap
+upon it; then, by walking on its surface, I will ascertain whether it be
+hot enough to burn my soles. Do you believe that this can be done?"</p>
+
+<p>"No."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you believe, in consequence of my assertion, that I design to do
+this, and that, in my apprehension, it is easy to be done?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not unless I previously believe you to be lunatic."</p>
+
+<p>"Then why should I assert my purposes? Why speak, when the hearer will
+infer nothing from my speech but that I am either lunatic or liar?"</p>
+
+<p>"In that predicament, silence is best."</p>
+
+<p>"In that predicament I now stand. I am not going to unfold myself. Just
+now, I pitied thee for want of eyes. 'Twas a foolish compassion. Thou
+art happy, because thou seest not an inch before thee or behind." Here
+he was for a moment buried in thought; then, breaking from his reverie,
+he said, "So your father is dead?"</p>
+
+<p>"True," said Constantia, endeavouring to suppress her rising emotions;
+"he is no more. It is so recent an event that I imagined you a stranger
+to it."</p>
+
+<p>"False imagination! Thinkest thou I would refrain from knowing what so
+nearly concerns us both? Perhaps your opinion of my ignorance extends
+beyond this. Perhaps I know not your fruitless search for a picture.
+Perhaps I neither followed you nor led you to a being called Sophia
+Courtland. I was not present at the meeting. I am unapprized of the
+effects of your romantic passion for each other. I did not witness the
+rapturous effusions and inexorable counsels of the newcomer. I know not
+the contents of the letter which you are preparing to write."</p>
+
+<p>As he spoke this, the accents of Ormond gradually augmented in
+vehemence. His countenance bespoke a deepening inquietude and growing
+passion. He stopped at the mention of the letter, because his voice was
+overpowered by emotion. This pause afforded room for the astonishment of
+Constantia. Her interviews and conversations with me took place at
+seasons of general repose, when all doors were fast and avenues shut, in
+the midst of silence, and in the bosom of retirement. The theme of our
+discourse was, commonly, too sacred for any ears but our own;
+disclosures were of too intimate and delicate a nature for any but a
+female audience; they were too injurious to the fame and peace of Ormond
+for him to be admitted to partake of them: yet his words implied a full
+acquaintance with recent events, and with purposes and deliberations
+shrouded, as we imagined, in impenetrable secrecy.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as Constantia recovered from the confusion of these thoughts,
+she eagerly questioned him:&mdash;"What do you know? How do you know what has
+happened, or what is intended?"</p>
+
+<p>"Poor Constantia!" he exclaimed, in a tone bitter and sarcastic. "How
+hopeless is thy ignorance! To enlighten thee is past my power. What do I
+know? Every thing. Not a tittle has escaped me. Thy letter is
+superfluous; I know its contents before they are written. I was to be
+told that a soldier and a traveller, a man who refused his faith to
+dreams, and his homage to shadows, merited only scorn and
+forgetfulness. That thy affections and person were due to another; that
+intercourse between us was henceforth to cease; that preparation was
+making for a voyage to Britain, and that Ormond was to walk to his grave
+alone!"</p>
+
+<p>In spite of harsh tones and inflexible features, these words were
+accompanied with somewhat that betrayed a mind full of discord and
+agony. Constantia's astonishment was mingled with dejection. The
+discovery of a passion deeper and less curable than she suspected&mdash;the
+perception of embarrassments and difficulties in the path which she had
+chosen, that had not previously occurred to her&mdash;threw her mind into
+anxious suspense.</p>
+
+<p>The measures she had previously concerted were still approved. To part
+from Ormond was enjoined by every dictate of discretion and duty. An
+explanation of her motives and views could not take place more
+seasonably than at present. Every consideration of justice to herself
+and humanity to Ormond made it desirable that this interview should be
+the last. By inexplicable means, he had gained a knowledge of her
+intentions. It was expedient, therefore, to state them with clearness
+and force. In what words this was to be done, was the subject of
+momentary deliberation.</p>
+
+<p>Her thoughts were discerned, and her speech anticipated, by her
+companion:&mdash;"Why droopest thou, and why thus silent, Constantia? The
+secret of thy fate will never be detected. Till thy destiny be finished,
+it will not be the topic of a single fear. But not for thyself, but me,
+art thou concerned. Thou dreadest, yet determinest, to confirm my
+predictions of thy voyage to Europe and thy severance from me.</p>
+
+<p>"Dismiss thy inquietudes on that score. What misery thy scorn and thy
+rejection are able to inflict is inflicted already. Thy decision was
+known to me as soon as it was formed. Thy motives were known. Not an
+argument or plea of thy counsellor, not a syllable of her invective, not
+a sound of her persuasive rhetoric, escaped my hearing. I know thy
+decree to be immutable. As my doubts, so my wishes have taken their
+flight. Perhaps, in the depth of thy ignorance, it was supposed that I
+should struggle to reverse thy purpose by menaces or supplications; that
+I should boast of the cruelty with which I should avenge an imaginary
+wrong upon myself. No. All is very well. Go. Not a whisper of objection
+or reluctance shalt thou hear from me."</p>
+
+<p>"If I could think," said Constantia, with tremulous hesitation, "that
+you part from me without anger; that you see the rectitude of my
+proceeding&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Anger! Rectitude! I pr'ythee, peace. I know thou art going.&mdash;I know
+that all objection to thy purpose would be vain. Thinkest thou that thy
+stay, undictated by love, the mere fruit of compassion, would afford me
+pleasure or crown my wishes? No. I am not so dastardly a wretch. There
+was something in thy power to bestow, but thy will accords not with thy
+power. I merit not the boon, and thou refusest it. I am content."</p>
+
+<p>Here Ormond fixed more significant eyes upon her. "Poor Constantia!" he
+continued. "Shall I warn thee of the danger that awaits thee? For what
+end? To elude it is impossible. It will come, and thou, perhaps, wilt be
+unhappy. Foresight that enables not to shun, only precreates, the evil.</p>
+
+<p>"Come it will. Though future, it knows not the empire of contingency. An
+inexorable and immutable decree enjoins it. Perhaps it is thy nature to
+meet with calmness what cannot be shunned. Perhaps, when it is past, thy
+reason will perceive its irrevocable nature, and restore thee to peace.
+Such is the conduct of the wise; but such, I fear, the education of
+Constantia Dudley will debar her from pursuing.</p>
+
+<p>"Fain would I regard it as the test of thy wisdom. I look upon thy past
+life. All the forms of genuine adversity have beset thy youth. Poverty,
+disease, servile labour, a criminal and hapless parent, have been evils
+which thou hast not ungracefully sustained. An absent friend and
+murdered father were added to thy list of woes, and here thy courage was
+deficient. Thy soul was proof against substantial misery, but sunk into
+helpless cowardice at the sight of phantoms.</p>
+
+<p>"One more disaster remains. To call it by its true name would be useless
+or pernicious. Useless, because thou wouldst pronounce its occurrence
+impossible; pernicious, because, if its possibility were granted, the
+omen would distract thee with fear. How shall I describe it? Is it loss
+of fame? No. The deed will be unwitnessed by a human creature. Thy
+reputation will be spotless, for nothing will be done by thee unsuitable
+to the tenor of thy past life. Calumny will not be heard to whisper. All
+that know thee will be lavish of their eulogies as ever. Their eulogies
+will be as justly merited. Of this merit thou wilt entertain as just and
+as adequate conceptions as now.</p>
+
+<p>"It is no repetition of the evils thou hast already endured; it is
+neither drudgery, nor sickness, nor privation of friends. Strange
+perverseness of human reason! It is an evil; it will be thought upon
+with agony; it will close up all the sources of pleasurable
+recollection; it will exterminate hope; it will endear oblivion, and
+push thee into an untimely grave. Yet to grasp it is impossible. The
+moment we inspect it nearly, it vanishes. Thy claims to human
+approbation and divine applause will be undiminished and unaltered by
+it. The testimony of approving conscience will have lost none of its
+explicitness and energy. Yet thou wilt feed upon sighs; thy tears will
+flow without remission; thou wilt grow enamoured of death, and perhaps
+wilt anticipate the stroke of disease.</p>
+
+<p>"Yet perhaps my prediction is groundless as my knowledge. Perhaps thy
+discernment will avail to make thee wise and happy. Perhaps thou wilt
+perceive thy privilege of sympathetic and intellectual activity to be
+untouched. Heaven grant the non-fulfilment of my prophecy, thy
+disenthralment from error, and the perpetuation of thy happiness."</p>
+
+<p>Saying this, Ormond withdrew. His words were always accompanied with
+gestures and looks and tones that fastened the attention of the hearer;
+but the terms of his present discourse afforded, independently of
+gesticulation and utterance, sufficient motives to attention and
+remembrance. He was gone, but his image was contemplated by Constantia;
+his words still rung in her ears.</p>
+
+<p>The letter she designed to compose was rendered, by this interview,
+unnecessary. Meanings of which she and her friend alone were conscious
+were discovered by Ormond, through some other medium than words; yet
+that was impossible. A being unendowed with preternatural attributes
+could gain the information which this man possessed, only by the
+exertion of his senses.</p>
+
+<p>All human precautions had been used to baffle the attempts of any secret
+witness. She recalled to mind the circumstances in which conversations
+with her friend had taken place. All had been retirement, secrecy, and
+silence. The hours usually dedicated to sleep had been devoted to this
+better purpose. Much had been said, in a voice low and scarcely louder
+than a whisper. To have overheard it at the distance of a few feet was
+apparently impossible.</p>
+
+<p>Their conversations had not been recorded by her. It could not be
+believed that this had been done by Sophia Courtland. Had Ormond and her
+friend met during the interval that had elapsed between her separation
+from the latter and her meeting with the former? Human events are
+conjoined by links imperceptible to keenest eyes. Of Ormond's means of
+information she was wholly unapprized. Perhaps accident would some time
+unfold them. One thing was incontestable:&mdash;that her schemes and her
+reasons for adopting them were known to him.</p>
+
+<p>What unforeseen effects had that knowledge produced! In what ambiguous
+terms had he couched his prognostics of some mighty evil that awaited
+her! He had given a terrible but contradictory description of her
+destiny. An event was to happen, akin to no calamity which she had
+already endured, disconnected with all which the imagination of man is
+accustomed to deprecate, capable of urging her to suicide, and yet of a
+kind which left it undecided whether she would regard it with
+indifference.</p>
+
+<p>What reliance should she place upon prophetic incoherences thus wild?
+What precautions should she take against a danger thus inscrutable and
+imminent?</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h3>
+
+
+<p>These incidents and reflections were speedily transmitted to me. I had
+always believed the character and machinations of Ormond to be worthy of
+caution and fear. His means of information I did not pretend, and
+thought it useless, to investigate. We cannot hide our actions and
+thoughts from one of powerful sagacity, whom the detection sufficiently
+interests to make him use all the methods of detection in his power. The
+study of concealment is, in all cases, fruitless or hurtful. All that
+duty enjoins is to design and to execute nothing which may not be
+approved by a divine and omniscient Observer. Human scrutiny is neither
+to be solicited nor shunned. Human approbation or censure can never be
+exempt from injustice, because our limited perceptions debar us from a
+thorough knowledge of any actions and motives but our own.</p>
+
+<p>On reviewing what had passed between Constantia and me, I recollected
+nothing incompatible with purity and rectitude. That Ormond was apprized
+of all that had passed, I by no means inferred from the tenor of his
+conversation with Constantia; nor, if this had been incontestably
+proved, should I have experienced any trepidation or anxiety on that
+account.</p>
+
+<p>His obscure and indirect menaces of evil were of more importance. His
+discourse on this topic seemed susceptible only of two constructions.
+Either he intended some fatal mischief, and was willing to torment her
+by fears, while he concealed from her the nature of her danger, that he
+might hinder her from guarding her safety by suitable precautions; or,
+being hopeless of rendering her propitious to his wishes, his malice was
+satisfied with leaving her a legacy of apprehension and doubt.
+Constantia's unacquaintance with the doctrines of that school in which
+Ormond was probably instructed led her to regard the conduct of this man
+with more curiosity and wonder than fear. She saw nothing but a
+disposition to sport with her ignorance and bewilder her with doubts.</p>
+
+<p>I do not believe myself destitute of courage. Rightly to estimate the
+danger and encounter it with firmness are worthy of a rational being;
+but to place our security in thoughtlessness and blindness is only less
+ignoble than cowardice. I could not forget the proofs of violence which
+accompanied the death of Mr. Dudley. I could not overlook, in the recent
+conversation with Constantia, Ormond's allusion to her murdered father.
+It was possible that the nature of this death had been accidentally
+imparted to him; but it was likewise possible that his was the knowledge
+of one who performed the act.</p>
+
+<p>The enormity of this deed appeared by no means incongruous with the
+sentiments of Ormond. Human life is momentous or trivial in our eyes,
+according to the course which our habits and opinions have taken.
+Passion greedily accepts, and habit readily offers, the sacrifice of
+another's life, and reason obeys the impulse of education and desire.</p>
+
+<p>A youth of eighteen, a volunteer in a Russian army encamped in
+Bessarabia, made prey of a Tartar girl, found in the field of a recent
+battle. Conducting her to his quarters, he met a friend, who, on some
+pretence, claimed the victim. From angry words they betook themselves to
+swords. A combat ensued, in which the first claimant ran his antagonist
+through the body. He then bore his prize unmolested away, and, having
+exercised brutality of one kind upon the helpless victim, stabbed her to
+the heart, as an offering to the <i>manes</i> of Sarsefield, the friend whom
+he had slain. Next morning, willing more signally to expiate his guilt,
+he rushed alone upon a troop of Turkish foragers, and brought away five
+heads, suspended, by their gory locks, to his horse's mane. These he
+cast upon the grave of Sarsefield, and conceived himself fully to have
+expiated yesterday's offence. In reward for his prowess, the general
+gave him a commission in the Cossack troops. This youth was Ormond; and
+such is a specimen of his exploits during a military career of eight
+years, in a warfare the most savage and implacable, and, at the same
+time, the most iniquitous and wanton, which history records.</p>
+
+<p>With passions and habits like these, the life of another was a trifling
+sacrifice to vengeance or impatience. How Mr. Dudley had excited the
+resentment of Ormond, by what means the assassin had accomplished his
+intention without awakening alarm or incurring suspicion, it was not for
+me to discover. The inextricability of human events, the imperviousness
+of cunning, and the obduracy of malice, I had frequent occasions to
+remark.</p>
+
+<p>I did not labour to vanquish the security of my friend. As to
+precautions, they were useless. There was no fortress, guarded by
+barriers of stone and iron and watched by sentinels that never slept, to
+which she might retire from his stratagems. If there were such a
+retreat, it would scarcely avail her against a foe circumspect and
+subtle as Ormond.</p>
+
+<p>I pondered on the condition of my friend. I reviewed the incidents of
+her life. I compared her lot with that of others. I could not but
+discover a sort of incurable malignity in her fate. I felt as if it were
+denied to her to enjoy a long life or permanent tranquillity. I asked
+myself what she had done, entitling her to this incessant persecution.
+Impatience and murmuring took place of sorrow and fear in my heart. When
+I reflected that all human agency was merely subservient to a divine
+purpose, I fell into fits of accusation and impiety.</p>
+
+<p>This injustice was transient, and soberer views convinced me that every
+scheme, comprising the whole, must be productive of partial and
+temporary evil. The sufferings of Constantia were limited to a moment;
+they were the unavoidable appendages of terrestrial existence; they
+formed the only avenue to wisdom, and the only claim to uninterrupted
+fruition and eternal repose in an after-scene.</p>
+
+<p>The course of my reflections, and the issue to which they led, were
+unforeseen by myself. Fondly as I doted upon this woman, methought I
+could resign her to the grave without a murmur or a tear. While my
+thoughts were calmed by resignation, and my fancy occupied with nothing
+but the briefness of that space and evanescence of that time which
+severs the living from the dead, I contemplated, almost with
+complacency, a violent or untimely close to her existence.</p>
+
+<p>This loftiness of mind could not always be accomplished or constantly
+maintained. One effect of my fears was to hasten my departure to Europe.
+There existed no impediment but the want of a suitable conveyance. In
+the first packet that should leave America, it was determined to secure
+a passage. Mr. Melbourne consented to take charge of Constantia's
+property, and, after the sale of it, to transmit to her the money that
+should thence arise.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, I was anxious that Constantia should leave her present abode
+and join me in New York. She willingly adopted this arrangement, but
+conceived it necessary to spend a few days at her house in Jersey. She
+could reach the latter place without much deviation from the straight
+road, and she was desirous of resurveying a spot where many of her
+infantile days had been spent.</p>
+
+<p>This house and domain I have already mentioned to have once belonged to
+Mr. Dudley. It was selected with the judgement and adorned with the taste
+of a disciple of the schools of Florence and Vicenza. In his view,
+cultivation was subservient to the picturesque, and a mansion was
+erected, eminent for nothing but chastity of ornaments and simplicity of
+structure. The massive parts were of stone; the outer surfaces were
+smooth, snow-white, and diversified by apertures and cornices, in which
+a cement uncommonly tenacious was wrought into proportions the most
+correct and forms the most graceful. The floors, walls, and ceilings,
+consisted of a still more exquisitely-tempered substance, and were
+painted by Mr. Dudley's own hand. All appendages of this building, as
+seats, tables, and cabinets, were modelled by the owner's particular
+direction, and in a manner scrupulously classical.</p>
+
+<p>He had scarcely entered on the enjoyment of this splendid possession,
+when it was ravished away. No privation was endured with more impatience
+than this; but, happily, it was purchased by one who left Mr. Dudley's
+arrangements unmolested, and who shortly after conveyed it entire to
+Ormond. By him it was finally appropriated to the use of Helena Cleves,
+and now, by a singular contexture of events, it had reverted to those
+hands in which the death of the original proprietor, if no other change
+had been made in his condition, would have left it. The farm still
+remained in the tenure of a German emigrant, who held it partly on
+condition of preserving the garden and mansion in safety and in perfect
+order.</p>
+
+<p>This retreat was now revisited by Constantia, after an interval of four
+years. Autumn had made some progress, but the aspect of nature was, so
+to speak, more significant than at any other season. She was agreeably
+accommodated under the tenant's roof, and found a nameless pleasure in
+traversing spaces in which every object prompted an endless train of
+recollections.</p>
+
+<p>Her sensations were not foreseen. They led to a state of mind
+inconsistent, in some degree, with the projects adopted in obedience to
+the suggestions of a friend. Every thing in this scene had been created
+and modelled by the genius of her father. It was a kind of fane,
+sanctified by his imaginary presence.</p>
+
+<p>To consign the fruits of his industry and invention to foreign and
+unsparing hands seemed a kind of sacrilege, for which she almost feared
+that the dead would rise to upbraid her. Those images which bind us to
+our natal soil, to the abode of our innocent and careless youth, were
+recalled to her fancy by the scenes which she now beheld. These were
+enforced by considerations of the dangers which attended her voyage from
+storms and from enemies, and from the tendency to revolution and war
+which seemed to actuate all the nations of Europe. Her native country
+was by no means exempt from similar tendencies, but these evils were
+less imminent, and its manners and government, in their present
+modifications, were unspeakably more favourable to the dignity and
+improvement of the human race than those which prevailed in any part of
+the ancient world.</p>
+
+<p>My solicitations and my obligation to repair to England overweighed her
+objections, but her new reflections led her to form new determinations
+with regard to this part of her property. She concluded to retain
+possession, and hoped that some future event would allow her to return
+to this favourite spot without forfeiture of my society. An abode of
+some years in Europe would more eminently qualify her for the enjoyment
+of retirement and safety in her native country. The time that should
+elapse before her embarkation, she was desirous of passing among the
+shades of this romantic retreat.</p>
+
+<p>I was by no means reconciled to this proceeding. I loved my friend too
+well to endure any needless separation without repining. In addition to
+this, the image of Ormond haunted my thoughts, and gave birth to
+incessant but indefinable fears. I believed that her safety would very
+little depend upon the nature of her abode, or the number or
+watchfulness of her companions. My nearness to her person would
+frustrate no stratagem, nor promote any other end than my own
+entanglement in the same fold. Still, that I was not apprized each hour
+of her condition, that her state was lonely and sequestered, were
+sources of disquiet, the obvious remedy to which was her coming to New
+York. Preparations for departure were assigned to me, and these required
+my continuance in the city.</p>
+
+<p>Once a week, Laffert, her tenant, visited, for purposes of traffic, the
+city. He was the medium of our correspondence. To him I intrusted a
+letter, in which my dissatisfaction at her absence, and the causes which
+gave it birth, were freely confessed.</p>
+
+<p>The confidence of safety seldom deserted my friend. Since her mysterious
+conversation with Ormond, he had utterly vanished. Previous to that
+interview, his visits or his letters were incessant and punctual; but
+since, no token was given that he existed. Two months had elapsed. He
+gave her no reason to expect a cessation of intercourse. He had parted
+from her with his usual abruptness and informality. She did not conceive
+it incumbent on her to search him out, but she would not have been
+displeased with an opportunity to discuss with him more fully the
+motives of her conduct. This opportunity had been hitherto denied.</p>
+
+<p>Her occupations in her present retreat were, for the most part, dictated
+by caprice or by chance. The mildness of autumn permitted her to ramble,
+during the day, from one rock and one grove to another. There was a
+luxury in musing, and in the sensations which the scenery and silence
+produced, which, in consequence of her long estrangement from them, were
+accompanied with all the attractions of novelty, and from which she
+would not consent to withdraw.</p>
+
+<p>In the evening she usually retired to the mansion, and shut herself up
+in that apartment which, in the original structure of the house, had
+been designed for study, and no part of whose furniture had been removed
+or displaced. It was a kind of closet on the second floor, illuminated
+by a spacious window, through which a landscape of uncommon amplitude
+and beauty was presented to the view. Here the pleasures of the day were
+revived, by recalling and enumerating them in letters to her friend. She
+always quitted this recess with reluctance, and seldom till the night
+was half spent.</p>
+
+<p>One evening she retired hither when the sun had just dipped beneath the
+horizon. Her implements of writing were prepared; but, before the pen
+was assumed, her eyes rested for a moment on the variegated hues which
+were poured out upon the western sky and upon the scene of intermingled
+waters, copses, and fields. The view comprised a part of the road which
+led to this dwelling. It was partially and distantly seen, and the
+passage of horses or men was betokened chiefly by the dust which was
+raised by their footsteps.</p>
+
+<p>A token of this kind now caught her attention. It fixed her eye chiefly
+by the picturesque effect produced by interposing its obscurity between
+her and the splendours which the sun had left. Presently she gained a
+faint view of a man and horse. This circumstance laid no claim to
+attention, and she was withdrawing her eye, when the traveller's
+stopping and dismounting at the gate made her renew her scrutiny. This
+was reinforced by something in the figure and movements of the horseman
+which reminded her of Ormond.</p>
+
+<p>She started from her seat with some degree of palpitation. Whence this
+arose, whether from fear or from joy, or from intermixed emotions, it
+would not be easy to ascertain. Having entered the gate, the visitant,
+remounting his horse, set the animal on full speed. Every moment brought
+him nearer, and added to her first belief. He stopped not till he
+reached the mansion. The person of Ormond was distinctly recognised.</p>
+
+<p>An interview at this dusky and lonely hour, in circumstances so abrupt
+and unexpected, could not fail to surprise, and, in some degree, to
+alarm. The substance of his last conversation was recalled. The evils
+which were darkly and ambiguously predicted thronged to her memory. It
+seemed as if the present moment was to be, in some way, decisive of her
+fate. This visit she did not hesitate to suppose designed for her, but
+somewhat uncommonly momentous must have prompted him to take so long a
+journey.</p>
+
+<p>The rooms on the lower floor were dark, the windows and doors being
+fastened. She had entered the house by the principal door, and this was
+the only one at present unlocked. The room in which she sat was over the
+hall, and the massive door beneath could not be opened without noisy
+signals. The question that occurred to her, by what means Ormond would
+gain admittance to her presence, she supposed would be instantly
+decided. She listened to hear his footsteps on the pavement, or the
+creaking of hinges. The silence, however, continued profound as before.</p>
+
+<p>After a minute's pause, she approached the window more nearly and
+endeavoured to gain a view of the space before the house. She saw
+nothing but the horse, whose bridle was thrown over his neck, and who
+was left at liberty to pick up what scanty herbage the lawn afforded to
+his hunger. The rider had disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>It now occurred to her that this visit had a purpose different from that
+which she at first conjectured. It was easily conceived that Ormond was
+unacquainted with her residence at this spot. The knowledge could only
+be imparted to him by indirect or illicit means. That these means had
+been employed by him, she was by no means authorized to infer from the
+silence and distance he had lately maintained. But if an interview with
+her were not the purpose of his coming, how should she interpret it?</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h3>
+
+
+<p>While occupied with these reflections, the light hastily disappeared,
+and darkness, rendered, by a cloudy atmosphere, uncommonly intense,
+succeeded. She had the means of lighting a lamp that hung against the
+wall, but had been too much immersed in thought to notice the deepening
+of the gloom. Recovering from her reverie, she looked around her with
+some degree of trepidation, and prepared to strike a spark that would
+enable her to light her lamp.</p>
+
+<p>She had hitherto indulged an habitual indifference to danger. Now the
+presence of Ormond, the unknown purpose that led him hither, and the
+defencelessness of her condition, inspired her with apprehensions to
+which she had hitherto been a stranger. She had been accustomed to pass
+many nocturnal hours in this closet. Till now, nothing had occurred that
+made her enter it with circumspection or continue in it with reluctance.</p>
+
+<p>Her sensations were no longer tranquil. Each minute that she spent in
+this recess appeared to multiply her hazards. To linger here appeared to
+her the height of culpable temerity. She hastily resolved to return to
+the farmer's dwelling, and, on the morrow, to repair to New York. For
+this end she was desirous to produce a light. The materials were at
+hand.</p>
+
+<p>She lifted her hand to strike the flint, when her ear caught a sound
+which betokened the opening of the door that led into the next
+apartment. Her motion was suspended, and she listened as well as a
+throbbing heart would permit. That Ormond's was the hand that opened,
+was the first suggestion of her fears. The motives of this unseasonable
+entrance could not be reconciled with her safety. He had given no
+warning of his approach, and the door was opened with tardiness and
+seeming caution.</p>
+
+<p>Sounds continued, of which no distinct conception could be obtained, or
+the cause that produced them assigned. The floors of every apartment
+being composed, like the walls and ceiling, of cement, footsteps were
+rendered almost undistinguishable. It was plain, however, that some one
+approached her own door.</p>
+
+<p>The panic and confusion that now invaded her was owing to surprise, and
+to the singularity of her situation. The mansion was desolate and
+lonely. It was night. She was immersed in darkness. She had not the
+means, and was unaccustomed to the office, of repelling personal
+injuries. What injuries she had reason to dread, who was the agent, and
+what were his motives, were subjects Of vague and incoherent meditation.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, low and imperfect sounds, that had in them more of inanimate
+than human, assailed her ear. Presently they ceased. An inexplicable
+fear deterred her from calling. Light would have exercised a friendly
+influence. This it was in her power to produce, but not without motion
+and noise; and these, by occasioning the discovery of her being in the
+closet, might possibly enhance her danger.</p>
+
+<p>Conceptions like these were unworthy of the mind of Constantia. An
+interval of silence succeeded, interrupted only by the whistling of the
+blast without. It was sufficient for the restoration of her courage. She
+blushed at the cowardice which had trembled at a sound. She considered
+that Ormond might, indeed, be near, but that he was probably unconscious
+of her situation. His coming was not with the circumspection of an
+enemy. He might be acquainted with the place of her retreat, and had
+come to obtain an interview, with no clandestine or mysterious purposes.
+The noises she had heard had, doubtless, proceeded from the next
+apartment, but might be produced by some harmless or vagrant creature.</p>
+
+<p>These considerations restored her tranquillity. They enabled her,
+deliberately, to create a light, but they did not dissuade her from
+leaving the house. Omens of evil seemed to be connected with this
+solitary and darksome abode. Besides, Ormond had unquestionably entered
+upon this scene It could not be doubted that she was the object of his
+visit. The farm-house was a place of meeting more suitable and safe than
+any other. Thither, therefore, she determined immediately to return.</p>
+
+<p>The closet had but one door, and this led into the chamber where the
+sounds had arisen. Through this chamber, therefore, she was obliged to
+pass, in order to reach the staircase, which terminated in the hall
+below.</p>
+
+<p>Bearing the light in her left hand, she withdrew the bolt of the door
+and opened. In spite of courageous efforts, she opened with
+unwillingness, and shuddered to throw a glance forward or advance a step
+into the room. This was not needed, to reveal to her the cause of her
+late disturbance. Her eye instantly lighted on the body of a man,
+supine, motionless, stretched on the floor, close to the door through
+which she was about to pass.</p>
+
+<p>A spectacle like this was qualified to startle her. She shrunk back, and
+fixed a more steadfast eye upon the prostrate person. There was no mark
+of blood or of wounds, but there was something in the attitude more
+significant of death than of sleep. His face rested on the floor, and
+his ragged locks concealed what part of his visage was not hidden by his
+posture. His garb was characterized by fashionable elegance, but was
+polluted with dust.</p>
+
+<p>The image that first occurred to her was that of Ormond. This instantly
+gave place to another, which was familiar to her apprehension. It was at
+first too indistinctly seen to suggest a name. She continued to gaze and
+to be lost in fearful astonishment. Was this the person whose entrance
+had been overheard, and who had dragged himself hither to die at her
+door? Yet, in that case, would not groans and expiring efforts have
+testified his condition and invoked her succour? Was he not brought
+hither in the arms of his assassin? She mused upon the possible motives
+that induced some one thus to act, and upon the connection that might
+subsist between her destiny and that of the dead.</p>
+
+<p>Her meditations, however fruitless in other respects, could not fail to
+show her the propriety of hastening from this spot. To scrutinize the
+form or face of the dead was a task to which her courage was unequal.
+Suitably accompanied and guarded, she would not scruple to return and
+ascertain, by the most sedulous examination, the cause of this ominous
+event.</p>
+
+<p>She stepped over the breathless corpse, and hurried to the staircase. It
+became her to maintain the command of her muscles and joints, and to
+proceed without faltering or hesitation. Scarcely had she reached the
+entrance of the hall, when, casting anxious looks forward, she beheld a
+human figure. No scrutiny was requisite to inform her that this was
+Ormond.</p>
+
+<p>She stopped. He approached her with looks and gestures placid but
+solemn. There was nothing in his countenance rugged or malignant. On the
+contrary, there were tokens of compassion.</p>
+
+<p>"So," said he, "I expected to meet you. Alight, gleaming from the
+window, marked you out. This and Laffert's directions have guided me."</p>
+
+<p>"What," said Constantia, with discomposure in her accent, "was your
+motive for seeking me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Have you forgotten," said Ormond, "what passed at our last interview?
+The evil that I then predicted is at hand. Perhaps you were incredulous;
+you accounted me a madman or deceiver; now I am come to witness the
+fulfilment of my words and the completion of your destiny. To rescue you
+I have not come: that is not within the compass of human powers.</p>
+
+<p>"Poor Constantia," he continued, in tones that manifested genuine
+sympathy, "look upon thyself as lost. The toils that beset thee are
+inextricable. Summon up thy patience to endure the evil. Now will the
+last and heaviest trial betide thy fortitude. I could weep for thee, if
+my manly nature would permit. This is the scene of thy calamity, and
+this the hour."</p>
+
+<p>These words were adapted to excite curiosity mingled with terror.
+Ormond's deportment was of an unexampled tenor, as well as that evil
+which he had so ambiguously predicted. He offered no protection from
+danger, and yet gave no proof of being himself an agent or auxiliary.
+After a minute's pause, Constantia, recovering a firm tone, said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Ormond, your recent deportment but ill accords with your
+professions of sincerity and plain dealing. What your purpose is, or
+whether you have any purpose, I am at a loss to conjecture. Whether you
+most deserve censure or ridicule, is a point which you afford me not the
+means of deciding, and to which, unless on your own account, I am
+indifferent. If you are willing to be more explicit, or if there be any
+topic on which you wish further to converse, I will not refuse your
+company to Laffert's dwelling. Longer to remain here would be indiscreet
+and absurd."</p>
+
+<p>So saying, she motioned towards the door. Ormond was passive, and seemed
+indisposed to prevent her departure, till she laid her hand upon the
+lock. He then, without moving from his place, exclaimed,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Stay! Must this meeting, which fate ordains to be the last, be so
+short? Must a time and place so suitable for what remains to be said and
+done be neglected or misused? No. You charge me with duplicity, and deem
+my conduct either ridiculous or criminal. I have stated my reasons for
+concealment, but these have failed to convince you. Well, here is now an
+end to doubt. All ambiguities are preparing to vanish."</p>
+
+<p>When Ormond began to speak, Constantia paused to hearken to him. His
+vehemence was not of that nature which threatened to obstruct her
+passage. It was by entreaty that he apparently endeavoured to detain her
+steps, and not by violence. Hence arose her patience to listen. He
+continued:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Constantia! thy father is dead. Art thou not desirous of detecting the
+author of his fate? Will it afford thee no consolation to know that the
+deed is punished? Wilt thou suffer me to drag the murderer to thy feet?
+Thy justice will be gratified by this sacrifice. Somewhat will be due to
+him who avenged thy wrong in the blood of the perpetrator. What sayest
+thou? Grant me thy permission, and in a moment I will drag him hither."</p>
+
+<p>These words called up the image of the person whose corpse she had
+lately seen. It was readily conceived that to him Ormond alluded; but
+this was the assassin of her father, and his crime had been detected and
+punished by Ormond! These images had no other effect than to urge her
+departure: she again applied her hand to the lock, and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"This scene must not be prolonged. My father's death I desire not to
+hear explained or to see revenged, but whatever information you are
+willing or able to communicate must be deferred."</p>
+
+<p>"Nay," interrupted Ormond, with augmented vehemence, "art thou equally
+devoid of curiosity and justice? Thinkest thou that the enmity which
+bereft thy father of life will not seek thy own? There are evils which I
+cannot prevent thee from enduring, but there are, likewise, ills which
+my counsel will enable thee and thy friend to shun. Save me from
+witnessing thy death. Thy father's destiny is sealed; all that remained
+was to punish his assassin; but thou and thy Sophia still live. Why
+should ye perish by a like stroke?"</p>
+
+<p>This intimation was sufficient to arrest the steps of Constantia. She
+withdrew her hand from the door, and fixed eyes of the deepest anxiety
+on Ormond:&mdash;"What mean you? How am I to understand&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Ah!" said Ormond, "I see thou wilt consent to stay. Thy detention shall
+not be long. Remain where thou art during one moment,&mdash;merely while I
+drag hither thy enemy and show thee a visage which thou wilt not be slow
+to recognise." Saying this, he hastily ascended the staircase, and
+quickly passed beyond her sight.</p>
+
+<p>Deportment thus mysterious could not fail of bewildering her thoughts.
+There was somewhat in the looks and accents of Ormond, different from
+former appearances; tokens of a hidden purpose and a smothered meaning
+were perceptible,&mdash;a mixture of the inoffensive and the lawless, which,
+added to the loneliness and silence that encompassed her, produced a
+faltering emotion. Her curiosity was overpowered by her fear, and the
+resolution was suddenly conceived of seizing this opportunity to escape.</p>
+
+<p>A third time she put her hand to the lock and attempted to open. The
+effort was ineffectual. The door that was accustomed to obey the
+gentlest touch was now immovable. She had lately unlocked and passed
+through it. Her eager inspection convinced her that the principal bolt
+was still withdrawn, but a small one was now perceived, of whose
+existence she had not been apprized, and over which her key had no
+power.</p>
+
+<p>Now did she first harbour a fear that was intelligible in its dictates.
+Now did she first perceive herself sinking in the toils of some lurking
+enemy. Hope whispered that this foe was not Ormond. His conduct had
+bespoken no willingness to put constraint upon her steps. He talked not
+as if he was aware of this obstruction, and yet his seeming acquiescence
+might have flowed from a knowledge that she had no power to remove
+beyond his reach.</p>
+
+<p>He warned her of danger to her life, of which he was her self-appointed
+rescuer. His counsel was to arm her with sufficient caution; the peril
+that awaited her was imminent; this was the time and place of its
+occurrence, and here she was compelled to remain, till the power that
+fastened would condescend to loose the door. There were other avenues to
+the hall. These were accustomed to be locked; but Ormond had found
+access, and, if all continued fast, it was incontestable that he was the
+author of this new impediment.</p>
+
+<p>The other avenues were hastily examined. All were bolted and locked. The
+first impulse led her to call for help from without; but the mansion was
+distant from Laffert's habitation. This spot was wholly unfrequented. No
+passenger was likely to be stationed where her call could be heard.
+Besides, this forcible detention might operate for a short time, and be
+attended with no mischievous consequences. Whatever was to come, it was
+her duty to collect her courage and encounter it.</p>
+
+<p>Tho steps of Ormond above now gave tokens of his approach. Vigilant
+observance of this man was all that her situation permitted. A vehement
+effort restored her to some degree of composure. Her stifled
+palpitations allowed her steadfastly to notice him as he now descended
+the stairs, bearing a lifeless body in his arms. "There!" said he, as he
+cast it at her feet; "whose countenance is that? Who would imagine that
+features like those belonged to an assassin and impostor?"</p>
+
+<p>Closed eyelids and fallen muscles could not hide from her lineaments so
+often seen. She shrunk back and exclaimed, "Thomas Craig!"</p>
+
+<p>A pause succeeded, in which she alternately gazed at the countenance of
+this unfortunate wretch and at Ormond. At length, the latter
+exclaimed,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Well, my girl, hast thou examined him? Dost thou recognise a friend or
+an enemy?"</p>
+
+<p>"I know him well: but how came this? What purpose brought him hither?
+Who was the author of his fate?"</p>
+
+<p>"Have I not already told thee that Ormond was his own avenger and thine?
+To thee and to me he has been a robber. To him thy father is indebted
+for the loss not only of property but life. Did crimes like these merit
+a less punishment? And what recompense is due to him whose vigilance
+pursued him hither and made him pay for his offences with his blood?
+What benefit have I received at thy hand to authorize me, for thy sake,
+to take away his life?"</p>
+
+<p>"No benefit received from me," said Constantia, "would justify such an
+act. I should have abhorred myself for annexing to my benefits so bloody
+a condition. It calls for no gratitude or recompense. Its suitable
+attendant is remorse. That he is a thief, I know but too well; that my
+father died by his hand is incredible. No motives or means&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Why so?" interrupted Ormond. "Does not sleep seal up the senses? Cannot
+closets be unlocked at midnight? Cannot adjoining houses communicate by
+doors? Cannot these doors be hidden from suspicion by a sheet of
+canvas?"</p>
+
+<p>These words were of startling and abundant import. They reminded her of
+circumstances in her father's chamber, which sufficiently explained the
+means by which his life was assailed. The closet, and its canvas-covered
+wall; the adjoining house untenanted and shut up&mdash;but this house, though
+unoccupied, belonged to Ormond. From the inferences which flowed hence,
+her attention was withdrawn by her companion, who continued:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Do these means imply the interposal of a miracle? His motives? What
+scruples can be expected from a man inured from infancy to cunning and
+pillage? Will he abstain from murder when urged by excruciating poverty,
+by menaces of persecution, by terror of expiring on the gallows?"</p>
+
+<p>Tumultuous suspicions were now awakened in the mind of Constantia. Her
+faltering voice scarcely allowed her to ask, "How know <i>you</i> that Craig
+was thus guilty?&mdash;that these were his incitements and means?"</p>
+
+<p>Ormond's solemnity now gave place to a tone of sarcasm and looks of
+exultation:&mdash;"Poor Constantia! Thou art still pestered with incredulity
+and doubts! My veracity is still in question! My knowledge, girl, is
+infallible. That these were his means of access I cannot be ignorant,
+for I pointed them out. He was urged by these motives, for they were
+stated and enforced by me. His was the deed, for I stood beside him when
+it was done."</p>
+
+<p>These, indeed, were terms that stood in no need of further explanation.
+The veil that shrouded this formidable being was lifted high enough to
+make him be regarded with inexplicable horror. What his future acts
+should be, how his omens of ill were to be solved, were still involved
+in uncertainty.</p>
+
+<p>In the midst of fears for her own safety, by which Constantia was now
+assailed, the image of her father was revived; keen regret and vehement
+upbraiding were conjured up.</p>
+
+<p>"Craig, then, was the instrument, and yours the instigation, that
+destroyed my father! In what had he offended you? What cause had he
+given for resentment?"</p>
+
+<p>"Cause!" replied he, with impetuous accents. "Resentment! None. My
+motive was benevolent; my deed conferred a benefit. I gave him sight and
+took away his life, from motives equally wise. Know you not that Ormond
+was fool enough to set value on the affections of a woman? These were
+sought with preposterous anxiety and endless labour. Among other
+facilitators of his purpose, he summoned gratitude to his aid. To
+snatch you from poverty, to restore his sight to your father, were
+expected to operate as incentives to love.</p>
+
+<p>"But here I was the dupe of error. A thousand prejudices stood in my
+way. These, provided our intercourse were not obstructed, I hoped to
+subdue. The rage of innovation seized your father: this, blended with a
+mortal antipathy to me, made him labour to seduce you from the bosom of
+your peaceful country; to make you enter on a boisterous sea; to visit
+lands where all is havoc and hostility; to snatch you from the influence
+of my arguments.</p>
+
+<p>"This new obstacle I was bound to remove. While revolving the means,
+chance and his evil destiny threw Craig in my way. I soon convinced him
+that his reputation and his life were in my hands. His retention of
+these depended upon my will, on the performance of conditions which I
+prescribed.</p>
+
+<p>"My happiness and yours depended on your concurrence with my wishes.
+Your father's life was an obstacle to your concurrence. For killing him,
+therefore, I may claim your gratitude. His death was a due and
+disinterested offering at the altar of your felicity and mine.</p>
+
+<p>"My deed was not injurious to him. At his age, death, whose coming at
+some period is inevitable, could not be distant. To make it unforeseen
+and brief, and void of pain,&mdash;to preclude the torments of a lingering
+malady, a slow and visible descent to the grave,&mdash;was the dictate of
+beneficence. But of what value was a continuance of his life? Either you
+would have gone with him to Europe or have stayed at home with me. In
+the first case, his life would have been rapidly consumed by perils and
+cares. In the second, separation from you, and union with me,&mdash;a being
+so detestable,&mdash;would equally have poisoned his existence.</p>
+
+<p>"Craig's cowardice and crimes made him a pliant and commodious tool. I
+pointed out the way. The unsuspected door which led into the closet of
+your father's chamber was made, by my direction, during the life of
+Helena. By this avenue I was wont to post myself where all your
+conversations could be overheard. By this avenue an entrance and
+retreat were afforded to the agent of my newest purpose.</p>
+
+<p>"Fool that I was! I solaced myself with the belief that all impediments
+were now smoothed, when a new enemy appeared. My folly lasted as long as
+my hope. I saw that to gain your affections, fortified by antiquated
+scruples and obsequious to the guidance of this new monitor, was
+impossible. It is not my way to toil after that which is beyond my
+reach. If the greater good be inaccessible, I learn to be contented with
+the less.</p>
+
+<p>"I have served you with successless sedulity. I have set an engine in
+act to obliterate an obstacle to your felicity, and lay your father at
+rest. Under my guidance, this engine was productive only of good.
+Governed by itself or by another, it will only work you harm. I have,
+therefore, hastened to destroy it. Lo! it is now before you motionless
+and impotent.</p>
+
+<p>"For this complexity of benefit I look for no reward. I am not tired of
+well-doing. Having ceased to labour for an unattainable good, I have
+come hither to possess myself of all that I now crave, and by the same
+deed to afford you an illustrious opportunity to signalize your wisdom
+and your fortitude."</p>
+
+<p>During this speech, the mind of Constantia became more deeply pervaded
+with dread of some overhanging but incomprehensible evil. The strongest
+impulse was to gain a safe asylum, at a distance from this spot and from
+the presence of this extraordinary being. This impulse was followed by
+the recollection that her liberty was taken away, that egress from the
+hall was denied her, and that this restriction might be part of some
+conspiracy of Ormond against her life.</p>
+
+<p>Security from danger like this would be, in the first place, sought, by
+one of Constantia's sex and opinions, in flight. This had been rendered,
+by some fatal chance or by the precautions of her foe, impracticable.
+Stratagem or force was all that remained to elude or disarm her
+adversary. For the contrivance and execution of fraud, all the habits of
+her life and all the maxims of her education had conspired to unfit her.
+Her force of muscles would avail her nothing against the superior
+energy of Ormond.</p>
+
+<p>She remembered that to inflict death was no iniquitous exertion of
+self-defence, and that the penknife which she held in her hand was
+capable of this service. She had used it to remove any lurking
+obstruction in the wards of her key, supposing, for a time, this to be
+the cause of her failing to withdraw the bolt of the door. This resource
+was, indeed, scarcely less disastrous and deplorable than any fate from
+which it could rescue her. Some uncertainty still involved the
+intentions of Ormond. As soon as he paused, she spoke:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"How am I to understand this prelude? Let me know the full extent of my
+danger,&mdash;why it is that I am hindered from leaving this house, and why
+this interview was sought."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, Constantia, this, indeed, is merely a prelude to a scene that is to
+terminate my influence over thy fate. When this is past I have sworn to
+part with thee forever. Art thou still dubious of my purpose? Art thou
+not a woman? And have I not entreated for thy love and been rejected?</p>
+
+<p>"Canst thou imagine that I aim at thy life? My avowals of love were
+sincere; my passion was vehement and undisguised. It gave dignity and
+value to a gift in thy power, as a woman, to bestow. This has been
+denied. That gift has lost none of its value in my eyes. What thou
+refusest to bestow it is in my power to extort. I came for that end.
+When this end is accomplished, I will restore thee to liberty."</p>
+
+<p>These words were accompanied by looks that rendered all explanation of
+their meaning useless. The evil reserved for her, hitherto obscured by
+half-disclosed and contradictory attributes, was now sufficiently
+apparent. The truth in this respect unveiled itself with the rapidity
+and brightness of an electrical flash.</p>
+
+<p>She was silent. She cast her eyes at the windows and doors. Escape
+through them was hopeless. She looked at those lineaments of Ormond
+which evinced his disdain of supplication and inexorable passions. She
+felt that entreaty and argument would be vain; that all appeals to his
+compassion and benevolence would counteract her purpose, since, in the
+unexampled conformation of this man's mind, these principles were made
+subservient to his most flagitious designs. Considerations of justice
+and pity were made, by a fatal perverseness of reasoning, champions and
+bulwarks of his most atrocious mistakes.</p>
+
+<p>The last extremes of opposition, the most violent expedients for
+defence, would be justified by being indispensable. To find safety for
+her honour, even in the blood of an assailant, was the prescription of
+duty. Tho equity of this species of defence was not, in the present
+confusion of her mind, a subject of momentary doubt.</p>
+
+<p>To forewarn him of her desperate purpose would be to furnish him with
+means of counteraction. Her weapon would easily be wrested from her
+feeble hand. Ineffectual opposition would only precipitate her evil
+destiny. A rage, contented with nothing less than her life, might be
+awakened in his bosom. But was not this to be desired? Death, untimely
+and violent, was better than the loss of honour.</p>
+
+<p>This thought led to a new series of reflections. She involuntarily
+shrunk from the act of killing: but would her efforts to destroy her
+adversary be effectual? Would not his strength and dexterity easily
+repel or elude them? Her power in this respect was questionable, but her
+power was undeniably sufficient to a different end. The instrument which
+could not rescue her from this injury by the destruction of another
+might save her from it by her own destruction.</p>
+
+<p>These thoughts rapidly occurred; but the resolution to which they led
+was scarcely formed, when Ormond advanced towards her. She recoiled a
+few steps, and, showing the knife which she held, said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Ormond! Beware! Know that my unalterable resolution is to die
+uninjured. I have the means in my power. Stop where you are; one step
+more, and I plunge this knife into my heart. I know that to contend with
+your strength or your reason would be vain. To turn this weapon against
+you I should not fear, if I were sure of success; but to that I will
+not trust. To save a greater good by the sacrifice of life is in my
+power, and that sacrifice shall be made."</p>
+
+<p>"Poor Constantia!" replied Ormond, in a tone of contempt; "so thou
+preferrest thy imaginary honour to life! To escape this injury without a
+name or substance, without connection with the past or future, without
+contamination of thy purity or thraldom of thy will, thou wilt kill
+thyself; put an end to thy activity in virtue's cause; rob thy friend of
+her solace, the world of thy beneficence, thyself of being and pleasure?</p>
+
+<p>"I shall be grieved for the fatal issue of my experiment; I shall mourn
+over thy martyrdom to the most opprobrious and contemptible of all
+errors: but that thou shouldst undergo the trial is decreed. There is
+still an interval of hope that thy cowardice is counterfeited, or that
+it will give place to wisdom and courage.</p>
+
+<p>"Whatever thou intendest by way of prevention or cure, it behooves thee
+to employ with steadfastness. Die with the guilt of suicide and the
+brand of cowardice upon thy memory, or live with thy claims to felicity
+and approbation undiminished. Choose which thou wilt. Thy decision is of
+moment to thyself, but of none to me. Living or dead, the prize that I
+have in view shall be mine."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h3>
+
+
+<p>It will be requisite to withdraw your attention from this scene for a
+moment, and fix it on myself. My impatience of my friend's delay, for
+some days preceding this disastrous interview, became continually more
+painful. As the time of our departure approached, my dread of some
+misfortune or impediment increased. Ormond's disappearance from the
+scene contributed but little to my consolation. To wrap his purposes in
+mystery, to place himself at seeming distance, was the usual artifice of
+such as he,&mdash;was necessary to the maturing of his project and the
+hopeless entanglement of his victim. I saw no means of placing the
+safety of my friend beyond his reach. Between different methods of
+procedure, there was, however, room for choice. Her present abode was
+more hazardous than an abode in the city. To be alone argued a state
+more defenceless and perilous than to be attended by me.</p>
+
+<p>I wrote her an urgent admonition to return. My remonstrances were
+couched in such terms as, in my own opinion, laid her under the
+necessity of immediate compliance. The letter was despatched by the
+usual messenger, and for some hours I solaced myself with the prospect
+of a speedy meeting.</p>
+
+<p>These thoughts gave place to doubt and apprehension. I began to distrust
+the efficacy of my arguments, and to invent a thousand reasons, inducing
+her, in defiance of my rhetoric, at least to protract her absence. These
+reasons I had not previously conceived, and had not, therefore,
+attempted, in my letter, to invalidate their force. This omission was
+possible to be supplied in a second epistle; but, meanwhile, time would
+be lost, and my new arguments might, like the old, fail to convince
+her. At least, the tongue was a much more versatile and powerful
+advocate than the pen; and, by hastening to her habitation, I might
+either compel her to return with me, or ward off danger by my presence,
+or share it with her. I finally resolved to join her by the speediest
+conveyance.</p>
+
+<p>This resolution was suggested by the meditations of a sleepless night. I
+rose with the dawn, and sought out the means of transporting myself,
+with most celerity, to the abode of my friend. A stage-boat, accustomed
+twice a day to cross New York Bay to Staten Island, was prevailed upon,
+by liberal offers, to set out upon the voyage at the dawn of day. The
+sky was gloomy, and the air boisterous and unsettled. The wind, suddenly
+becoming tempestuous and adverse, rendered the voyage at once tedious
+and full of peril. A voyage of nine miles was not effected in less than
+eight hours and without imminent and hairbreadth danger of being
+drowned.</p>
+
+<p>Fifteen miles of the journey remained to be performed by land. A
+carriage, with the utmost difficulty, was procured, but lank horses and
+a crazy vehicle were but little in unison with my impatience. We reached
+not Amboy ferry till some hours after nightfall. I was rowed across the
+Sound, and proceeded to accomplish the remainder of my journey&mdash;about
+three miles&mdash;on foot.</p>
+
+<p>I was actuated to this speed by indefinite but powerful motives. The
+belief that my speedy arrival was essential to the rescue of my friend
+from some inexplicable injury haunted me with ceaseless importunity. On
+no account would I have consented to postpone this precipitate
+expedition till the morrow.</p>
+
+<p>I at length arrived at Dudley's farm-house. The inhabitants were struck
+with wonder at the sight of me. My clothes were stained by the water by
+which every passenger was copiously sprinkled during our boisterous
+navigation, and soiled by dust; my frame was almost overpowered by
+fatigue and abstinence.</p>
+
+<p>To my anxious inquiries respecting my friend, they told me that her
+evenings were usually spent at the mansion, where it was probable she
+was now to be found. They were not apprized of any inconvenience or
+danger that betided her. It was her custom sometimes to prolong her
+absence till midnight.</p>
+
+<p>I could not applaud the discretion nor censure the temerity of this
+proceeding. My mind was harassed by unintelligible omens and
+self-confuted fears. To obviate the danger and to banish my inquietudes
+was my first duty. For this end I hastened to the mansion. Having passed
+the intervening hillocks and copses, I gained a view of the front of the
+building. My heart suddenly sunk, on observing that no apartment&mdash;not
+even that in which I knew it was her custom to sit at these unseasonable
+hours&mdash;was illuminated. A gleam from the window of the study I should
+have regarded as an argument at once of her presence and her safety.</p>
+
+<p>I approached the house with misgiving and faltering steps. The gate
+leading into a spacious court was open. A sound on one side attracted my
+attention. In the present state of my thoughts, any near or unexplained
+sound sufficed to startle me. Looking towards the quarter whence my
+panic was excited, I espied, through the dusk, a horse grazing, with his
+bridle thrown over his neck.</p>
+
+<p>This appearance was a new source of perplexity and alarm. The inference
+was unavoidable that a visitant was here. Who that visitant was, and how
+he was now employed, was a subject of eager but fruitless curiosity.
+Within and around the mansion, all was buried in the deepest repose. I
+now approached the principal door, and, looking through the keyhole,
+perceived a lamp, standing on the lowest step of the staircase. It shed
+a pale light over the lofty ceiling and marble balustrades. No face or
+movement of a human being was perceptible.</p>
+
+<p>These tokens assured me that some one was within: they also accounted
+for the non-appearance of light at the window above. I withdrew my eye
+from this avenue, and was preparing to knock loudly for admission, when
+my attention was awakened by some one who advanced to the door from the
+inside and seemed busily engaged in unlocking. I started back and waited
+with impatience till the door should open and the person issue forth.</p>
+
+<p>Presently I heard a voice within exclaim, in accents of mingled terror
+and grief, "Oh, what&mdash;what will become of me? Shall I never be released
+from this detested prison?"</p>
+
+<p>The voice was that of Constantia. It penetrated to my heart like an
+icebolt. I once more darted a glance through the crevice. A figure, with
+difficulty recognised to be that of my friend, now appeared in sight.
+Her hands were clasped on her breast, her eyes wildly fixed upon the
+ceiling and streaming with tears, and her hair unbound and falling
+confusedly over her bosom and neck.</p>
+
+<p>My sensations scarcely permitted me to call, "Constantia! For Heaven's
+sake, what has happened to you? Open the door, I beseech you."</p>
+
+<p>"What voice is that? Sophia Courtland! O my friend! I am imprisoned!
+Some demon has barred the door, beyond my power to unfasten. Ah, why
+comest thou so late? Thy succour would have somewhat profited if sooner
+given; but now, the lost Constantia&mdash;" Here her voice sunk into
+convulsive sobs.</p>
+
+<p>In the midst of my own despair, on perceiving the fulfilment of my
+apprehensions, and what I regarded as the fatal execution of some
+project of Ormond, I was not insensible to the suggestions of prudence.
+I entreated my friend to retain her courage, while I flew to Laffert's
+and returned with suitable assistance to burst open the door.</p>
+
+<p>The people of the farm-house readily obeyed my summons. Accompanied by
+three men of powerful sinews, sons and servants of the farmer, I
+returned with the utmost expedition to the mansion. The lamp still
+remained in its former place, but our loudest calls were unanswered. The
+silence was uninterrupted and profound.</p>
+
+<p>The door yielded to strenuous and repeated efforts, and I rushed into
+the hall. The first object that met my sight was my friend, stretched
+upon the floor, pale and motionless, supine, and with all the tokens of
+death.</p>
+
+<p>From this object my attention was speedily attracted by two figures,
+breathless and supine like that of Constantia. One of them was Ormond. A
+smile of disdain still sat upon his features. The wound by which he fell
+was secret, and was scarcely betrayed by the effusion of a drop of
+blood. The face of the third victim was familiar to my early days. It
+was that of the impostor whose artifice had torn from Mr. Dudley his
+peace and fortune.</p>
+
+<p>An explication of this scene was hopeless. By what disastrous and
+inscrutable fate a place like this became the scene of such complicated
+havoc, to whom Craig was indebted for his death, what evil had been
+meditated or inflicted by Ormond, and by what means his project had
+arrived at this bloody consummation, were topics of wild and fearful
+conjecture.</p>
+
+<p>But my friend&mdash;the first impulse of my fears was to regard her as dead.
+Hope and a closer observation outrooted, or, at least, suspended, this
+opinion. One of the men lifted her in his arms. No trace of blood or
+mark of fatal violence was discoverable, and the effusion of cold water
+restored her, though slowly, to life.</p>
+
+<p>To withdraw her from this spectacle of death was my first care. She
+suffered herself to be led to the farm-house. She was carried to her
+chamber. For a time she appeared incapable of recollection. She grasped
+my hand, as I sat by her bedside, but scarcely gave any other tokens of
+life.</p>
+
+<p>From this state of inactivity she gradually recovered. I was actuated by
+a thousand forebodings, but refrained from molesting her by
+interrogation or condolence. I watched by her side in silence, but was
+eager to collect from her own lips an account of this mysterious
+transaction.</p>
+
+<p>At length she opened her eyes, and appeared to recollect her present
+situation, and the events which led to it. I inquired into her
+condition, and asked if there were any thing in my power to procure or
+perform for her.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, my friend," she answered, "what have I done, what have I suffered,
+within the last dreadful hour! The remembrance, though insupportable,
+will never leave me. You can do nothing for my relief. All I claim is
+your compassion and your sympathy."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope," said I, "that nothing has happened to load you with guilt or
+with shame?"</p>
+
+<p>"Alas! I know not. My deed was scarcely the fruit of intention. It was
+suggested by a momentary frenzy. I saw no other means of escaping from
+vileness and pollution. I was menaced with an evil worse than death. I
+forebore till my strength was almost subdued: the lapse of another
+moment would have placed me beyond hope.</p>
+
+<p>"My stroke was desperate and at random. It answered my purpose too well.
+He cast at me a look of terrible upbraiding, but spoke not. His heart
+was pierced, and he sunk, as if struck by lightning, at my feet. O much
+erring and unhappy Ormond! That thou shouldst thus untimely perish! That
+I should be thy executioner!"</p>
+
+<p>These words sufficiently explained the scene that I had witnessed. The
+violence of Ormond had been repulsed by equal violence. His foul
+attempts had been prevented by his death. Not to deplore the necessity
+which had produced this act was impossible; but, since this necessity
+existed, it was surely not a deed to be thought upon with lasting
+horror, or to be allowed to generate remorse.</p>
+
+<p>In consequence of this catastrophe, arduous duties had devolved upon me.
+The people that surrounded me were powerless with terror. Their
+ignorance and cowardice left them at a loss how to act in this
+emergency. They besought my direction, and willingly performed whatever
+I thought proper to enjoin upon them.</p>
+
+<p>No deliberation was necessary to acquaint me with my duty. Laffert was
+despatched to the nearest magistrate with a letter, in which his
+immediate presence was entreated and these transactions were briefly
+explained. Early the next day the formalities of justice, in the
+inspection of the bodies and the examination of witnesses, were
+executed. It would be needless to dwell on the particulars of this
+catastrophe. A sufficient explanation has been given of the causes that
+led to it. They were such as exempted my friend from legal
+animadversion. Her act was prompted by motives which every scheme of
+jurisprudence known in the world not only exculpates, but applauds. To
+state these motives before a tribunal hastily formed and exercising its
+functions on the spot was a task not to be avoided, though infinitely
+painful. Remonstrances the most urgent and pathetic could scarcely
+conquer her reluctance.</p>
+
+<p>This task, however, was easy, in comparison with that which remained. To
+restore health and equanimity to my friend; to repel the erroneous
+accusations of her conscience; to hinder her from musing, with eternal
+anguish, upon this catastrophe; to lay the spirit of secret upbraiding
+by which she was incessantly tormented, which bereft her of repose,
+empoisoned all her enjoyments, and menaced not only the subversion of
+her peace but the speedy destruction of her life, became my next
+employment.</p>
+
+<p>My counsels and remonstrances were not wholly inefficacious. They
+afforded me the prospect of her ultimate restoration to tranquillity.
+Meanwhile, I called to my aid the influence of time and of a change of
+scene. I hastened to embark with her for Europe. Our voyage was
+tempestuous and dangerous, but storms and perils at length gave way to
+security and repose.</p>
+
+<p>Before our voyage was commenced, I endeavoured to procure tidings of the
+true condition and designs of Ormond. My information extended no further
+than that he had put his American property into the hands of Mr.
+Melbourne, and was preparing to embark for France. Courtland, who has
+since been at Paris, and who, while there, became confidentially
+acquainted with Martinette de Beauvais, has communicated facts of an
+unexpected nature.</p>
+
+<p>At the period of Ormond's return to Philadelphia, at which his last
+interview with Constantia in that city took place, he visited
+Martinette. He avowed himself to be her brother, and supported his
+pretensions by relating the incidents of his early life. A separation at
+the age of fifteen, and which had lasted for the same number of years,
+may be supposed to have considerably changed the countenance and figure
+she had formerly known. His relationship was chiefly proved by the
+enumeration of incidents of which her brother only could be apprized.</p>
+
+<p>He possessed a minute acquaintance with her own adventures, but
+concealed from her the means by which he had procured the knowledge. He
+had rarely and imperfectly alluded to his own opinions and projects, and
+had maintained an invariable silence on the subject of his connection
+with Constantia and Helena. Being informed of her intention to return to
+France, he readily complied with her request to accompany her in this
+voyage. His intentions in this respect were frustrated by the dreadful
+catastrophe that has been just related. Respecting this event,
+Martinette had collected only vague and perplexing information.
+Courtland, though able to remove her doubts, thought proper to withhold
+from her the knowledge he possessed.</p>
+
+<p>Since her arrival in England, the life of my friend has experienced
+little variation. Of her personal deportment and domestic habits you
+have been a witness. These, therefore, it would be needless for me to
+exhibit. It is sufficient to have related events which the recentness of
+your intercourse with her hindered you from knowing but by means of some
+formal narrative like the present. She and her friend only were able to
+impart to you the knowledge which you have so anxiously sought. In
+consideration of your merits and of your attachment to my friend, I have
+consented to devote my leisure to this task.</p>
+
+<p>It is now finished; and I have only to add my wishes that the perusal of
+this tale may afford you as much instruction as the contemplation of the
+sufferings and vicissitudes of Constantia Dudley has afforded to me.
+Farewell.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>THE END.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ORMOND, VOLUME III (OF 3)***</p>
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diff --git a/36291.txt b/36291.txt
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+++ b/36291.txt
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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Ormond, Volume III (of 3), by Charles
+Brockden Brown
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Ormond, Volume III (of 3)
+       or, The Secret Witness
+
+
+Author: Charles Brockden Brown
+
+
+
+Release Date: May 31, 2011  [eBook #36291]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ORMOND, VOLUME III (OF 3)***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Andrea Ball, Christine Bell, & Marc D'Hooghe
+(http://www.freeliterature.org) from page images generously made available
+by the Google Books Library Project (http://books.google.com/)
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has the other two volumes of
+      this book.
+      Volume I:  See http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/36289
+      Volume II: See http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/36290
+
+
+      Images of the original pages are available through
+      the the Google Books Library Project. See
+      http://books.google.com/books?id=aRgGAAAAQAAJ&oe=UTF-8
+
+
+
+
+
+ORMOND;
+
+Or,
+
+The Secret Witness.
+
+by
+
+B. C. BROWN,
+
+Author of Wieland, or Transformation.
+
+In Three Volumes.
+
+VOL. III.
+
+
+"Saepe intereunt aliis meditantes necem."
+
+                                  PHAEDRUS
+
+"Those who plot the destruction of others, very often fall,
+themselves the victims."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Philadelphia  Printed,
+London, Re-Printed for Henry Colburn,
+English and Foreign Public Library,
+Conduit-Street, Bond-Street.
+1811
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
+
+LADY CASTLEREAGH,
+
+THESE VOLUMES
+
+are respectfully inscribed,
+
+by her Ladyship's
+
+most obedient, and humble Servant,
+
+HENRY COLBURN.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+"My father, in proportion as he grew old and rich, became weary of
+Aleppo. His natal soil, had it been the haunt of Calmucks or Bedouins,
+his fancy would have transformed into Paradise. No wonder that the
+equitable aristocracy and the peaceful husbandmen of Ragusa should be
+endeared to his heart by comparison with Egyptian plagues and Turkish
+tyranny. Besides, he lived for his children as well as himself. Their
+education and future lot required him to seek a permanent home.
+
+"He embarked, with his wife and offspring, at Scanderoon. No immediate
+conveyance to Ragusa offering, the appearance of the plague in Syria
+induced him to hasten his departure. He entered a French vessel for
+Marseilles. After being three days at sea, one of the crew was seized by
+the fatal disease which had depopulated all the towns upon the coast.
+The voyage was made with more than usual despatch; but, before we
+reached our port, my mother and half the crew perished. My father died
+in the Lazaretto, more through grief than disease.
+
+"My brother and I were children and helpless. My father's fortune was on
+board this vessel, and was left by his death to the mercy of the
+captain. This man was honest, and consigned us and our property to the
+merchant with whom he dealt. Happily for us, our protector was childless
+and of scrupulous integrity. We henceforth became his adopted children.
+My brother's education and my own were conducted on the justest
+principles.
+
+"At the end of four years, our protector found it expedient to make a
+voyage to Cayenne. His brother was an extensive proprietor in that
+colony, but his sudden death made way for the succession of our friend.
+To establish his claims, his presence was necessary on the spot. He was
+little qualified for arduous enterprises, and his age demanded repose;
+but, his own acquisitions having been small, and being desirous of
+leaving us in possession of competence, he cheerfully embarked.
+
+"Meanwhile, my brother was placed at a celebrated seminary in the Pays
+de Vaud, and I was sent to a sister who resided at Verona. I was at this
+time fourteen years old,--one year younger than my brother, whom, since
+that period, I have neither heard of nor seen.
+
+"I was now a woman, and qualified to judge and act for myself. The
+character of my new friend was austere and devout, and there were so
+many incongenial points between us that but little tranquillity was
+enjoyed under her control. The priest who discharged the office of her
+confessor thought proper to entertain views with regard to me, grossly
+inconsistent with the sanctity of his profession. He was a man of
+profound dissimulation and masterly address. His efforts, however, were
+repelled with disdain. My security against his attempts lay in the
+uncouthness and deformity which nature had bestowed upon his person and
+visage, rather than in the firmness of my own principles.
+
+"The courtship of Father Bartoli, the austerities of Madame Roselli, the
+disgustful or insipid occupations to which I was condemned, made me
+impatiently wish for a change; but my father (so I will call him) had
+decreed that I should remain under his sister's guardianship till his
+return from Guiana. When this would happen was uncertain. Events
+unforeseen might protract it for years, but it could not arrive in less
+than a twelvemonth.
+
+"I was incessantly preyed upon by discontent. My solitude was loathsome.
+I panted after liberty and friendship, and the want of these were not
+recompensed by luxury and quiet, and by the instructions in useful
+science which I received from Bartoli, who, though detested as a
+hypocrite and lover, was venerable as a scholar. He would fain have been
+an Abelard, but it was not his fate to meet with an Eloisa.
+
+"Two years passed away in this durance. My miseries were exquisite. I am
+almost at a loss to account for the unhappiness of that time, for,
+looking back upon it, I perceive that an equal period could not have
+been spent with more benefit. For the sake of being near me, Bartoli
+importunately offered his instructions. He had nothing to communicate
+but metaphysics and geometry. These were little to my taste, but I could
+not keep him at a distance. I had no other alternative than to endure
+him as a lover or a teacher. His passion for science was at least equal
+to that which ho entertained for me, and both these passions combined to
+make him a sedulous instructor. He was a disciple of the newest
+doctrines respecting matter and mind. He denied the impenetrability of
+the first, and the immateriality of the second. These he endeavoured to
+inculcate upon me, as well as to subvert my religious tenets, because he
+delighted, like all men, in transfusing his opinions, and because he
+regarded my piety as the only obstacle to his designs. He succeeded in
+dissolving the spell of ignorance, but not in producing that kind of
+acquiescence he wished. He had, in this respect, to struggle not only
+with my principles, but my weakness. He might have overcome every
+obstacle but my abhorrence of deformity and age. To cure me of this
+aversion was beyond his power. My servitude grew daily more painful. I
+grew tired of chasing a comet to its aphelion, and of untying the knot
+of an infinite series. A change in my condition became indispensable to
+my very existence. Languor and sadness, and unwillingness to eat or to
+move, were at last my perpetual attendants!
+
+"Madame Roselli was alarmed at my condition. The sources of my
+inquietude were incomprehensible to her. The truth was, that I scarcely
+understood them myself, and my endeavours to explain them to my friend
+merely instilled into her an opinion that I was either lunatic or
+deceitful. She complained and admonished; but my disinclination to my
+usual employments would not be conquered, and my health rapidly
+declined. A physician, who was called, confessed that my case was beyond
+his power to understand, but recommended, as a sort of desperate
+expedient, a change of scene. A succession and variety of objects might
+possibly contribute to my cure.
+
+"At this time there arrived, at Verona, Lady D'Arcy,--an Englishwoman
+of fortune and rank, and a strenuous Catholic. Her husband had lately
+died; and, in order to divert her grief, as well as to gratify her
+curiosity in viewing the great seat of her religion, she had come to
+Italy. Intercourse took place between her and Madame Roselli. By this
+means she gained a knowledge of my person and condition, and kindly
+offered to take me under her protection. She meant to traverse every
+part of Italy, and was willing that I should accompany her in all her
+wanderings.
+
+"This offer was gratefully accepted, in spite of the artifices and
+remonstrances of Bartoli. My companion speedily contracted for me the
+affection of a mother. She was without kindred of her own religion,
+having acquired her faith, not by inheritance, but conversion. She
+desired to abjure her native country, and to bind herself, by every
+social tie, to a people who adhered to the same faith. Me she promised
+to adopt as her daughter, provided her first impressions in my favour
+were not belied by my future deportment.
+
+"My principles were opposite to hers; but habit, an aversion to
+displease my friend, my passion for knowledge, which my new condition
+enabled me to gratify, all combined to make me a deceiver. But my
+imposture was merely of a negative kind; I deceived her rather by
+forbearance to contradict, and by acting as she acted, than by open
+assent and zealous concurrence. My new state was, on this account, not
+devoid of inconvenience. The general deportment and sentiments of Lady
+D'Arcy testified a vigorous and pure mind. New avenues to knowledge, by
+converse with mankind and with books, and by the survey of new scenes,
+were open for my use. Gratitude and veneration attached me to my friend,
+and made the task of pleasing her, by a seeming conformity of
+sentiments, less irksome.
+
+"During this interval, no tidings were received by his sister, at
+Verona, respecting the fate of Sebastian Roselli. The supposition of
+his death was too plausible not to be adopted. What influence this
+disaster possessed over my brother's destiny, I know not. The generosity
+of Lady D'Arcy hindered me from experiencing any disadvantage from this
+circumstance. Fortune seemed to have decreed that I should not be
+reduced to the condition of an orphan.
+
+"At an age and in a situation like mine, I could not remain long
+unacquainted with love. My abode at Rome introduced me to the knowledge
+of a youth from England, who had every property which I regarded as
+worthy of esteem. He was a kinsman of--Lady D'Arcy, and as such admitted
+at her house on the most familiar footing. His patrimony was extremely
+slender, but was in his own possession. He had no intention of
+increasing it by any professional pursuit, but was contented with the
+frugal provision it afforded. He proposed no other end of his existence
+than the acquisition of virtue and knowledge.
+
+"The property of Lady D'Arcy was subject to her own disposal, but, on
+the failure of a testament, this youth was, in legal succession, the
+next heir. He was well acquainted with her temper and views, but, in the
+midst of urbanity and gentleness, studied none of those concealments of
+opinion which would have secured him her favour. That he was not of her
+own faith was an insuperable, but the only, obstacle to the admission of
+his claims.
+
+"If conformity of age and opinions, and the mutual fascination of love,
+be a suitable basis for marriage, Wentworth and I were destined for each
+other. Mutual disclosure added sanctity to our affection; but, the
+happiness of Lady D'Arcy being made to depend upon the dissolution of
+our compact, the heroism of Wentworth made him hasten to dissolve it. As
+soon as she discovered our attachment, she displayed symptoms of the
+deepest anguish. In addition to religious motives, her fondness for me
+forbade her to exist but in my society and in the belief of the purity
+of my faith. The contention, on my part, was vehement between the
+regards due to her felicity and to my own. Had Wentworth left me the
+power to decide, my decision would doubtless have evinced the frailty of
+my fortitude and the strength of my passion; but, having informed me
+fully of the reasons of his conduct, he precipitately retired from Rome.
+He left me no means of tracing his footsteps and of assailing his
+weakness by expostulation and entreaty.
+
+"Lady D'Arcy was no less eager to abandon a spot where her happiness had
+been so imminently endangered. Our next residence was Palermo. I will
+not dwell upon the sensations produced by this disappointment in me. I
+review them with astonishment and self-compassion. If I thought it
+possible for me to sink again into imbecility so ignominious, I should
+be disposed to kill myself.
+
+"There was no end to vows of fondness and tokens of gratitude in Lady
+D'Arcy. Her future life should be devoted to compensate me for this
+sacrifice. Nothing could console her in that single state in which she
+intended to live, but the consolations of my fellowship. Her conduct
+coincided for some time with these professions, and my anguish was
+allayed by the contemplation of the happiness conferred upon one whom I
+revered.
+
+"My friend could not be charged with dissimulation and artifice. Her
+character had been mistaken by herself as well as by me. Devout
+affections seemed to have filled her heart, to the exclusion of any
+object besides myself. She cherished with romantic tenderness the memory
+of her husband, and imagined that a single state was indispensably
+enjoined upon her by religious duty. This persuasion, however, was
+subverted by the arts of a Spanish cavalier, young, opulent, and
+romantic as herself in devotion. An event like this might, indeed, have
+been easily predicted, by those who reflected that the lady was still in
+the bloom of life, ardent in her temper, and bewitching in her manners.
+
+"The fondness she had lavished upon me was now, in some degree,
+transferred to a new object; but I still received the treatment due to a
+beloved daughter. She was solicitous as ever to promote my
+gratification, and a diminution of kindness would not have been
+suspected by those who had not witnessed the excesses of her former
+passion. Her marriage with the Spaniard removed the obstacle to union
+with Wentworth. This man, however, had set himself beyond the reach of
+my inquiries. Had there been the shadow of a clue afforded me, I should
+certainly have sought him to the ends of the world.
+
+"I continued to reside with my friend, and accompanied her and her
+husband to Spain. Antonio de Leyva was a man of probity. His mind was
+enlightened by knowledge and his actions dictated by humanity. Though
+but little older than myself, and young enough to be the son of his
+spouse, his deportment to me was a model of rectitude and delicacy. I
+spent a year in Spain, partly in the mountains of Castile and partly at
+Segovia. New manners and a new language occupied my attention for a
+time; but these, losing their novelty, lost their power to please. I
+betook myself to books, to beguile the tediousness and diversify the
+tenor of my life.
+
+"This would not have long availed; but I was relieved from new
+repinings, by the appointment of Antonio de Leyva to a diplomatic office
+at Vienna. Thither we accordingly repaired. A coincidence of
+circumstances had led me wide from the path of ambition and study
+usually allotted to my sex and age. From the computation of eclipses, I
+now betook myself to the study of man. My proficiency, when I allowed it
+to be seen, attracted great attention. Instead of adulation and
+gallantry, I was engaged in watching the conduct of states and revolving
+the theories of politicians.
+
+"Superficial observers were either incredulous with regard to my
+character, or connected a stupid wonder with their belief. My
+attainments and habits they did not see to be perfectly consonant with
+the principles of human nature. They unavoidably flowed from the illicit
+attachment of Bartoli, and the erring magnanimity of Wentworth. Aversion
+to the priest was the grand inciter of my former studies; the love of
+Wentworth, whom I hoped once more to meet, made me labour to exclude the
+importunities of others, and to qualify myself for securing his
+affections.
+
+"Since our parting in Italy, Wentworth had traversed Syria and Egypt,
+and arrived some months after me at Vienna. He was on the point of
+leaving the city, when accident informed me of his being there. An
+interview was effected, and, our former sentiments respecting each other
+having undergone no change, we were united. Madame de Leyva reluctantly
+concurred with our wishes, and, at parting, forced upon me a
+considerable sum of money.
+
+"Wentworth's was a character not frequently met with in the world. He
+was a political enthusiast, who esteemed nothing more graceful or
+glorious than to die for the liberties of mankind. He had traversed
+Greece with an imagination full of the exploits of ancient times, and
+derived, from contemplating Thermopylae and Marathon, an enthusiasm that
+bordered upon frenzy.
+
+"It was now the third year of the Revolutionary War in America, and,
+previous to our meeting at Vienna, he had formed the resolution of
+repairing thither and tendering his service to the Congress as a
+volunteer. Our marriage made no change in his plans. My soul was
+engrossed by two passions,--a wild spirit of adventure, and a boundless
+devotion to him. I vowed to accompany him in every danger, to vie with
+him in military ardour, to combat and to die by his side.
+
+"I delighted to assume the male dress, to acquire skill at the sword,
+and dexterity in every boisterous exercise. The timidity that commonly
+attends women gradually vanished. I felt as if imbued by a soul that was
+a stranger to the sexual distinction. We embarked at Brest, in a frigate
+destined for St. Domingo. A desperate conflict with an English ship in
+the Bay of Biscay was my first introduction to a scene of tumult and
+danger of whose true nature I had formed no previous conception. At
+first I was spiritless and full of dismay. Experience, however,
+gradually reconciled me to the life that I had chosen.
+
+"A fortunate shot, by dismasting the enemy, allowed us to prosecute our
+voyage unmolested. At Cape Francois we found a ship which transported
+us, after various perils, to Richmond, in Virginia. I will not carry you
+through the adventures of four years. You, sitting all your life in
+peaceful corners, can scarcely imagine that variety of hardship and
+turmoil which attends the female who lives in a camp.
+
+"Few would sustain these hardships with better grace than I did. I could
+seldom be prevailed on to remain at a distance, and inactive, when my
+husband was in battle, and more than once rescued him from death by the
+seasonable destruction of his adversary.
+
+"At the repulse of the Americans at Germantown, Wentworth was wounded
+and taken prisoner. I obtained permission to attend his sick-bed and
+supply that care without which he would assuredly have died. Being
+imperfectly recovered, he was sent to England and subjected to a
+rigorous imprisonment. Milder treatment might have permitted his
+complete restoration to health; but, as it was, he died.
+
+"His kindred were noble, and rich, and powerful; but it was difficult to
+make them acquainted with Wentworth's situation. Their assistance, when
+demanded, was readily afforded; but it came too late to prevent his
+death. Me they snatched from my voluntary prison, and employed every
+friendly art to efface from my mind the images of recent calamity.
+
+"Wentworth's singularities of conduct and opinion had estranged him at
+an early age from his family. They felt little regret at his fate, but
+every motive concurred to secure their affection and succour to me. My
+character was known to many officers, returned from America, whose
+report, joined with the influence of my conversation, rendered me an
+object to be gazed at by thousands. Strange vicissitude! Now immersed in
+the infection of a military hospital, the sport of a wayward fortune,
+struggling with cold and hunger, with negligence and contumely. A month
+after, passing into scenes of gayety and luxury, exhibited at operas and
+masquerades, made the theme of inquiry and encomium at every place of
+resort, and caressed by the most illustrious among the votaries of
+science and the advocates of the American cause.
+
+"Here I again met Madame de Leyva. This woman was perpetually assuming
+new forms. She was a sincere convert to the Catholic religion, but she
+was open to every new impression. She was the dupe of every powerful
+reasoner, and assumed with equal facility the most opposite shapes. She
+had again reverted to the Protestant religion, and, governed by a
+headlong zeal in whatever cause she engaged, she had sacrificed her
+husband and child to a new conviction.
+
+"The instrument of this change was a man who passed, at that time, for a
+Frenchman. He was young, accomplished, and addressful, but was not
+suspected of having been prompted by illicit views, or of having seduced
+the lady from allegiance to her husband as well as to her God. De Leyva,
+however, who was sincere in his religion as well as his love, was hasty
+to avenge this injury, and, in a contest with the Frenchman, was killed.
+His wife adopted at once her ancient religion and country, and was once
+more an Englishwoman.
+
+"At our meeting her affection for me seemed to be revived, and the most
+passionate entreaties were used to detain me in England. My previous
+arrangements would not suffer it. I foresaw restraints and
+inconveniences from the violence and caprice of her passions, and
+intended henceforth to keep my liberty inviolate by any species of
+engagement, either of friendship or marriage. My habits were French, and
+I proposed henceforward to take up my abode at Paris. Since his voyage
+to Guiana, I had heard no tidings of Sebastian Roselli. This man's image
+was cherished with filial emotions, and I conceived that the sight of
+him would amply reward a longer journey than from London to Marseilles.
+
+"Beyond my hopes, I found him in his ancient abode. The voyage, and a
+residence of three years at Cayenne, had been beneficial to his
+appearance and health. He greeted me with paternal tenderness, and
+admitted me to a full participation of his fortune, which the sale of
+his American property had greatly enhanced. He was a stranger to the
+fate of my brother. On his return home he had gone to Switzerland, with
+a view of ascertaining his destiny. The youth, a few months after his
+arrival at Lausanne, had eloped with a companion, and had hitherto
+eluded all Roselli's searches and inquiries. My father was easily
+prevailed upon to transfer his residence from Provence to Paris."
+
+Here Martinette paused, and, marking the clock, "It is time," resumed
+she, "to begone. Are you not weary of my tale? On the day I entered
+France, I entered the twenty-third year of my age, so that my promise of
+detailing my youthful adventures is fulfilled. I must away. Till we meet
+again, farewell."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+Such was the wild series of Martinette's adventures. Each incident
+fastened on the memory of Constantia, and gave birth to numberless
+reflections. Her prospect of mankind seemed to be enlarged, on a sudden,
+to double its ancient dimensions. Ormond's narratives had carried her
+beyond the Mississippi, and into the deserts of Siberia. He had
+recounted the perils of a Russian war, and painted the manners of
+Mongols and Naudowessies. Her new friend had led her back to the
+civilized world and portrayed the other half of the species. Men, in
+their two forms of savage and refined, had been scrutinized by these
+observers; and what was wanting in the delineations of the one was
+liberally supplied by the other.
+
+Eleven years in the life of Martinette was unrelated. Her conversation
+suggested the opinion that this interval had been spent in France. It
+was obvious to suppose that a woman thus fearless and sagacious had not
+been inactive at a period like the present, which called forth talents
+and courage without distinction of sex, and had been particularly
+distinguished by female enterprise and heroism. Her name easily led to
+the suspicion of concurrence with the subverters of monarchy, and of
+participation in their fall. Her flight from the merciless tribunals of
+the faction that now reigned would explain present appearances.
+
+Martinette brought to their next interview an air of uncommon
+exultation. On this being remarked, she communicated the tidings of the
+fall of the sanguinary tyranny of Robespierre. Her eyes sparkled, and
+every feature was pregnant with delight, while she unfolded, with her
+accustomed energy, the particulars of this tremendous revolution. The
+blood which it occasioned to flow was mentioned without any symptoms of
+disgust or horror.
+
+Constantia ventured to ask if this incident was likely to influence her
+own condition.
+
+"Yes. It will open the way for my return."
+
+"Then you think of returning to a scene of so much danger?"
+
+"Danger, my girl? It is my element. I am an adorer of liberty, and
+liberty without peril can never exist."
+
+"But so much bloodshed and injustice! Does not your heart shrink from
+the view of a scene of massacre and tumult, such as Paris has lately
+exhibited and will probably continue to exhibit?"
+
+"Thou talkest, Constantia, in a way scarcely worthy of thy good sense.
+Have I not been three years in a camp? What are bleeding wounds and
+mangled corpses, when accustomed to the daily sight of them for years?
+Am I not a lover of liberty? and must I not exult in the fall of
+tyrants, and regret only that my hand had no share in their
+destruction?"
+
+"But a woman--how can the heart of woman be inured to the shedding of
+blood?"
+
+"Have women, I beseech thee, no capacity to reason and infer? Are they
+less open than men to the influence of habit? My hand never faltered
+when liberty demanded the victim. If thou wert with me at Paris, I could
+show thee a fusil of two barrels, which is precious beyond any other
+relic, merely because it enabled me to kill thirteen officers at
+Jemappe. Two of these were emigrant nobles, whom I knew and loved before
+the Revolution, but the cause they had since espoused cancelled their
+claims to mercy."
+
+"What!" said the startled Constantia; "have you fought in the ranks?"
+
+"Certainly. Hundreds of my sex have done the same. Some were impelled by
+the enthusiasm of love, and some by a mere passion for war; some by the
+contagion of example; and some--with whom I myself must be ranked--by a
+generous devotion to liberty. Brunswick and Saxe-Coburg had to contend
+with whole regiments of women,--regiments they would have formed, if
+they had been collected into separate bodies.
+
+"I will tell thee a secret. Thou wouldst never have seen Martinette de
+Beauvais, if Brunswick had deferred one day longer his orders for
+retreating into Germany."
+
+"How so?"
+
+"She would have died by her own hand."
+
+"What could lead to such an outrage?"
+
+"The love of liberty."
+
+"I cannot comprehend how that love should prompt you to suicide."
+
+"I will tell thee. The plan was formed, and could not miscarry. A woman
+was to play the part of a banished Royalist, was to repair to the
+Prussian camp, and to gain admission to the general. This would have
+easily been granted to a female and an ex-noble. There she was to
+assassinate the enemy of her country, and to attest her magnanimity by
+slaughtering herself. I was weak enough to regret the ignominious
+retreat of the Prussians, because it precluded the necessity of such a
+sacrifice."
+
+This was related with accents and looks that sufficiently attested its
+truth. Constantia shuddered, and drew back, to contemplate more
+deliberately the features of her guest. Hitherto she had read in them
+nothing that bespoke the desperate courage of a martyr and the deep
+designing of an assassin. The image which her mind had reflected from
+the deportment of this woman was changed. The likeness which she had,
+feigned to herself was no longer seen. She felt that antipathy was
+preparing to displace love. These sentiments, however, she concealed,
+and suffered the conversation to proceed.
+
+Their discourse now turned upon the exploits of several women who
+mingled in the tumults of the capital and in the armies on the
+frontiers. Instances were mentioned of ferocity in some, and magnanimity
+in others, which almost surpassed belief. Constantia listened greedily,
+though not with approbation, and acquired, at every sentence, new desire
+to be acquainted with the personal history of Martinette. On mentioning
+this wish, her friend said that she endeavoured to amuse her exile by
+composing her own memoirs, and that, on her next visit, she would bring
+with her the volume, which she would suffer Constantia to read.
+
+A separation of a week elapsed. She felt some impatience for the renewal
+of their intercourse, and for the perusal of the volume that had been
+mentioned. One evening Sarah Baxter, whom Constantia had placed in her
+own occasional service, entered the room with marks of great joy and
+surprise, and informed her that she at length had discovered Miss
+Monrose. From her abrupt and prolix account, it appeared that Sarah had
+overtaken Miss Monrose in the street, and, guided by her own curiosity,
+as well as by the wish to gratify her mistress, she had followed the
+stranger. To her utter astonishment, the lady had paused at Mr. Dudley's
+door, with a seeming resolution to enter it, but presently resumed her
+way. Instead of pursuing her steps farther, Sarah had stopped to
+communicate this intelligence to Constantia. Having delivered her news,
+she hastened away, but, returning, in a moment, with a countenance of
+new surprise, she informed her mistress that on leaving the house she
+had met Miss Monrose at the door, on the point of entering. She added
+that the stranger had inquired for Constantia, and was now waiting
+below.
+
+Constantia took no time to reflect upon an incident so unexpected and so
+strange, but proceeded forthwith to the parlour. Martinette only was
+there. It did not instantly occur to her that this lady and Mademoiselle
+Monrose might possibly be the same. The inquiries she made speedily
+removed her doubts, and it now appeared that the woman about whose
+destiny she had formed so many conjectures and fostered so much anxiety
+was no other than the daughter of Roselli.
+
+Having readily answered her questions, Martinette inquired, in her turn,
+into the motives of her friend's curiosity. These were explained by a
+succinct account of the transactions to which the deceased Baxter had
+been a witness. Constantia concluded with mentioning her own reflections
+on the tale, and intimating her wish to be informed how Martinette had
+extricated herself from a situation so calamitous.
+
+"Is there any room for wonder on that head?" replied the guest. "It was
+absurd to stay longer in the house. Having finished the interment of
+Roselli, (soldier-fashion,) for he was the man who suffered his foolish
+regrets to destroy him, I forsook the house. Roselli was by no means
+poor, but he could not consent to live at ease, or to live at all, while
+his country endured such horrible oppressions, and when so many of his
+friends had perished. I complied with his humour, because it could not
+be changed, and I revered him too much to desert him."
+
+"But whither," said Constantia, "could you seek shelter at a time like
+that? The city was desolate, and a wandering female could scarcely be
+received under any roof. All inhabited houses were closed at that hour,
+and the fear of infection would have shut them against you if they had
+not been already so."
+
+"Hast thou forgotten that there were at that time at least ten thousand
+French in this city, fugitives from Marat and from St. Domingo? That
+they lived in utter fearlessness of the reigning disease,--sung and
+loitered in the public walks, and prattled at their doors, with all
+their customary unconcern? Supposest thou that there were none among
+these who would receive a countrywoman, even if her name had not been
+Martinette de Beauvais? Thy fancy has depicted strange things; but
+believe me that, without a farthing and without a name, I should not
+have incurred the slightest inconvenience. The death of Roselli I
+foresaw, because it was gradual in its approach, and was sought by him
+as a good. My grief, therefore, was exhausted before it came, and I
+rejoiced at his death, because it was the close of all his sorrows. The
+rueful pictures of my distress and weakness which were given by Baxter
+existed only in his own fancy."
+
+Martinette pleaded an engagement, and took her leave, professing to have
+come merely to leave with her the promised manuscript. This interview,
+though short, was productive of many reflections on the deceitfulness of
+appearances, and on the variety of maxims by which the conduct of human
+beings is regulated. She was accustomed to impart all her thoughts and
+relate every new incident to her father. With this view she now hied to
+his apartment. This hour it was her custom, when disengaged, always to
+spend with him.
+
+She found Mr. Dudley busy in revolving a scheme which various
+circumstances had suggested and gradually conducted to maturity. No
+period of his life had been equally delightful with that portion of his
+youth which he had spent in Italy. The climate, the language, the
+manners of the people, and the sources of intellectual gratification in
+painting and music, were congenial to his taste. He had reluctantly
+forsaken these enchanting seats, at the summons of his father, but, on
+his return to his native country, had encountered nothing but ignominy
+and pain. Poverty and blindness had beset his path, and it seemed as if
+it were impossible to fly too far from the scene of his disasters. His
+misfortunes could not be concealed from others, and every thing around
+him seemed to renew the memory of all that he had suffered. All the
+events of his youth served to entice him to Italy, while all the
+incidents of his subsequent life concurred to render disgustful his
+present abode.
+
+His daughter's happiness was not to be forgotten. This he imagined would
+be eminently promoted by the scheme. It would open to her new avenues to
+knowledge. It would snatch her from the odious pursuit of Ormond, and,
+by a variety of objects and adventures, efface from her mind any
+impression which his dangerous artifices might have made upon it.
+
+This project was now communicated to Constantia. Every argument adapted
+to influence her choice was employed. He justly conceived that the only
+obstacle to her adoption of it related to Ormond. He expatiated on the
+dubious character of this man, the wildness of his schemes, and the
+magnitude of his errors. What could be expected from a man, half of
+whose life had been spent at the head of a band of Cossacks, spreading
+devastation in the regions of the Danube, and supporting by flagitious
+intrigues the tyranny of Catharine, and the other half in traversing
+inhospitable countries, and extinguishing what remained of clemency and
+justice by intercourse with savages?
+
+It was admitted that his energies were great, but misdirected, and that
+to restore them to the guidance of truth was not in itself impossible;
+but it was so with relation to any power that she possessed. Conformity
+would flow from their marriage, but this conformity was not to be
+expected from him. It was not his custom to abjure any of his doctrines
+or recede from any of his claims. She knew likewise the conditions of
+their union. She must go with him to some corner of the world where his
+boasted system was established. What was the road to it he had carefully
+concealed, but it was evident that it lay beyond the precincts of
+civilized existence.
+
+Whatever were her ultimate decision, it was at least proper to delay it.
+Six years were yet wanting of that period at which only she formerly
+considered marriage as proper. To all the general motives for deferring
+her choice, the conduct of Ormond superadded the weightiest. Their
+correspondence might continue, but her residence in Europe and converse
+with mankind might enlighten her judgement and qualify her for a more
+rational decision.
+
+Constantia was not uninfluenced by these reasonings. Instead of
+reluctantly admitting them, she somewhat wondered that they had not been
+suggested by her own reflections. Her imagination anticipated her
+entrance on that mighty scene with emotions little less than rapturous.
+Her studies had conferred a thousand ideal charms on a theatre where
+Scipio and Caesar had performed their parts. Her wishes were no less
+importunate to gaze upon the Alps and Pyrenees, and to vivify and
+chasten the images collected from books, by comparing them with their
+real prototypes.
+
+No social ties existed to hold her to America. Her only kinsman and
+friend would be the companion of her journeys. This project was likewise
+recommended by advantages of which she only was qualified to judge.
+Sophia Westwyn had embarked, four years previous to this date, for
+England, in company with an English lady and her husband. The
+arrangements that were made forbade either of the friends to hope for a
+future meeting. Yet now, by virtue of this project, this meeting seemed
+no longer to be hopeless.
+
+This burst of new ideas and now hopes on the mind of Constantia took
+place in the course of a single hour. No change in her external
+situation had been wrought, and yet her mind had undergone the most
+signal revolution. Tho novelty as well as greatness of the prospect kept
+her in a state of elevation and awe, more ravishing than any she had
+ever experienced. Anticipations of intercourse with nature in her most
+august forms, with men in diversified states of society, with the
+posterity of Greeks and Romans, and with the actors that were now upon
+the stage, and, above all, with the being whom absence and the want of
+other attachments had, in some sort, contributed to deify, made this
+night pass away upon the wings of transport.
+
+The hesitation which existed on parting with her father speedily gave
+place to an ardour impatient of the least delay. She saw no impediments
+to the immediate commencement of the voyage. To delay it a month, or
+even a week, seemed to be unprofitable tardiness. In this ferment of her
+thoughts, she was neither able nor willing to sleep. In arranging the
+means of departure and anticipating the events that would successively
+arise, there was abundant food for contemplation.
+
+She marked the first dawnings of the day, and rose. She felt reluctance
+to break upon her father's morning slumbers, but considered that her
+motives were extremely urgent, and that the pleasure afforded him by her
+zealous approbation of his scheme would amply compensate him for this
+unseasonable intrusion on his rest. She hastened therefore to his
+chamber. She entered with blithesome steps, and softly drew aside the
+curtain.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+Unhappy Constantia! At the moment when thy dearest hopes had budded
+afresh, when the clouds of insecurity and disquiet had retired from thy
+vision, wast thou assailed by the great subverter of human schemes. Thou
+sawest nothing in futurity but an eternal variation and succession of
+delights. Thou wast hastening to forget dangers and sorrows which thou
+fondly imaginedst were never to return. This day was to be the outset of
+a new career; existence was henceforth to be embellished with enjoyments
+hitherto scarcely within the reach of hope.
+
+Alas! thy predictions of calamity seldom failed to be verified. Not so
+thy prognostics of pleasure. These, though fortified by every
+calculation of contingencies, were edifices grounded upon nothing. Thy
+life was a struggle with malignant destiny,--a contest for happiness in
+which thou wast fated to be overcome.
+
+She stooped to kiss the venerable cheek of her father, and, by
+whispering, to break his slumber. Her eye was no sooner fixed upon his
+countenance, than she started back and shrieked. She had no power to
+forbear. Her outcries were piercing and vehement. They ceased only with
+the cessation of breath. She sunk upon a chair in a state partaking more
+of death than of life, mechanically prompted to give vent to her agonies
+in shrieks, but incapable of uttering a sound.
+
+The alarm called her servants to the spot. They beheld her dumb, wildly
+gazing, and gesticulating in a way that indicated frenzy. She made no
+resistance to their efforts, but permitted them to carry her back to her
+own chamber. Sarah called upon her to speak, and to explain the cause
+of these appearances; but the shock which she had endured seemed to have
+irretrievably destroyed her powers of utterance.
+
+The terrors of the affectionate Sarah were increased. She kneeled by the
+bedside of her mistress, and, with streaming eyes, besought the unhappy
+lady to compose herself. Perhaps the sight of weeping in another
+possessed a sympathetic influence, or nature had made provision for this
+salutary change. However that be, a torrent of tears now came to her
+succour, and rescued her from a paroxysm of insanity which its longer
+continuance might have set beyond the reach of cure.
+
+Meanwhile, a glance at his master's countenance made Fabian fully
+acquainted with the nature of the scene. The ghastly visage of Mr.
+Dudley showed that he was dead, and that he had died in some terrific
+and mysterious manner. As soon as this faithful servant recovered from
+surprise, the first expedient which his ingenuity suggested was to fly
+with tidings of this event to Mr. Melbourne. That gentleman instantly
+obeyed the summons. With the power of weeping, Constantia recovered the
+power of reflection. This, for a time, served her only as a medium of
+anguish. Melbourne mingled his tears with hers, and endeavoured, by
+suitable remonstrances, to revive her fortitude.
+
+The filial passion is perhaps instinctive to man; but its energy is
+modified by various circumstances. Every event in the life of Constantia
+contributed to heighten this passion beyond customary bounds. In the
+habit of perpetual attendance on her father, of deriving from him her
+knowledge, and sharing with him the hourly fruits of observation and
+reflection, his existence seemed blended with her own. There was no
+other whose concurrence and council she could claim, with whom a
+domestic and uninterrupted alliance could be maintained. The only bond
+of consanguinity was loosened, the only prop of friendship was taken
+away.
+
+Others, perhaps, would have observed that her father's existence had
+been merely a source of obstruction and perplexity; that she had
+hitherto acted by her own wisdom, and would find, hereafter, less
+difficulty in her choice of schemes, and fewer impediments to the
+execution. These reflections occurred not to her. This disaster had
+increased, to an insupportable degree, the vacancy and dreariness of her
+existence. The face she was habituated to behold had disappeared
+forever; the voice whose mild and affecting tones had so long been
+familiar to her ears was hushed into eternal silence. The felicity to
+which she clung was ravished away; nothing remained to hinder her from
+sinking into utter despair.
+
+The first transports of grief having subsided, a source of consolation
+seemed to be opened in the belief that her father had only changed one
+form of being for another; that he still lived to be the guardian of her
+peace and honour, to enter the recesses of her thought, to forewarn her
+of evil and invite her to good. She grasped at these images with
+eagerness, and fostered them as the only solaces of her calamity. They
+were not adapted to inspire her with cheerfulness, but they sublimed her
+sensations, and added an inexplicable fascination to sorrow.
+
+It was unavoidable sometimes to reflect upon the nature of that death
+which had occurred. Tokens were sufficiently apparent that outward
+violence had been the cause. Who could be the performer of so black a
+deed, by what motives he was guided, were topics of fruitless
+conjecture. She mused upon this subject, not from the thirst of
+vengeance, but from a mournful curiosity. Had the perpetrator stood
+before her and challenged retribution, she would not have lifted a
+finger to accuse or to punish. The evil already endured left her no
+power to concert and execute projects for extending that evil to others.
+Her mind was unnerved, and recoiled with loathing from considerations of
+abstract justice, or political utility, when they prompted to the
+prosecution of the murderer.
+
+Melbourne was actuated by different views, but on this subject he was
+painfully bewildered. Mr. Dudley's deportment to his servants and
+neighbours was gentle and humane. He had no dealings with the
+trafficking or labouring part of mankind. The fund which supplied his
+cravings of necessity or habit was his daughter's. His recreations and
+employments were harmless and lonely. The evil purpose was limited to
+his death, for his chamber was exactly in the same state in which
+negligent security had left it. No midnight footstep or voice, no
+unbarred door or lifted window, afforded tokens of the presence or
+traces of the entrance or flight of the assassin.
+
+The meditations of Constantia, however, could not fail in some of their
+circuities to encounter the image of Craig. His agency in the
+impoverishment of her father, and in the scheme by which she had like to
+have been loaded with the penalties of forgery, was of an impervious and
+unprecedented kind. Motives were unveiled by time, in some degree
+accounting for his treacherous proceeding; but there was room to suppose
+an inborn propensity to mischief. Was he not the author of this new
+evil? His motives and his means were equally inscrutable, but their
+inscrutability might flow from her own defects in discernment and
+knowledge, and time might supply her defects in this as in former
+instances.
+
+These images were casual. The causes of the evil were seldom
+contemplated. Her mind was rarely at liberty to wander from reflection
+on her irremediable loss. Frequently, when confused by distressful
+recollections, she would detect herself going to her father's chamber.
+Often his well-known accents would ring in her ears, and the momentary
+impulse would be to answer his calls. Her reluctance to sit down to her
+meals without her usual companion could scarcely be surmounted.
+
+In this state of mind, the image of the only friend who survived, or
+whose destiny, at least, was doubtful, occurred to her. She sunk into
+fits of deeper abstraction and dissolved away in tears of more agonizing
+tenderness. A week after her father's interment, she shut herself up in
+her chamber, to torment herself with fruitless remembrances. The name of
+Sophia Westwyn was pronounced, and the ditty that solemnized their
+parting was sung. Now, more than formerly, she became sensible of the
+loss of that portrait which had been deposited in the hands of M'Crea as
+a pledge. As soon as her change of fortune had supplied her with the
+means of redeeming it, she hastened to M'Crea for that end. To her
+unspeakable disappointment, he was absent from the city; he had taken a
+long journey, and the exact period of his return could not be
+ascertained. His clerks refused to deliver the picture, or even, by
+searching, to discover whether it was still in their master's
+possession. This application had frequently and lately been repeated,
+but without success; M'Crea had not yet returned, and his family were
+equally in the dark as to the day on which his return might be expected.
+
+She determined, on this occasion, to renew her visit. Her incessant
+disappointments had almost extinguished hope, and she made inquiries at
+his door, with a faltering accent and sinking heart. These emotions were
+changed into surprise and delight, when answer was made that he had just
+arrived. She was instantly conducted into his presence.
+
+The countenance of M'Crea easily denoted that his visitant was by no
+means acceptable. There was a mixture of embarrassment and sullenness in
+his air, which was far from being diminished when the purpose of this
+visit was explained. Constantia reminded him of the offer and acceptance
+of this pledge, and of the conditions with which the transaction was
+accompanied.
+
+He acknowledged, with some hesitation, that a promise had been given to
+retain the pledge until it were in her power to redeem it; but the long
+delay, the urgency of his own wants, and particularly the ill treatment
+which he conceived himself to have suffered in the transaction
+respecting the forged note, had, in his own opinion, absolved him from
+this promise. He had therefore sold the picture to a goldsmith, for as
+much as the gold about it was worth.
+
+This information produced, in the heart of Constantia, a contest between
+indignation and sorrow, that for a time debarred her from speech. She
+stifled the anger that was, at length, rising to her lips, and calmly
+inquired to whom the picture had been sold.
+
+M'Crea answered that for his part he had little dealings in gold and
+silver, but every thing of that kind which fell to his share he
+transacted with Mr. D----. This person was one of the most eminent of
+his profession. His character and place of abode were universally
+known. Tho only expedient that remained was to apply to him, and to
+ascertain, forthwith, the destiny of the picture. It was too probable
+that, when separated from its case, the portrait was thrown away or
+destroyed, as a mere encumbrance, but the truth was too momentous to be
+made the sport of mere probability. She left the house of M'Crea, and
+hastened to that of the goldsmith.
+
+The circumstance was easily recalled to his remembrance. It was true
+that such a picture had been offered for sale, and that he had purchased
+it. The workmanship was curious, and he felt unwilling to destroy it. He
+therefore hung it up in his shop and indulged the hope that a purchaser
+would some time be attracted by the mere beauty of the toy.
+
+Constantia's hopes were revived by these tidings, and she earnestly
+inquired if it were still in his possession.
+
+"No. A young gentleman had entered his shop some months before: the
+picture had caught his fancy, and he had given a price which the artist
+owned he should not have demanded, had he not been encouraged by the
+eagerness which the gentleman betrayed to possess it."
+
+"Who was this gentleman? Had there been any previous acquaintance
+between them? What was his name, his profession, and where was he to be
+found?"
+
+"Really," the goldsmith answered, "he was ignorant respecting all those
+particulars. Previously to this purchase, the gentleman had sometimes
+visited his shop; but he did not recollect to have since seen him. He
+was unacquainted with his name and his residence."
+
+"What appeared to be his motives for purchasing this picture?"
+
+"The customer appeared highly pleased with it. Pleasure, rather than
+surprise, seemed to be produced by the sight of it. If I were permitted
+to judge," continued the artist, "I should imagine that the young man
+was acquainted with the original. To say the truth, I hinted as much at
+the time, and I did not see that he discouraged the supposition. Indeed,
+I cannot conceive how the picture could otherwise have gained any value
+in his eyes."
+
+This only heightened the eagerness of Constantia to trace the footsteps
+of the youth. It was obvious to suppose some communication or connection
+between her friend and this purchaser. She repeated her inquiries, and
+the goldsmith, after some consideration, said, "Why, on second thoughts,
+I seem to have some notion of having seen a figure like that of my
+customer go into a lodging-house in Front Street, some time before I met
+with him at my shop."
+
+The situation of this house being satisfactorily described, and the
+artist being able to afford her no further information, except as to
+stature and guise, she took her leave. There were two motives impelling
+her to prosecute her search after this person,--the desire of regaining
+this portrait and of procuring tidings of her friend. Involved as she
+was in ignorance, it was impossible to conjecture how far this incident
+would be subservient to these inestimable purposes. To procure an
+interview with this stranger was the first measure which prudence
+suggested.
+
+She knew not his name or his person. He was once seen entering a
+lodging-house. Thither she must immediately repair; but how to introduce
+herself, how to describe the person of whom she was in search, she knew
+not. She was beset with embarrassments and difficulties. While her
+attention was entangled by these, she proceeded unconsciously on her
+way, and stopped not until she reached the mansion that had been
+described. Here she paused to collect her thoughts.
+
+She found no relief in deliberation. Every moment added to her
+perplexity and indecision. Irresistibly impelled by her wishes, she at
+length, in a mood that partook of desperate, advanced to the door and
+knocked. The summons was immediately obeyed by a woman of decent
+appearance. A pause ensued, which Constantia at length terminated by a
+request to see the mistress of the house.
+
+The lady courteously answered that she was the person, and immediately
+ushered her visitant into an apartment. Constantia being seated, the
+lady waited for the disclosure of her message. To prolong the silence
+was only to multiply embarrassments. She reverted to the state of her
+feelings, and saw that they flowed from inconsistency and folly. One
+vigorous effort was sufficient to restore her to composure and
+self-command.
+
+She began with apologizing for a visit unpreceded by an introduction.
+The object of her inquiries was a person with whom it was of the utmost
+moment that she should procure a meeting, but whom, by an unfortunate
+concurrence of circumstances, she was unable to describe by the usual
+incidents of name and profession. Her knowledge was confined to his
+external appearance, and to the probability of his being an inmate of
+this house at the beginning of the year. She then proceeded to describe
+his person and dress.
+
+"It is true," said the lady; "such a one as you describe has boarded in
+this house. His name was Martynne. I have good reason to remember him,
+for he lived with me three months, and then left the country without
+paying for his board."
+
+"He has gone, then?" said Constantia, greatly discouraged by these
+tidings.
+
+"Yes. He was a man of specious manners and loud pretensions. He came
+from England, bringing with him forged recommendatory letters, and,
+after passing from one end of the country to the other, contracting
+debts which he never paid and making bargains which he never fulfilled,
+he suddenly disappeared. It is likely that he has returned to Europe."
+
+"Had he no kindred, no friends, no companions?"
+
+"He found none here. He made pretences to alliances in England, which
+better information has, I believe, since shown to be false."
+
+This was the sum of the information procurable from this source.
+Constantia was unable to conceal her chagrin. These symptoms were
+observed by the lady, whose curiosity was awakened in turn. Questions
+were obliquely started, inviting Constantia to a disclosure of her
+thoughts. No advantage would arise from confidence, and the guest, after
+a few minutes of abstraction and silence, rose to take her leave.
+
+During this conference, some one appeared to be negligently sporting
+with the keys of a harpsichord, in the next apartment. The notes were
+too irregular and faint to make a forcible impression on the ear. In the
+present state of her mind, Constantia was merely conscious of the sound,
+in the intervals of conversation. Having arisen from her seat, her
+anxiety to obtain some information that might lead to the point she
+wished made her again pause. She endeavoured to invent some new
+interrogatory better suited to her purpose than those which had already
+been employed. A silence on both sides ensued.
+
+During this interval, the unseen musician suddenly refrained from
+rambling, and glided into notes of some refinement and complexity. The
+cadence was aerial; but a thunderbolt, falling at her feet, would not
+have communicated a more visible shock to the senses of Constantia. A
+glance that denoted a tumult of soul bordering on distraction was now
+fixed upon the door that led into the room from whence the harmony
+proceeded. Instantly the cadence was revived, and some accompanying
+voice was heard to warble,--
+
+     "Ah! far beyond this world of woes
+     We meet to part,--to part no more."
+
+Joy and grief, in their sudden onset and their violent extremes,
+approach so nearly in their influence on human beings as scarce to be
+distinguished. Constantia's frame was still enfeebled by her recent
+distresses. The torrent of emotion was too abrupt and too vehement. Her
+faculties were overwhelmed, and she sunk upon the floor motionless and
+without sense, but not till she had faintly articulated,--
+
+"My God! My God! This is a joy unmerited and too great."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+I must be forgiven if I now introduce myself on the stage. Sophia
+Westwyn is the friend of Constantia, and the writer of this narrative.
+So far as my fate was connected with that of my friend, it is worthy to
+be known. That connection has constituted the joy and misery of my
+existence, and has prompted me to undertake this task.
+
+I assume no merit from the desire of knowledge and superiority to
+temptation. There is little of which I can boast; but that little I
+derived, instrumentally, from Constantia. Poor as my attainments are, it
+is to her that I am indebted for them all. Life itself was the gift of
+her father, but my virtue and felicity are her gifts. That I am neither
+indigent nor profligate, flows from her bounty.
+
+I am not unaware of the divine superintendence,--of the claims upon my
+gratitude and service which pertain to my God. I know that all physical
+and moral agents are merely instrumental to the purpose that he wills;
+but, though the great Author of being and felicity must not be
+forgotten, it is neither possible nor just to overlook the claims upon
+our love with which our fellow-beings are invested.
+
+The supreme love does not absorb, but chastens and enforces, all
+subordinate affections. In proportion to the rectitude of my perceptions
+and the ardour of my piety, must I clearly discern and fervently love
+the excellence discovered in my fellow-beings, and industriously promote
+their improvement and felicity.
+
+From my infancy to my seventeenth year, I lived in the house of Mr.
+Dudley. On the day of my birth I was deserted by my mother. Her temper
+was more akin to that of tigress than woman. Yet that is unjust; for
+beasts cherish their offspring. No natures but human are capable of that
+depravity which makes insensible to the claims of innocence and
+helplessness.
+
+But let me not recall her to memory. Have I not enough of sorrow? Yet to
+omit my causes of disquiet, the unprecedented forlornness of my
+condition, and the persecutions of an unnatural parent, would be to
+leave my character a problem, and the sources of my love of Miss Dudley
+unexplored. Yet I must not dwell upon that complication of iniquities,
+that savage ferocity and unextinguishable hatred of me, which
+characterized my unhappy mother.
+
+I was not safe under the protection of Mr. Dudley, nor happy in the
+caresses of his daughter. My mother asserted the privilege of that
+relation: she laboured for years to obtain the control of my person and
+actions, to snatch me from a peaceful and chaste asylum, and detain me
+in her own house, where, indeed, I should not have been in want of
+raiment and food; but where--
+
+O my mother! Let me not dishonour thy name! Yet it is not in my power to
+enhance thy infamy. Thy crimes, unequalled as they were, were perhaps
+expiated by thy penitence. Thy offences are too well known; but perhaps
+they who witnessed thy freaks of intoxication, thy defiance of public
+shame, the enormity of thy pollutions, the infatuation that made thee
+glory in the pursuit of a loathsome and detestable trade, may be
+strangers to the remorse and the abstinence which accompanied the close
+of thy ignominious life.
+
+For ten years was my peace incessantly molested by the menaces or
+machinations of my mother. The longer she meditated my destruction, the
+more tenacious of her purpose and indefatigable in her efforts she
+became. That my mind was harassed with perpetual alarms was not enough.
+The fame and tranquillity of Mr. Dudley and his daughter were hourly
+assailed. My mother resigned herself to the impulses of malignity and
+rage. Headlong passions, and a vigorous though perverted understanding,
+were hers. Hence, her stratagems to undermine the reputation of my
+protector, and to bereave him of domestic comfort, were subtle and
+profound. Had she not herself been careless of that good which she
+endeavoured to wrest from others, her artifices could scarcely have been
+frustrated.
+
+In proportion to the hazard which accrued to my protector and friend,
+the more ardent their zeal in my defence and their affection for my
+person became. They watched over me with ineffable solicitude. At all
+hours and in every occupation, I was the companion of Constantia. All my
+wants were supplied in the same proportion as hers. The tenderness of
+Mr. Dudley seemed equally divided between us. I partook of his
+instructions, and the means of every intellectual and personal
+gratification were lavished upon me.
+
+The speed of my mother's career in infamy was at length slackened. She
+left New York, which had long been the theatre of her vices. Actuated by
+a now caprice, she determined to travel through the Southern States.
+Early indulgence was the cause of her ruin, but her parents had given
+her the embellishments of a fashionable education. She delighted to
+assume all parts, and personate the most opposite characters. She now
+resolved to carry a new name, and the mask of virtue, into scenes
+hitherto unvisited.
+
+She journeyed as far as Charleston. Here she met an inexperienced youth,
+lately arrived from England, and in possession of an ample fortune. Her
+speciousness and artifices seduced him into a precipitate marriage. Her
+true character, however, could not be long concealed by herself, and her
+vices had been too conspicuous for her long to escape recognition. Her
+husband was infatuated by her blandishments. To abandon her, or to
+contemplate her depravity with unconcern, were equally beyond his power.
+Romantic in his sentiments, his fortitude was unequal to his
+disappointments, and he speedily sunk into the grave. By a similar
+refinement in generosity, he bequeathed to her his property.
+
+With this accession of wealth, she returned to her ancient abode. The
+mask lately worn seemed preparing to be thrown aside, and her profligate
+habits to be resumed with more eagerness than ever; but an unexpected
+and total revolution was effected, by the exhortations of a Methodist
+divine. Her heart seemed, on a sudden, to be remoulded, her vices and
+the abettors of them were abjured, she shut out the intrusions of
+society, and prepared to expiate, by the rigours of abstinence and the
+bitterness of tears, the offences of her past life.
+
+In this, as in her former career, she was unacquainted with restraint
+and moderation. Her remorses gained strength in proportion as she
+cherished them. She brooded over the images of her guilt, till the
+possibility of forgiveness and remission disappeared. Her treatment of
+her daughter and her husband constituted the chief source of her
+torment. Her awakened conscience refused her a momentary respite from
+its persecutions. Her thoughts became, by rapid degrees, tempestuous and
+gloomy, and it was at length evident that her condition was maniacal.
+
+In this state, she was to me an object, no longer of terror, but
+compassion. She was surrounded by hirelings, devoid of personal
+attachment, and anxious only to convert her misfortunes to their own
+advantage. This evil it was my duty to obviate. My presence, for a time,
+only enhanced the vehemence of her malady; but at length it was only by
+my attendance and soothing that she was diverted from the fellest
+purposes. Shocking execrations and outrages, resolutions and efforts to
+destroy herself and those around her, were sure to take place in my
+absence. The moment I appeared before her, her fury abated, her
+gesticulations were becalmed, and her voice exerted only in incoherent
+and pathetic lamentations.
+
+These scenes, though so different from those which I had formerly been
+condemned to witness, were scarcely less excruciating. The friendship of
+Constantia Dudley was my only consolation. She took up her abode with
+me, and shared with me every disgustful and perilous office which my
+mother's insanity prescribed.
+
+Of this consolation, however, it was my fate to be bereaved. My mother's
+state was deplorable, and no remedy hitherto employed was efficacious. A
+voyage to England was conceived likely to benefit, by change of
+temperature and scenes, and by the opportunity it would afford of trying
+the superior skill of English physicians. This scheme, after various
+struggles on my part, was adopted. It was detestable to my imagination,
+because it severed me from that friend in whose existence mine was
+involved, and without whose participation knowledge lost its attractions
+and society became a torment.
+
+The prescriptions of my duty could not be disguised or disobeyed, and we
+parted. A mutual engagement was formed to record every sentiment and
+relate every event that happened in the life of either, and no
+opportunity of communicating information was to be omitted. This
+engagement was punctually performed on my part. I sought out every
+method of conveyance to my friend, and took infinite pains to procure
+tidings from her; but all were ineffectual.
+
+My mother's malady declined, but was succeeded by a pulmonary disease,
+which threatened her speedy destruction. By the restoration of her
+understanding, the purpose of her voyage was obtained, and my impatience
+to return, which the inexplicable and ominous silence of my friend daily
+increased, prompted me to exert all my powers of persuasion to induce
+her to revisit America.
+
+My mother's frenzy was a salutary crisis in her moral history. She
+looked back upon her past conduct with unspeakable loathing, but this
+retrospect only invigorated her devotion and her virtue; but the thought
+of returning to the scene of her unhappiness and infamy could not be
+endured. Besides, life, in her eyes, possessed considerable attractions,
+and her physicians flattered her with recovery from her present disease,
+if she would change the atmosphere of England for that of Languedoc and
+Naples.
+
+I followed her with murmurs and reluctance. To desert her in her present
+critical state would have been inhuman. My mother's aversions and
+attachments, habits and views, were dissonant with my own. Conformity of
+sentiments and impressions of maternal tenderness did not exist to bind
+us to each other. My attendance was assiduous, but it was the sense of
+duty that rendered my attendance a supportable task.
+
+Her decay was eminently gradual. No time seemed to diminish her appetite
+for novelty and change. During three years we traversed every part of
+France, Switzerland, and Italy. I could not but attend to surrounding
+scenes, and mark the progress of the mighty revolution, whose effects,
+like agitation in a fluid, gradually spread from Paris, the centre, over
+the face of the neighbouring kingdoms; but there passed not a day or an
+hour in which the image of Constantia was not recalled, in which the
+most pungent regrets were not felt at the inexplicable silence which had
+been observed by her, and the most vehement longings indulged to return
+to my native country. My exertions to ascertain her condition by
+indirect means, by interrogating natives of America with whom I chanced
+to meet, were unwearied, but, for a long period, ineffectual.
+
+During this pilgrimage, Rome was thrice visited. My mother's
+indisposition was hastening to a crisis, and she formed the resolution
+of closing her life at the bottom of Vesuvius. We stopped, for the sake
+of a few days' repose, at Rome. On the morning after our arrival, I
+accompanied some friends to view the public edifices. Casting my eyes
+over the vast and ruinous interior of the Coliseum, my attention was
+fixed by the figure of a young man whom, after a moment's pause, I
+recollected to have seen in the streets of New York. At a distance from
+home, mere community of country is no inconsiderable bond of affection.
+The social spirit prompts us to cling even to inanimate objects, when
+they remind us of ancient fellowships and juvenile attachments.
+
+A servant was despatched to summon this stranger, who recognised a
+countrywoman with a pleasure equal to that which I had received. On
+nearer view, this person, whose name was Courtland, did not belie my
+favourable prepossessions. Our intercourse was soon established on a
+footing of confidence and intimacy.
+
+The destiny of Constantia was always uppermost in my thoughts. This
+person's acquaintance was originally sought chiefly in the hope of
+obtaining from him some information respecting my friend. On inquiry, I
+discovered that he had left his native city seven months after me.
+Having tasked his recollection and compared a number of facts, the name
+of Dudley at length recurred to him. He had casually heard the history
+of Craig's imposture and its consequences. These were now related as
+circumstantially as a memory occupied by subsequent incidents enabled
+him. The tale had been told to him, in a domestic circle which he was
+accustomed to frequent, by the person who purchased Mr. Dudley's lute
+and restored it to its previous owner on the conditions formerly
+mentioned.
+
+This tale filled me with anguish and doubt. My impatience to search out
+this unfortunate girl, and share with her her sorrows or relieve them,
+was anew excited by this mournful intelligence. That Constantia Dudley
+was reduced to beggary was too abhorrent to my feelings to receive
+credit; yet the sale of her father's property, comprising even his
+furniture and clothing, seemed to prove that she had fallen even to this
+depth. This enabled me in some degree to account for her silence. Her
+generous spirit would induce her to conceal misfortunes from her friend
+which no communication would alleviate. It was possible that she had
+selected some new abode, and that, in consequence, the letters I had
+written, and which amounted to volumes, had never reached her hands.
+
+My mother's state would not suffer me to obey the impulse of my heart.
+Her frame was verging towards dissolution. Courtland's engagements
+allowed him to accompany us to Naples, and here the long series of my
+mother's pilgrimages closed in death. Her obsequies were no sooner
+performed, than I determined to set out on my long-projected voyage. My
+mother's property, which, in consequence of her decease, devolved upon
+me, was not inconsiderable. There is scarcely any good so dear to a
+rational being as competence. I was not unacquainted with its benefits,
+but this acquisition was valuable to mo chiefly as it enabled me to
+reunite my fate to that of Constantia.
+
+Courtland was my countryman and friend. He was destitute of fortune, and
+had been led to Europe partly by the spirit of adventure, and partly on
+a mercantile project. He had made sale of his property on advantageous
+terms, in the ports of France, and resolved to consume the produce in
+examining this scene of heroic exploits and memorable revolutions. His
+slender stock, though frugally and even parsimoniously administered, was
+nearly exhausted; and, at the time of our meeting at Rome, he was making
+reluctant preparations to return.
+
+Sufficient opportunity was afforded us, in an unrestrained and domestic
+intercourse of three months, which succeeded our Roman interview, to
+gain a knowledge of each other. There was that conformity of tastes and
+views between us which could scarcely fail, at an age and in a situation
+like ours, to give birth to tenderness. My resolution to hasten to
+America was peculiarly unwelcome to my friend. He had offered to be my
+companion, but this offer my regard to his interest obliged me to
+decline; but I was willing to compensate him for this denial, as well as
+to gratify my own heart, by an immediate marriage.
+
+So long a residence in England and Italy had given birth to friendships
+and connections of the dearest kind. I had no view but to spend my life
+with Courtland, in the midst of my maternal kindred, who were English. A
+voyage to America and reunion with Constantia were previously
+indispensable; but I hoped that my friend might be prevailed upon, and
+that her disconnected situation would permit her to return with me to
+Europe. If this end could not be accomplished, it was my inflexible
+purpose to live and die with her. Suitably to this arrangement,
+Courtland was to repair to London, and wait patiently till I should be
+able to rejoin him there, or to summon him to meet me in America.
+
+A week after my mother's death, I became a wife, and embarked the next
+day, at Naples, in a Ragusan ship, destined for New York. The voyage was
+tempestuous and tedious. The vessel was necessitated to make a short
+stay at Toulon. The state of that city, however, then in possession of
+the English and besieged by the revolutionary forces, was adverse to
+commercial views. Happily, we resumed our voyage on the day previous to
+that on which the place was evacuated by the British. Our seasonable
+departure rescued us from witnessing a scene of horrors of which the
+history of former wars furnishes us with few examples.
+
+A cold and boisterous navigation awaited us. My palpitations and
+inquietudes augmented as we approached the American coast. I shall not
+forget the sensations which I experienced on the sight of the Beacon at
+Sandy Hook. It was first seen at midnight, in a stormy and beclouded
+atmosphere, emerging from the waves, whose fluctuation allowed it, for
+some time, to be visible only by fits. This token of approaching land
+affected me as much as if I had reached the threshold of my friend's
+dwelling.
+
+At length we entered the port, and I viewed, with high-raised but
+inexplicable feelings, objects with which I had been from infancy
+familiar. The flagstaff erected on the Battery recalled to my
+imagination the pleasures of the evening and morning walks which I had
+taken on that spot with the lost Constantia. The dream was fondly
+cherished, that the figure which I saw loitering along the terrace was
+hers.
+
+On disembarking, I gazed at every female passenger, in hope that it was
+she whom I sought. An absence of three years had obliterated from my
+memory none of the images which attended me on my departure.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+After a night of repose rather than of sleep, I began the search after
+my friend. I went to the house which the Dudleys formerly inhabited, and
+which had been the asylum of my infancy. It was now occupied by
+strangers, by whom no account could be given of its former tenants. I
+obtained directions to the owner of the house. He was equally unable to
+satisfy my curiosity. The purchase had been made at a public sale, and
+terms had been settled, not with Dudley, but with the sheriff.
+
+It is needless to say that the history of Craig's imposture and its
+consequences were confirmed by every one who resided at that period in
+New York. The Dudleys were well remembered, and their disappearance,
+immediately after their fall, had been generally noticed; but whither
+they had retired was a problem which no one was able to solve.
+
+This evasion was strange. By what motives the Dudleys were induced to
+change their ancient abode could be vaguely guessed. My friend's
+grandfather was a native of the West Indies. Descendants of the same
+stock still resided in Tobago. They might be affluent, and to them it
+was possible that Mr. Dudley, in this change of fortune, had betaken
+himself for relief. This was a mournful expedient, since it would raise
+a barrier between my friend and myself scarcely to be surmounted.
+
+Constantia's mother was stolen by Mr. Dudley from a convent at Amiens.
+There were no affinities, therefore, to draw them to France. Her
+grandmother was a native of Baltimore, of a family of some note, by name
+Ridgeley. This family might still exist, and have either afforded an
+asylum to the Dudleys, or, at least, be apprized of their destiny. It
+was obvious to conclude that they no longer existed within the precincts
+of New York. A journey to Baltimore was the next expedient.
+
+This journey was made in the depth of winter, and by the speediest
+conveyance. I made no more than a day's sojourn in Philadelphia. The
+epidemic by which that city had been lately ravaged, I had not heard of
+till my arrival in America. Its devastations were then painted to my
+fancy in the most formidable colours. A few months only had elapsed
+since its extinction, and I expected to see numerous marks of misery and
+depopulation.
+
+To my no small surprise, however, no vestiges of this calamity were to
+be discerned. All houses were open, all streets thronged, and all faces
+thoughtless or busy. The arts and the amusements of life seemed as
+sedulously cultivated as ever. Little did I then think what had been,
+and what at that moment was, the condition of my friend. I stopped for
+the sake of respite from fatigue, and did not, therefore, pass much time
+in the streets. Perhaps, had I walked seasonably abroad, we might have
+encountered each other, and thus have saved ourselves from a thousand
+anxieties.
+
+At Baltimore I made myself known, without the formality of introduction,
+to the Ridgeleys. They acknowledged their relationship to Mr. Dudley,
+but professed absolute ignorance of his fate. Indirect intercourse only
+had been maintained, formerly, by Dudley with his mother's kindred. They
+had heard of his misfortune a twelvemonth after it happened; but what
+measures had been subsequently pursued, their kinsman had not thought
+proper to inform them.
+
+The failure of this expedient almost bereft me of hope. Neither my own
+imagination nor the Ridgeleys could suggest any new mode by which my
+purpose was likely to be accomplished. To leave America without
+obtaining the end of my visit could not be thought of without agony; and
+yet the continuance of my stay promised me no relief from my
+uncertainties.
+
+On this theme I ruminated without ceasing. I recalled every conversation
+and incident of former times, and sought in them a clue by which my
+present conjectures might be guided. One night, immersed alone in my
+chamber, my thoughts were thus employed. My train of meditation was, on
+this occasion, new. From the review of particulars from which no
+satisfaction had hitherto been gained, I passed to a vague and
+comprehensive retrospect.
+
+Mr. Dudley's early life, his profession of a painter, his zeal in this
+pursuit, and his reluctance to quit it, were remembered. Would he not
+revert to this profession when other means of subsistence were gone? It
+is true, similar obstacles with those which had formerly occasioned his
+resort to a different path existed at present, and no painter of his
+name was to be found in Philadelphia, Baltimore, or New York. But would
+it not occur to him, that the patronage denied to his skill by the
+frugal and unpolished habits of his countrymen might, with more
+probability of success, be sought from the opulence and luxury of
+London? Nay, had he not once affirmed, in my hearing, that, if he ever
+were reduced to poverty, this was the method he would pursue?
+
+This conjecture was too bewitching to be easily dismissed. Every new
+reflection augmented its force. I was suddenly raised by it from the
+deepest melancholy to the region of lofty and gay hopes. Happiness, of
+which I had begun to imagine myself irretrievably bereft, seemed once
+more to approach within my reach. Constantia would not only be found,
+but be met in the midst of those comforts which her father's skill could
+not fail to procure, and on that very stage where I most desired to
+encounter her. Mr. Dudley had many friends and associates of his youth
+in London. Filial duty had repelled their importunities to fix his abode
+in Europe, when summoned home by his father. On his father's death these
+solicitations had been renewed, but were disregarded for reasons which
+he, afterwards, himself confessed were fallacious. That they would a
+third time be preferred, and would regulate his conduct, seemed to me
+incontestable.
+
+I regarded with wonder and deep regret the infatuation that had
+hitherto excluded these images from my understanding and my memory. How
+many dangers and toils had I endured since my embarkation at Naples, to
+the present moment! How many lingering minutes had I told since my first
+interview with Courtland! All were owing to my own stupidity. Had my
+present thoughts been seasonably suggested, I might long since have been
+restored to the embraces of my friend, without the necessity of an
+hour's separation from my husband.
+
+These were evils to be repaired as far as it was possible. Nothing now
+remained but to procure a passage to Europe. For this end diligent
+inquiries were immediately set on foot. A vessel was found, which, in a
+few weeks, would set out upon the voyage. Having bespoken a conveyance,
+it was incumbent on me to sustain with patience the unwelcome delay.
+
+Meanwhile, my mind, delivered from the dejection and perplexities that
+lately haunted it, was capable of some attention to surrounding objects.
+I marked the peculiarities of manners and language in my new abode, and
+studied the effects which a political and religious system so opposite
+to that with which I had conversed in Italy and Switzerland had
+produced. I found that the difference between Europe and America lay
+chiefly in this:--that, in the former, all things tended to extremes,
+whereas, in the latter, all things tended to the same level. Genius, and
+virtue, and happiness, on these shores, were distinguished by a sort of
+mediocrity. Conditions were less unequal, and men were strangers to the
+heights of enjoyment and the depths of misery to which the inhabitants
+of Europe are accustomed.
+
+I received friendly notice and hospitable treatment from the Ridgeleys.
+These people were mercantile and plodding in their habits. I found in
+their social circle little exercise for the sympathies of my heart, and
+willingly accepted their aid to enlarge the sphere of my observation.
+
+About a week before my intended embarkation, and when suitable
+preparation had been made for that event, a lady arrived in town, who
+was cousin to my Constantia. She had frequently been mentioned in
+favourable terms in my hearing. She had passed her life in a rural
+abode with her father, who cultivated his own domain, lying forty miles
+from Baltimore.
+
+On an offer being made to introduce us to each other, I consented to
+know one whose chief recommendation in my eyes consisted in her affinity
+to Constantia Dudley. I found an artless and attractive female,
+unpolished and undepraved by much intercourse with mankind. At first
+sight, I was powerfully struck by the resemblance of her features to
+those of my friend, which sufficiently denoted their connection with a
+common stock.
+
+The first interview afforded mutual satisfaction. On our second meeting,
+discourse insensibly led to the mention of Miss Dudley, and of the
+design which had brought me to America. She was deeply affected by the
+earnestness with which I expatiated on her cousin's merits, and by the
+proofs which my conduct had given of unlimited attachment.
+
+I dwelt immediately on the measures which I had hitherto ineffectually
+pursued to trace her footsteps, and detailed the grounds of my present
+belief that we should meet in London. During this recital, my companion
+sighed and wept. When I finished my tale, her tears, instead of ceasing,
+flowed with new vehemence. This appearance excited some surprise, and I
+ventured to ask the cause of her grief.
+
+"Alas!" she replied, "I am personally a stranger to my cousin, but her
+character has been amply displayed to me by one who knew her well. I
+weep to think how much she has suffered. How much excellence we have
+lost!"
+
+"Nay," said I, "all her sufferings will, I hope, be compensated, and I
+by no means consider her as lost. If my search in London be
+unsuccessful, then shall I indeed despair."
+
+"Despair, then, already," said my sobbing companion, "for your search
+will be unsuccessful. How I feel for your disappointment! but it cannot
+be known too soon. My cousin is dead!"
+
+These tidings were communicated with tokens of sincerity and sorrow that
+left me no room to doubt that they were believed by the relater. My own
+emotions were suspended till interrogations had obtained a knowledge of
+her reasons for crediting this fatal event, and till she had explained
+the time and manner of her death. A friend of Miss Ridgeley's father had
+witnessed the devastations of the yellow fever in Philadelphia. He was
+apprized of the relationship that subsisted between his friend and the
+Dudleys. He gave a minute and circumstantial account of the arts of
+Craig. He mentioned the removal of my friends to Philadelphia, their
+obscure and indigent life, and, finally, their falling victims to the
+pestilence.
+
+He related the means by which he became apprized of their fate, and drew
+a picture of their death, surpassing all that imagination can conceive
+of shocking and deplorable. The quarter where they lived was nearly
+desolate. Their house was shut up, and, for a time, imagined to be
+uninhabited. Some suspicions being awakened in those who superintended
+the burial of the dead, the house was entered, and the father and child
+discovered to be dead. The former was stretched upon his wretched
+pallet, while the daughter was found on the floor of the lower room, in
+a state that denoted the sufferance not only of disease, but of famine.
+
+This tale was false. Subsequent discoveries proved this to be a
+detestable artifice of Craig, who, stimulated by incurable habits, had
+invented these disasters, for the purpose of enhancing the opinion of
+his humanity and of furthering his views on the fortune and daughter of
+Mr. Ridgeley.
+
+Its falsehood, however, I had as yet no means of ascertaining. I
+received it as true, and at once dismissed all my claims upon futurity.
+All hope of happiness, in this mutable and sublunary scene, was fled.
+Nothing remained but to join my friend in a world where woes are at an
+end and virtue finds recompense. "Surely," said I, "there will some time
+be a close to calamity and discord. To those whose lives have been
+blameless, but harassed by inquietudes to which not their own but the
+errors of others have given birth, a fortress will hereafter be
+assigned unassailable by change, impregnable to sorrow.
+
+"O my ill-fated Constantia! I will live to cherish thy remembrance, and
+to emulate thy virtue. I will endure the privation of thy friendship and
+the vicissitudes that shall befall me, and draw my consolation and
+courage from the foresight of no distant close to this terrestrial
+scene, and of ultimate and everlasting union with thee."
+
+This consideration, though it kept me from confusion and despair, could
+not, but with the healing aid of time, render me tranquil or strenuous.
+My strength was unequal to the struggle of my passions. The ship in
+which I engaged to embark could not wait for my restoration to health,
+and I was left behind.
+
+Mary Ridgeley was artless and affectionate. She saw that her society was
+dearer to me than that of any other, and was therefore seldom willing to
+leave my chamber. Her presence, less on her own account than by reason
+of her personal resemblance and her affinity by birth to Constantia, was
+a powerful solace.
+
+I had nothing to detain me longer in America. I was anxious to change my
+present lonely state, for the communion of those friends in England, and
+the performance of those duties, which were left to me. I was informed
+that a British packet would shortly sail from New York. My frame was
+sunk into greater weakness than I had felt at any former period; and I
+conceived that to return to New York by water was more commodious than
+to perform the journey by land.
+
+This arrangement was likewise destined to be disappointed. One morning I
+visited, according to my custom, Mary Ridgeley. I found her in a temper
+somewhat inclined to gayety. She rallied me, with great archness, on the
+care with which I had concealed from her a tender engagement into which
+I had lately entered.
+
+I supposed myself to comprehend her allusion, and therefore answered
+that accident, rather than design, had made me silent on the subject of
+marriage. She had hitherto known me by no appellation but Sophia
+Courtland. I had thought it needless to inform her that I was indebted
+for my name to my husband, Courtland being his name.
+
+"All that," said my friend, "I know already. And so you sagely think
+that my knowledge goes no further than that? We are not bound to love
+our husbands longer than their lives. There is no crime, I believe, in
+referring the living to the dead; and most heartily do congratulate you
+on your present choice."
+
+"What mean you? I confess, your discourse surpasses my comprehension."
+
+At that moment the bell at the door rung a loud peal. Miss Ridgeley
+hastened down at this signal, saying, with much significance,--
+
+"I am a poor hand at solving a riddle. Here comes one who, if I mistake
+not, will find no difficulty in clearing up your doubts."
+
+Presently she came up, and said, with a smile of still greater archness,
+"Here is a young gentleman, a friend of mine, to whom I must have the
+pleasure of introducing you. He has come for the special purpose of
+solving my riddle." I attended her to the parlour without hesitation.
+
+She presented me, with great formality, to a youth, whose appearance did
+not greatly prepossess me in favour of his judgement. He approached me
+with an air supercilious and ceremonious; but the moment he caught a
+glance at my face, he shrunk back, visibly confounded and embarrassed. A
+pause ensued, in which Miss Ridgeley had opportunity to detect the error
+into which she had been led by the vanity of this young man.
+
+"How now, Mr. Martynne!" said my friend, in a tone of ridicule; "is it
+possible you do not know the lady who is the queen of your affections,
+the tender and indulgent fair one whose portrait you carry in your
+bosom, and whose image you daily and nightly bedew with your tears and
+kisses?"
+
+Mr. Martynne's confusion, instead of being subdued by his struggle, only
+grew more conspicuous; and, after a few incoherent speeches and
+apologies, during which he carefully avoided encountering my eyes, he
+hastily departed.
+
+I applied to my friend, with great earnestness, for an explanation of
+this scene. It seems that, in the course of conversation with him on the
+preceding day, he had suffered a portrait which hung at his breast to
+catch Miss Ridgeley's eye. On her betraying a desire to inspect it more
+nearly, he readily produced it. My image had been too well copied by the
+artist not to be instantly recognised.
+
+She concealed her knowledge of the original, and, by questions well
+adapted to the purpose, easily drew from him confessions that this was
+the portrait of his mistress. He let fall sundry innuendoes and
+surmises, tending to impress her with a notion of the rank, fortune, and
+intellectual accomplishments of the nymph, and particularly of the
+doting fondness and measureless confidence with which she regarded him.
+
+Her imperfect knowledge of my situation left her in some doubt as to the
+truth of these pretensions, and she was willing to ascertain the truth
+by bringing about an interview. To guard against evasions and artifice
+in the lover, she carefully concealed from him her knowledge of the
+original, and merely pretended that a friend of hers was far more
+beautiful than her whom this picture represented. She added, that she
+expected a visit from her friend the next morning, and was willing, by
+showing her to Mr. Martynne, to convince him how much he was mistaken in
+supposing the perfections of his mistress unrivalled.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+Martynne, while ho expressed his confidence that the experiment would
+only confirm his triumph, readily assented to the proposal, and the
+interview above described took place, accordingly, the next morning. Had
+he not been taken by surprise, it is likely the address of a man who
+possessed no contemptible powers would have extricated him from some of
+his embarrassment.
+
+That my portrait should be in the possession of one whom I had never
+before seen, and whose character and manners entitled him to no respect,
+was a source of some surprise. This mode of multiplying faces is
+extremely prevalent in this age, and was eminently characteristic of
+those with whom I had associated in different parts of Europe. The
+nature of my thoughts had modified my features into an expression which
+my friends were pleased to consider as a model for those who desired to
+personify the genius of suffering and resignation.
+
+Hence, among those whose religion permitted their devotion to a picture
+of a female, the symbols of their chosen deity were added to features
+and shape that resembled mine. My own caprice, as well as that of
+others, always dictated a symbolical, and, in every new instance, a
+different accompaniment of this kind. Hence was offered the means of
+tracing the history of that picture which Martynne possessed.
+
+It had been accurately examined by Miss Ridgeley, and her description of
+the frame in which it was placed instantly informed me that it was the
+same which, at our parting, I left in the possession of Constantia. My
+friend and myself were desirous of employing the skill of a Saxon
+painter, by name Eckstein. Each of us were drawn by him, she with the
+cincture of Venus, and I with the crescent of Dian. This symbol was
+still conspicuous on the brow of that image which Miss Ridgeley had
+examined, and served to identify the original proprietor.
+
+This circumstance tended to confirm my fears that Constantia was dead,
+since that she would part with this picture during her life was not to
+be believed. It was of little moment to discover how it came into the
+hands of the present possessor. Those who carried her remains to the
+grave had probably torn it from her neck and afterwards disposed of it
+for money.
+
+By whatever means, honest or illicit, it had been acquired by Martynne,
+it was proper that it should be restored to me. It was valuable to me,
+because it had been the property of one whom I loved, and it might prove
+highly injurious to my fame and my happiness, as the tool of this man's
+vanity and the attestor of his falsehood. I therefore wrote him a
+letter, acquainting him with my reasons for desiring the repossession of
+this picture, and offering a price for it at least double its value as a
+mere article of traffic. Martynne accepted the terms. He transmitted the
+picture, and with it a note, apologizing for the artifice of which he
+had been guilty, and mentioning, in order to justify his acceptance of
+the price which I had offered, that he had lately purchased it for an
+equal sum, of a goldsmith in Philadelphia.
+
+This information suggested a new reflection. Constantia had engaged to
+preserve, for the use of her friend, copious and accurate memorials of
+her life. Copies of these were, on suitable occasions, to be transmitted
+to me during my residence abroad. These I had never received, but it was
+highly probable that her punctuality, in the performance of the first
+part of her engagement, had been equal to my own.
+
+What, I asked, had become of these precious memorials? In the wreck of
+her property were these irretrievably engulfed? It was not probable that
+they had been wantonly destroyed. They had fallen, perhaps, into hands
+careless or unconscious of their value, or still lay, unknown and
+neglected, at the bottom of some closet or chest. Their recovery might
+be effected by vehement exertions, or by some miraculous accident.
+Suitable inquiries, carried on among those who were active in those
+scenes of calamity, might afford some clue by which the fate of the
+Dudleys, and the disposition of their property, might come into fuller
+light. These inquiries could be made only in Philadelphia, and thither,
+for that purpose, I now resolved to repair. There was still an interval
+of some weeks before the departure of the packet in which I proposed to
+embark.
+
+Having returned to the capital, I devoted all my zeal to my darling
+project. My efforts, however, were without success. Those who
+administered charity and succour during that memorable season, and who
+survived, could remove none of my doubts, nor answer any of my
+inquiries. Innumerable tales, equally disastrous with those which Miss
+Ridgeley had heard, were related; but, for a considerable period, none
+of their circumstances were sufficiently accordant with the history of
+the Dudleys.
+
+It is worthy of remark, in how many ways, and by what complexity of
+motives, human curiosity is awakened and knowledge obtained. By its
+connection with my darling purpose, every event in the history of this
+memorable pest was earnestly sought and deeply pondered. The powerful
+considerations which governed me made me slight those punctilious
+impediments which, in other circumstances, would have debarred me from
+intercourse with the immediate actors and observers. I found none who
+were unwilling to expatiate on this topic, or to communicate the
+knowledge they possessed. Their details were copious in particulars and
+vivid in minuteness. They exhibited the state of manners, the
+diversified effects of evil or heroic passions, and the endless forms
+which sickness and poverty assume in the obscure recesses of a
+commercial and populous city.
+
+Some of these details are too precious to be lost. It is above all
+things necessary that we should be thoroughly acquainted with the
+condition of our fellow-beings. Justice and compassion are the fruit of
+knowledge. The misery that overspreads so large a part of mankind exists
+chiefly because those who are able to relieve it do not know that it
+exists. Forcibly to paint the evil, seldom fails to excite the virtue of
+the spectator and seduce him into wishes, at least, if not into
+exertions, of beneficence.
+
+The circumstances in which I was placed were, perhaps, wholly singular.
+Hence, the knowledge I obtained was more comprehensive and authentic
+than was possessed by any one, even of the immediate actors or
+sufferers. This knowledge will not be useless to myself or to the world.
+The motives which dictated the present narrative will hinder me from
+relinquishing the pen till my fund of observation and experience be
+exhausted. Meanwhile, let me resume the thread of my tale.
+
+The period allowed me before my departure was nearly expired, and my
+purpose seemed to be as far from its accomplishment as ever. One evening
+I visited a lady who was the widow of a physician whose disinterested
+exertions had cost him his life. She dwelt with pathetic earnestness on
+the particulars of her own distress, and listened with deep attention to
+the inquiries and doubts which I had laid before her.
+
+After a pause of consideration, she said that an incident like that
+related by me she had previously heard from one of her friends, whose
+name she mentioned. This person was one of those whose office consisted
+in searching out the sufferers, and affording them unsought and
+unsolicited relief. She was offering to introduce me to this person,
+when he entered the apartment.
+
+After the usual compliments, my friend led the conversation as I wished.
+Between Mr. Thompson's tale and that related to Miss Ridgeley there was
+an obvious resemblance. The sufferers resided in an obscure alley. They
+had shut themselves up from all intercourse with their neighbours, and
+had died, neglected and unknown. Mr. Thompson was vested with the
+superintendence of this district, and had passed the house frequently
+without suspicion of its being tenanted.
+
+He was at length informed, by one of those who conducted a hearse, that
+he had seen the window in the upper story of this house lifted and a
+female show herself. It was night, and the hearseman chanced to be
+passing the door. He immediately supposed that the person stood in need
+of his services, and stopped.
+
+This procedure was comprehended by the person at the window, who,
+leaning out, addressed him in a broken and feeble voice. She asked him
+why he had not taken a different route, and upbraided him for inhumanity
+in leading his noisy vehicle past her door. She wanted repose, but the
+ceaseless rumbling of his wheels would not allow her the sweet respite
+of a moment.
+
+This invective was singular, and uttered in a voice which united the
+utmost degree of earnestness with a feebleness that rendered it almost
+inarticulate. The man was at a loss for a suitable answer. His pause
+only increased the impatience of the person at the window, who called
+upon him, in a still more anxious tone, to proceed, and entreated him to
+avoid this alley for the future.
+
+He answered that he must come whenever the occasion called him; that
+three persons now lay dead in this alley, and that he must be
+expeditious in their removal; but that he would return as seldom and
+make as little noise as possible.
+
+He was interrupted by new exclamations and upbraidings. These terminated
+in a burst of tears, and assertions that God and man were her
+enemies,--that they were determined to destroy her; but she trusted that
+the time would come when their own experience would avenge her wrongs,
+and teach them some compassion for the misery of others. Saying this,
+she shut the window with violence, and retired from it, sobbing with a
+vehemence that could be distinctly overheard by him in the street.
+
+He paused for some time, listening when this passion should cease. The
+habitation was slight, and he imagined that he heard her traversing the
+floor. While he stayed, she continued to vent her anguish in
+exclamations and sighs and passionate weeping. It did not appear that
+any other person was within.
+
+Mr. Thompson, being next day informed of these incidents, endeavoured to
+enter the house; but his signals, though loud and frequently repeated,
+being unnoticed, he was obliged to gain admission by violence. An old
+man, and a female lovely in the midst of emaciation and decay, were
+discovered without signs of life. The death of the latter appeared to
+have been very recent.
+
+In examining the house, no traces of other inhabitants were to be found.
+Nothing serviceable as food was discovered, but the remnants of mouldy
+bread scattered on a table. No information could be gathered from
+neighbours respecting the condition and name of these unfortunate
+people. They had taken possession of this house during the rage of this
+malady, and refrained from all communication with their neighbours.
+
+There was too much resemblance between this and the story formerly
+heard, not to produce the belief that they related to the same persons.
+All that remained was to obtain directions to the proprietor of this
+dwelling, and exact from him all that he knew respecting his tenants.
+
+I found in him a man of worth and affability. He readily related, that a
+man applied to him for the use of this house, and that the application
+was received. At the beginning of the pestilence, a numerous family
+inhabited this tenement, but had died in rapid succession. This new
+applicant was the first to apprize him of this circumstance, and
+appeared extremely anxious to enter on immediate possession.
+
+It was intimated to him that danger would arise from the pestilential
+condition of the house. Unless cleansed and purified, disease would be
+unavoidably contracted. The inconvenience and hazard this applicant was
+willing to encounter, and, at length, hinted that no alternative was
+allowed him by his present landlord but to lie in the street or to
+procure some other abode.
+
+"What was the external appearance of this person?"
+
+"He was infirm, past the middle age, of melancholy aspect and indigent
+garb. A year had since elapsed, and more characteristic particulars had
+not been remarked, or were forgotten. The name had been mentioned, but,
+in the midst of more recent and momentous transactions, had vanished
+from remembrance. Dudley, or Dolby, or Hadley, seemed to approach more
+nearly than any other sounds."
+
+Permission to inspect the house was readily granted. It had remained,
+since that period, unoccupied. The furniture and goods were scanty and
+wretched, and he did not care to endanger his safety by meddling with
+them. He believed that they had not been removed or touched.
+
+I was insensible of any hazard which attended my visit, and, with the
+guidance of a servant, who felt as little apprehension as myself,
+hastened to the spot. I found nothing but tables and chairs. Clothing
+was nowhere to be seen. An earthen pot, without handle, and broken,
+stood upon the kitchen-hearth. No other implement or vessel for the
+preparation of food appeared.
+
+These forlorn appearances were accounted for by the servant, by
+supposing the house to have been long since rifled of every thing worth
+the trouble of removal, by the villains who occupied the neighbouring
+houses,--this alley, it seems, being noted for the profligacy of its
+inhabitants.
+
+When I reflected that a wretched hovel like this had been, probably, the
+last retreat of the Dudleys, when I painted their sufferings, of which
+the numberless tales of distress of which I had lately been an auditor
+enabled me to form an adequate conception, I felt as if to lie down and
+expire on the very spot where Constantia had fallen was the only
+sacrifice to friendship which time had left to me.
+
+From this house I wandered to the field where the dead had been,
+promiscuously and by hundreds, interred. I counted the long series of
+graves, which were closely ranged, and, being recently levelled,
+exhibited the appearance of a harrowed field. Methought I could have
+given thousands to know in what spot the body of my friend lay, that I
+might moisten the sacred earth with my tears. Boards hastily nailed
+together formed the best receptacle which the exigencies of the time
+could grant to the dead. Many corpses were thrown into a single
+excavation, and all distinctions founded on merit and rank were
+obliterated. The father and child had been placed in the same cart and
+thrown into the same hole.
+
+Despairing, by any longer stay in the city, to effect my purpose, and
+the period of my embarkation being near, I prepared to resume my
+journey. I should have set out the next day, but, a family with whom I
+had made acquaintance expecting to proceed to New York within a week, I
+consented to be their companion, and, for that end, to delay my
+departure.
+
+Meanwhile, I shut myself up in my apartment, and pursued avocations that
+were adapted to the melancholy tenor of my thoughts. The day preceding
+that appointed for my journey arrived. It was necessary to complete my
+arrangements with the family with whom I was to travel, and to settle
+with the lady whose apartments I occupied.
+
+On how slender threads does our destiny hang! Had not a momentary
+impulse tempted me to sing my favourite ditty to the harpsichord, to
+beguile the short interval during which my hostess was conversing with
+her visitor in the next apartment, I should have speeded to New York,
+have embarked for Europe, and been eternally severed from my friend,
+whom I believed to have died in frenzy and beggary, but who was alive
+and affluent, and who sought me with a diligence scarcely inferior to my
+own. We imagined ourselves severed from each other by death or by
+impassable seas; but, at the moment when our hopes had sunk to the
+lowest ebb, a mysterious destiny conducted our footsteps to the same
+spot.
+
+I heard a murmuring exclamation; I heard my hostess call, in a voice of
+terror, for help; I rushed into the room; I saw one stretched on the
+floor, in the attitude of death; I sprung forward and fixed my eyes upon
+her countenance; I clasped my hands and articulated, "Constantia!"
+
+She speedily recovered from her swoon. Her eyes opened; she moved, she
+spoke. Still methought it was an illusion of the senses that created the
+phantom. I could not bear to withdraw my eyes from her countenance. If
+they wandered for a moment, I fell into doubt and perplexity, and again
+fixed them upon her, to assure myself of her existence.
+
+The succeeding three days were spent in a state of dizziness and
+intoxication. The ordinary functions of nature were disturbed. The
+appetite for sleep and for food were confounded and lost amidst the
+impetuosities of a master-passion. To look and to talk to each other
+afforded enchanting occupation for every moment. I would not part from
+her side, but eat and slept, walked and mused and read, with my arm
+locked in hers, and with her breath fanning my cheek.
+
+I have indeed much to learn. Sophia Courtland has never been wise. Her
+affections disdain the cold dictates of discretion, and spurn at every
+limit that contending duties and mixed obligations prescribe.
+
+And yet, O precious inebriation of the heart! O pre-eminent love! what
+pleasure of reason or of sense can stand in competition with those
+attendant upon thee? Whether thou hiest to the fanes of a benevolent
+deity, or layest all thy homage at the feet of one who most visibly
+resembles the perfections of our Maker, surely thy sanction is divine,
+thy boon is happiness!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+The tumults of curiosity and pleasure did not speedily subside. The
+story of each other's wanderings was told with endless amplification and
+minuteness. Henceforth, the stream of our existence was to mix; we were
+to act and to think in common; casual witnesses and written testimony
+should become superfluous. Eyes and ears were to be eternally employed
+upon the conduct of each other; death, when it should come, was not to
+be deplored, because it was an unavoidable and brief privation to her
+that should survive. Being, under any modification, is dear; but that
+state to which death is a passage is all-desirable to virtue and
+all-compensating to grief.
+
+Meanwhile, precedent events were made the themes of endless
+conversation. Every incident and passion in the course of four years was
+revived and exhibited. The name of Ormond was, of course, frequently
+repeated by my friend. His features and deportment were described; her
+meditations and resolutions, with regard to him, fully disclosed. My
+counsel was asked, in what manner it became her to act.
+
+I could not but harbour aversion to a scheme which should tend to sever
+me from Constantia, or to give me a competitor in her affections.
+Besides this, the properties of Ormond were of too mysterious a nature
+to make him worthy of acceptance. Little more was known concerning him
+than what he himself had disclosed to the Dudleys, but this knowledge
+would suffice to invalidate his claims.
+
+He had dwelt, in his conversations with Constantia, sparingly on his own
+concerns. Yet he did not hide from her that he had been left in early
+youth to his own guidance; that he had embraced, when almost a child,
+the trade of arms; that he had found service and promotion in the armies
+of Potemkin and Romanzow; that he had executed secret and diplomatic
+functions at Constantinople and Berlin; that in the latter city he had
+met with schemers and reasoners who aimed at the new-modelling of the
+world, and the subversion of all that has hitherto been conceived
+elementary and fundamental in the constitution of man and of government;
+that some of those reformers had secretly united to break down the
+military and monarchical fabric of German policy; that others, more
+wisely, had devoted their secret efforts, not to overturn, but to build;
+that, for this end, they embraced an exploring and colonizing project;
+that he had allied himself to these, and for the promotion of their
+projects had spent six years of his life in journeys by sea and land, in
+tracts unfrequented till then by any European.
+
+What were the moral or political maxims which this adventurous and
+visionary sect had adopted, and what was the seat of their new-born
+empire,--whether on the shore of an _austral_ continent, or in the heart
+of desert America,--he carefully concealed. These were exhibited or
+hidden, or shifted, according to his purpose. Not to reveal too much,
+and not to tire curiosity or overtask belief, was his daily labour. He
+talked of alliance with the family whose name he bore, and who had lost
+their honours and estates by the Hanoverian succession to the crown of
+England.
+
+I had seen too much of innovation and imposture, in, France and Italy,
+not to regard a man like this with aversion and fear. The mind of my
+friend was wavering and unsuspicious. She had lived at a distance from
+scenes where principles are hourly put to the test of experiment; where
+all extremes of fortitude and pusillanimity are accustomed to meet;
+where recluse virtue and speculative heroism gives place, as if by
+magic, to the last excesses of debauchery and wickedness; where pillage
+and murder are engrafted on systems of all-embracing and self-oblivious
+benevolence, and the good of mankind is professed to be pursued with
+bonds of association and covenants of secrecy. Hence, my friend had
+decided without the sanction of experience, had allowed herself to
+wander into untried paths, and had hearkened to positions pregnant with
+destruction and ignominy.
+
+It was not difficult to exhibit in their true light the enormous errors
+of this man, and the danger of prolonging their intercourse. Her assent
+to accompany me to England was readily obtained. Too much despatch could
+not be used; but the disposal of her property must first take place.
+This was necessarily productive of some delay.
+
+I had been made, contrary to inclination, expert in the management of
+all affairs relative to property. My mother's lunacy, subsequent
+disease, and death, had imposed upon me obligations and cares little
+suitable to my sex and age. They could not be eluded or transferred to
+others; and, by degrees, experience enlarged my knowledge and
+familiarized my tasks.
+
+It was agreed that I should visit and inspect my friend's estate in
+Jersey, while she remained in her present abode, to put an end to the
+views and expectations of Ormond, and to make preparation for her
+voyage. We were reconciled to a temporary separation by the necessity
+that prescribed it.
+
+During our residence together, the mind of Constantia was kept in
+perpetual ferment. The second day after my departure, the turbulence of
+her feelings began to subside, and she found herself at leisure to
+pursue those measures which her present situation prescribed.
+
+The time prefixed by Ormond for the termination of his absence had
+nearly arrived. Her resolutions respecting this man, lately formed, now
+occurred to her. Her heart drooped as she revolved the necessity of
+disuniting their fates; but that this disunion was proper could not
+admit of doubt. How information of her present views might be most
+satisfactorily imparted to him, was a question not instantly decided.
+She reflected on the impetuosity of his character, and conceived that
+her intentions might be most conveniently unfolded in a letter. This
+letter she immediately sat down to write. Just then the door opened, and
+Ormond entered the apartment.
+
+She was somewhat, and for a moment, startled by this abrupt and
+unlooked-for entrance. Yet she greeted him with pleasure. Her greeting
+was received with coldness. A second glance at his countenance informed
+her that his mind was somewhat discomposed.
+
+Folding his hands on his breast, ho stalked to the window and looked up
+at the moon. Presently he withdrew his gaze from this object, and fixed
+it upon Constantia. He spoke, but his words were produced by a kind of
+effort.
+
+"Fit emblem," he exclaimed, "of human versatility! One impediment is
+gone. I hoped it was the only one. But no! the removal of that merely
+made room for another. Let this be removed. Well, fate will interplace a
+third. All our toils will thus be frustrated, and the ruin will finally
+redound upon our heads." There he stopped.
+
+This strain could not be interpreted by Constantia. She smiled, and,
+without noticing his incoherences, proceeded to inquire into his
+adventures during their separation. He listened to her, but his eyes,
+fixed upon hers, and his solemnity of aspect, were immovable. When she
+paused, he seated himself close to her, and, grasping her hand with a
+vehemence that almost pained her, said,--
+
+"Look at me; steadfastly. Can you read my thoughts? Can your discernment
+reach the bounds of my knowledge and the bottom of my purposes? Catch
+you not a view of the monsters that are starting into birth _here_?"
+(and he put his left hand to his forehead.) "But you cannot. Should I
+paint them to you verbally, you would call me jester or deceiver. What
+pity that you have not instruments for piercing into thoughts!"
+
+"I presume," said Constantia, affecting cheerfulness which she did not
+feel, "such instruments would be useless to me. You never scruple to say
+what you think. Your designs are no sooner conceived than they are
+expressed. All you know, all you wish, and all you purpose, are known
+to others as soon as to yourself. No scruples of decorum, no foresight
+of consequences, are obstacles in your way."
+
+"True," replied he; "all obstacles are trampled under foot but one."
+
+"What is the insuperable one?"
+
+"Incredulity in him that hears. I must not say what will not be
+credited. I must not relate feats and avow schemes, when my hearer will
+say, 'Those feats were never performed; these schemes are not yours.' I
+care not if the truth of my tenets and the practicability of my purposes
+be denied. Still, I will openly maintain them; but when my assertions
+will themselves be disbelieved, when it is denied that I adopt the creed
+and project the plans which I affirm to be adopted and projected by me,
+it is needless to affirm.
+
+"To-morrow I mean to ascertain the height of the lunar mountains by
+travelling to the top of them. Then I will station myself in the track
+of the last comet, and wait till its circumvolution suffers me to leap
+upon it; then, by walking on its surface, I will ascertain whether it be
+hot enough to burn my soles. Do you believe that this can be done?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Do you believe, in consequence of my assertion, that I design to do
+this, and that, in my apprehension, it is easy to be done?"
+
+"Not unless I previously believe you to be lunatic."
+
+"Then why should I assert my purposes? Why speak, when the hearer will
+infer nothing from my speech but that I am either lunatic or liar?"
+
+"In that predicament, silence is best."
+
+"In that predicament I now stand. I am not going to unfold myself. Just
+now, I pitied thee for want of eyes. 'Twas a foolish compassion. Thou
+art happy, because thou seest not an inch before thee or behind." Here
+he was for a moment buried in thought; then, breaking from his reverie,
+he said, "So your father is dead?"
+
+"True," said Constantia, endeavouring to suppress her rising emotions;
+"he is no more. It is so recent an event that I imagined you a stranger
+to it."
+
+"False imagination! Thinkest thou I would refrain from knowing what so
+nearly concerns us both? Perhaps your opinion of my ignorance extends
+beyond this. Perhaps I know not your fruitless search for a picture.
+Perhaps I neither followed you nor led you to a being called Sophia
+Courtland. I was not present at the meeting. I am unapprized of the
+effects of your romantic passion for each other. I did not witness the
+rapturous effusions and inexorable counsels of the newcomer. I know not
+the contents of the letter which you are preparing to write."
+
+As he spoke this, the accents of Ormond gradually augmented in
+vehemence. His countenance bespoke a deepening inquietude and growing
+passion. He stopped at the mention of the letter, because his voice was
+overpowered by emotion. This pause afforded room for the astonishment of
+Constantia. Her interviews and conversations with me took place at
+seasons of general repose, when all doors were fast and avenues shut, in
+the midst of silence, and in the bosom of retirement. The theme of our
+discourse was, commonly, too sacred for any ears but our own;
+disclosures were of too intimate and delicate a nature for any but a
+female audience; they were too injurious to the fame and peace of Ormond
+for him to be admitted to partake of them: yet his words implied a full
+acquaintance with recent events, and with purposes and deliberations
+shrouded, as we imagined, in impenetrable secrecy.
+
+As soon as Constantia recovered from the confusion of these thoughts,
+she eagerly questioned him:--"What do you know? How do you know what has
+happened, or what is intended?"
+
+"Poor Constantia!" he exclaimed, in a tone bitter and sarcastic. "How
+hopeless is thy ignorance! To enlighten thee is past my power. What
+do I know? Every thing. Not a tittle has escaped me. Thy letter is
+superfluous; I know its contents before they are written. I was
+to be told that a soldier and a traveller, a man who refused his
+faith to dreams, and his homage to shadows, merited only scorn and
+forgetfulness. That thy affections and person were due to another; that
+intercourse between us was henceforth to cease; that preparation was
+making for a voyage to Britain, and that Ormond was to walk to his grave
+alone!"
+
+In spite of harsh tones and inflexible features, these words were
+accompanied with somewhat that betrayed a mind full of discord and
+agony. Constantia's astonishment was mingled with dejection. The
+discovery of a passion deeper and less curable than she suspected--the
+perception of embarrassments and difficulties in the path which she had
+chosen, that had not previously occurred to her--threw her mind into
+anxious suspense.
+
+The measures she had previously concerted were still approved. To part
+from Ormond was enjoined by every dictate of discretion and duty. An
+explanation of her motives and views could not take place more
+seasonably than at present. Every consideration of justice to herself
+and humanity to Ormond made it desirable that this interview should be
+the last. By inexplicable means, he had gained a knowledge of her
+intentions. It was expedient, therefore, to state them with clearness
+and force. In what words this was to be done, was the subject of
+momentary deliberation.
+
+Her thoughts were discerned, and her speech anticipated, by her
+companion:--"Why droopest thou, and why thus silent, Constantia? The
+secret of thy fate will never be detected. Till thy destiny be finished,
+it will not be the topic of a single fear. But not for thyself, but me,
+art thou concerned. Thou dreadest, yet determinest, to confirm my
+predictions of thy voyage to Europe and thy severance from me.
+
+"Dismiss thy inquietudes on that score. What misery thy scorn and thy
+rejection are able to inflict is inflicted already. Thy decision was
+known to me as soon as it was formed. Thy motives were known. Not an
+argument or plea of thy counsellor, not a syllable of her invective, not
+a sound of her persuasive rhetoric, escaped my hearing. I know thy
+decree to be immutable. As my doubts, so my wishes have taken their
+flight. Perhaps, in the depth of thy ignorance, it was supposed that I
+should struggle to reverse thy purpose by menaces or supplications; that
+I should boast of the cruelty with which I should avenge an imaginary
+wrong upon myself. No. All is very well. Go. Not a whisper of objection
+or reluctance shalt thou hear from me."
+
+"If I could think," said Constantia, with tremulous hesitation, "that
+you part from me without anger; that you see the rectitude of my
+proceeding--"
+
+"Anger! Rectitude! I pr'ythee, peace. I know thou art going.--I know
+that all objection to thy purpose would be vain. Thinkest thou that thy
+stay, undictated by love, the mere fruit of compassion, would afford me
+pleasure or crown my wishes? No. I am not so dastardly a wretch. There
+was something in thy power to bestow, but thy will accords not with thy
+power. I merit not the boon, and thou refusest it. I am content."
+
+Here Ormond fixed more significant eyes upon her. "Poor Constantia!" he
+continued. "Shall I warn thee of the danger that awaits thee? For what
+end? To elude it is impossible. It will come, and thou, perhaps, wilt be
+unhappy. Foresight that enables not to shun, only precreates, the evil.
+
+"Come it will. Though future, it knows not the empire of contingency. An
+inexorable and immutable decree enjoins it. Perhaps it is thy nature to
+meet with calmness what cannot be shunned. Perhaps, when it is past, thy
+reason will perceive its irrevocable nature, and restore thee to peace.
+Such is the conduct of the wise; but such, I fear, the education of
+Constantia Dudley will debar her from pursuing.
+
+"Fain would I regard it as the test of thy wisdom. I look upon thy past
+life. All the forms of genuine adversity have beset thy youth. Poverty,
+disease, servile labour, a criminal and hapless parent, have been evils
+which thou hast not ungracefully sustained. An absent friend and
+murdered father were added to thy list of woes, and here thy courage was
+deficient. Thy soul was proof against substantial misery, but sunk into
+helpless cowardice at the sight of phantoms.
+
+"One more disaster remains. To call it by its true name would be useless
+or pernicious. Useless, because thou wouldst pronounce its occurrence
+impossible; pernicious, because, if its possibility were granted, the
+omen would distract thee with fear. How shall I describe it? Is it loss
+of fame? No. The deed will be unwitnessed by a human creature. Thy
+reputation will be spotless, for nothing will be done by thee unsuitable
+to the tenor of thy past life. Calumny will not be heard to whisper. All
+that know thee will be lavish of their eulogies as ever. Their eulogies
+will be as justly merited. Of this merit thou wilt entertain as just and
+as adequate conceptions as now.
+
+"It is no repetition of the evils thou hast already endured; it is
+neither drudgery, nor sickness, nor privation of friends. Strange
+perverseness of human reason! It is an evil; it will be thought upon
+with agony; it will close up all the sources of pleasurable
+recollection; it will exterminate hope; it will endear oblivion, and
+push thee into an untimely grave. Yet to grasp it is impossible. The
+moment we inspect it nearly, it vanishes. Thy claims to human
+approbation and divine applause will be undiminished and unaltered by
+it. The testimony of approving conscience will have lost none of its
+explicitness and energy. Yet thou wilt feed upon sighs; thy tears will
+flow without remission; thou wilt grow enamoured of death, and perhaps
+wilt anticipate the stroke of disease.
+
+"Yet perhaps my prediction is groundless as my knowledge. Perhaps thy
+discernment will avail to make thee wise and happy. Perhaps thou wilt
+perceive thy privilege of sympathetic and intellectual activity to be
+untouched. Heaven grant the non-fulfilment of my prophecy, thy
+disenthralment from error, and the perpetuation of thy happiness."
+
+Saying this, Ormond withdrew. His words were always accompanied with
+gestures and looks and tones that fastened the attention of the hearer;
+but the terms of his present discourse afforded, independently of
+gesticulation and utterance, sufficient motives to attention and
+remembrance. He was gone, but his image was contemplated by Constantia;
+his words still rung in her ears.
+
+The letter she designed to compose was rendered, by this interview,
+unnecessary. Meanings of which she and her friend alone were conscious
+were discovered by Ormond, through some other medium than words; yet
+that was impossible. A being unendowed with preternatural attributes
+could gain the information which this man possessed, only by the
+exertion of his senses.
+
+All human precautions had been used to baffle the attempts of any secret
+witness. She recalled to mind the circumstances in which conversations
+with her friend had taken place. All had been retirement, secrecy, and
+silence. The hours usually dedicated to sleep had been devoted to this
+better purpose. Much had been said, in a voice low and scarcely louder
+than a whisper. To have overheard it at the distance of a few feet was
+apparently impossible.
+
+Their conversations had not been recorded by her. It could not be
+believed that this had been done by Sophia Courtland. Had Ormond and her
+friend met during the interval that had elapsed between her separation
+from the latter and her meeting with the former? Human events are
+conjoined by links imperceptible to keenest eyes. Of Ormond's means of
+information she was wholly unapprized. Perhaps accident would some time
+unfold them. One thing was incontestable:--that her schemes and her
+reasons for adopting them were known to him.
+
+What unforeseen effects had that knowledge produced! In what ambiguous
+terms had he couched his prognostics of some mighty evil that awaited
+her! He had given a terrible but contradictory description of her
+destiny. An event was to happen, akin to no calamity which she had
+already endured, disconnected with all which the imagination of man is
+accustomed to deprecate, capable of urging her to suicide, and yet of a
+kind which left it undecided whether she would regard it with
+indifference.
+
+What reliance should she place upon prophetic incoherences thus wild?
+What precautions should she take against a danger thus inscrutable and
+imminent?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+These incidents and reflections were speedily transmitted to me. I had
+always believed the character and machinations of Ormond to be worthy of
+caution and fear. His means of information I did not pretend, and
+thought it useless, to investigate. We cannot hide our actions and
+thoughts from one of powerful sagacity, whom the detection sufficiently
+interests to make him use all the methods of detection in his power. The
+study of concealment is, in all cases, fruitless or hurtful. All that
+duty enjoins is to design and to execute nothing which may not be
+approved by a divine and omniscient Observer. Human scrutiny is neither
+to be solicited nor shunned. Human approbation or censure can never be
+exempt from injustice, because our limited perceptions debar us from a
+thorough knowledge of any actions and motives but our own.
+
+On reviewing what had passed between Constantia and me, I recollected
+nothing incompatible with purity and rectitude. That Ormond was apprized
+of all that had passed, I by no means inferred from the tenor of his
+conversation with Constantia; nor, if this had been incontestably
+proved, should I have experienced any trepidation or anxiety on that
+account.
+
+His obscure and indirect menaces of evil were of more importance. His
+discourse on this topic seemed susceptible only of two constructions.
+Either he intended some fatal mischief, and was willing to torment her
+by fears, while he concealed from her the nature of her danger, that he
+might hinder her from guarding her safety by suitable precautions; or,
+being hopeless of rendering her propitious to his wishes, his malice was
+satisfied with leaving her a legacy of apprehension and doubt.
+Constantia's unacquaintance with the doctrines of that school in which
+Ormond was probably instructed led her to regard the conduct of this man
+with more curiosity and wonder than fear. She saw nothing but a
+disposition to sport with her ignorance and bewilder her with doubts.
+
+I do not believe myself destitute of courage. Rightly to estimate the
+danger and encounter it with firmness are worthy of a rational being;
+but to place our security in thoughtlessness and blindness is only less
+ignoble than cowardice. I could not forget the proofs of violence which
+accompanied the death of Mr. Dudley. I could not overlook, in the recent
+conversation with Constantia, Ormond's allusion to her murdered father.
+It was possible that the nature of this death had been accidentally
+imparted to him; but it was likewise possible that his was the knowledge
+of one who performed the act.
+
+The enormity of this deed appeared by no means incongruous with the
+sentiments of Ormond. Human life is momentous or trivial in our eyes,
+according to the course which our habits and opinions have taken.
+Passion greedily accepts, and habit readily offers, the sacrifice of
+another's life, and reason obeys the impulse of education and desire.
+
+A youth of eighteen, a volunteer in a Russian army encamped in
+Bessarabia, made prey of a Tartar girl, found in the field of a recent
+battle. Conducting her to his quarters, he met a friend, who, on some
+pretence, claimed the victim. From angry words they betook themselves to
+swords. A combat ensued, in which the first claimant ran his antagonist
+through the body. He then bore his prize unmolested away, and, having
+exercised brutality of one kind upon the helpless victim, stabbed her to
+the heart, as an offering to the _manes_ of Sarsefield, the friend whom
+he had slain. Next morning, willing more signally to expiate his guilt,
+he rushed alone upon a troop of Turkish foragers, and brought away five
+heads, suspended, by their gory locks, to his horse's mane. These he
+cast upon the grave of Sarsefield, and conceived himself fully to have
+expiated yesterday's offence. In reward for his prowess, the general
+gave him a commission in the Cossack troops. This youth was Ormond; and
+such is a specimen of his exploits during a military career of eight
+years, in a warfare the most savage and implacable, and, at the same
+time, the most iniquitous and wanton, which history records.
+
+With passions and habits like these, the life of another was a trifling
+sacrifice to vengeance or impatience. How Mr. Dudley had excited the
+resentment of Ormond, by what means the assassin had accomplished his
+intention without awakening alarm or incurring suspicion, it was not for
+me to discover. The inextricability of human events, the imperviousness
+of cunning, and the obduracy of malice, I had frequent occasions to
+remark.
+
+I did not labour to vanquish the security of my friend. As to
+precautions, they were useless. There was no fortress, guarded by
+barriers of stone and iron and watched by sentinels that never slept, to
+which she might retire from his stratagems. If there were such a
+retreat, it would scarcely avail her against a foe circumspect and
+subtle as Ormond.
+
+I pondered on the condition of my friend. I reviewed the incidents of
+her life. I compared her lot with that of others. I could not but
+discover a sort of incurable malignity in her fate. I felt as if it were
+denied to her to enjoy a long life or permanent tranquillity. I asked
+myself what she had done, entitling her to this incessant persecution.
+Impatience and murmuring took place of sorrow and fear in my heart. When
+I reflected that all human agency was merely subservient to a divine
+purpose, I fell into fits of accusation and impiety.
+
+This injustice was transient, and soberer views convinced me that every
+scheme, comprising the whole, must be productive of partial and
+temporary evil. The sufferings of Constantia were limited to a moment;
+they were the unavoidable appendages of terrestrial existence; they
+formed the only avenue to wisdom, and the only claim to uninterrupted
+fruition and eternal repose in an after-scene.
+
+The course of my reflections, and the issue to which they led, were
+unforeseen by myself. Fondly as I doted upon this woman, methought I
+could resign her to the grave without a murmur or a tear. While my
+thoughts were calmed by resignation, and my fancy occupied with nothing
+but the briefness of that space and evanescence of that time which
+severs the living from the dead, I contemplated, almost with
+complacency, a violent or untimely close to her existence.
+
+This loftiness of mind could not always be accomplished or constantly
+maintained. One effect of my fears was to hasten my departure to Europe.
+There existed no impediment but the want of a suitable conveyance. In
+the first packet that should leave America, it was determined to secure
+a passage. Mr. Melbourne consented to take charge of Constantia's
+property, and, after the sale of it, to transmit to her the money that
+should thence arise.
+
+Meanwhile, I was anxious that Constantia should leave her present abode
+and join me in New York. She willingly adopted this arrangement, but
+conceived it necessary to spend a few days at her house in Jersey. She
+could reach the latter place without much deviation from the straight
+road, and she was desirous of resurveying a spot where many of her
+infantile days had been spent.
+
+This house and domain I have already mentioned to have once belonged to
+Mr. Dudley. It was selected with the judgement and adorned with the taste
+of a disciple of the schools of Florence and Vicenza. In his view,
+cultivation was subservient to the picturesque, and a mansion was
+erected, eminent for nothing but chastity of ornaments and simplicity of
+structure. The massive parts were of stone; the outer surfaces were
+smooth, snow-white, and diversified by apertures and cornices, in which
+a cement uncommonly tenacious was wrought into proportions the most
+correct and forms the most graceful. The floors, walls, and ceilings,
+consisted of a still more exquisitely-tempered substance, and were
+painted by Mr. Dudley's own hand. All appendages of this building, as
+seats, tables, and cabinets, were modelled by the owner's particular
+direction, and in a manner scrupulously classical.
+
+He had scarcely entered on the enjoyment of this splendid possession,
+when it was ravished away. No privation was endured with more impatience
+than this; but, happily, it was purchased by one who left Mr. Dudley's
+arrangements unmolested, and who shortly after conveyed it entire to
+Ormond. By him it was finally appropriated to the use of Helena Cleves,
+and now, by a singular contexture of events, it had reverted to those
+hands in which the death of the original proprietor, if no other change
+had been made in his condition, would have left it. The farm still
+remained in the tenure of a German emigrant, who held it partly on
+condition of preserving the garden and mansion in safety and in perfect
+order.
+
+This retreat was now revisited by Constantia, after an interval of four
+years. Autumn had made some progress, but the aspect of nature was, so
+to speak, more significant than at any other season. She was agreeably
+accommodated under the tenant's roof, and found a nameless pleasure in
+traversing spaces in which every object prompted an endless train of
+recollections.
+
+Her sensations were not foreseen. They led to a state of mind
+inconsistent, in some degree, with the projects adopted in obedience to
+the suggestions of a friend. Every thing in this scene had been created
+and modelled by the genius of her father. It was a kind of fane,
+sanctified by his imaginary presence.
+
+To consign the fruits of his industry and invention to foreign and
+unsparing hands seemed a kind of sacrilege, for which she almost feared
+that the dead would rise to upbraid her. Those images which bind us to
+our natal soil, to the abode of our innocent and careless youth, were
+recalled to her fancy by the scenes which she now beheld. These were
+enforced by considerations of the dangers which attended her voyage from
+storms and from enemies, and from the tendency to revolution and war
+which seemed to actuate all the nations of Europe. Her native country
+was by no means exempt from similar tendencies, but these evils were
+less imminent, and its manners and government, in their present
+modifications, were unspeakably more favourable to the dignity and
+improvement of the human race than those which prevailed in any part of
+the ancient world.
+
+My solicitations and my obligation to repair to England overweighed her
+objections, but her new reflections led her to form new determinations
+with regard to this part of her property. She concluded to retain
+possession, and hoped that some future event would allow her to return
+to this favourite spot without forfeiture of my society. An abode of
+some years in Europe would more eminently qualify her for the enjoyment
+of retirement and safety in her native country. The time that should
+elapse before her embarkation, she was desirous of passing among the
+shades of this romantic retreat.
+
+I was by no means reconciled to this proceeding. I loved my friend too
+well to endure any needless separation without repining. In addition to
+this, the image of Ormond haunted my thoughts, and gave birth to
+incessant but indefinable fears. I believed that her safety would very
+little depend upon the nature of her abode, or the number or
+watchfulness of her companions. My nearness to her person would
+frustrate no stratagem, nor promote any other end than my own
+entanglement in the same fold. Still, that I was not apprized each hour
+of her condition, that her state was lonely and sequestered, were
+sources of disquiet, the obvious remedy to which was her coming to New
+York. Preparations for departure were assigned to me, and these required
+my continuance in the city.
+
+Once a week, Laffert, her tenant, visited, for purposes of traffic, the
+city. He was the medium of our correspondence. To him I intrusted a
+letter, in which my dissatisfaction at her absence, and the causes which
+gave it birth, were freely confessed.
+
+The confidence of safety seldom deserted my friend. Since her mysterious
+conversation with Ormond, he had utterly vanished. Previous to that
+interview, his visits or his letters were incessant and punctual; but
+since, no token was given that he existed. Two months had elapsed. He
+gave her no reason to expect a cessation of intercourse. He had parted
+from her with his usual abruptness and informality. She did not conceive
+it incumbent on her to search him out, but she would not have been
+displeased with an opportunity to discuss with him more fully the
+motives of her conduct. This opportunity had been hitherto denied.
+
+Her occupations in her present retreat were, for the most part, dictated
+by caprice or by chance. The mildness of autumn permitted her to ramble,
+during the day, from one rock and one grove to another. There was a
+luxury in musing, and in the sensations which the scenery and silence
+produced, which, in consequence of her long estrangement from them, were
+accompanied with all the attractions of novelty, and from which she
+would not consent to withdraw.
+
+In the evening she usually retired to the mansion, and shut herself up
+in that apartment which, in the original structure of the house, had
+been designed for study, and no part of whose furniture had been removed
+or displaced. It was a kind of closet on the second floor, illuminated
+by a spacious window, through which a landscape of uncommon amplitude
+and beauty was presented to the view. Here the pleasures of the day were
+revived, by recalling and enumerating them in letters to her friend. She
+always quitted this recess with reluctance, and seldom till the night
+was half spent.
+
+One evening she retired hither when the sun had just dipped beneath the
+horizon. Her implements of writing were prepared; but, before the pen
+was assumed, her eyes rested for a moment on the variegated hues which
+were poured out upon the western sky and upon the scene of intermingled
+waters, copses, and fields. The view comprised a part of the road which
+led to this dwelling. It was partially and distantly seen, and the
+passage of horses or men was betokened chiefly by the dust which was
+raised by their footsteps.
+
+A token of this kind now caught her attention. It fixed her eye chiefly
+by the picturesque effect produced by interposing its obscurity between
+her and the splendours which the sun had left. Presently she gained a
+faint view of a man and horse. This circumstance laid no claim to
+attention, and she was withdrawing her eye, when the traveller's
+stopping and dismounting at the gate made her renew her scrutiny. This
+was reinforced by something in the figure and movements of the horseman
+which reminded her of Ormond.
+
+She started from her seat with some degree of palpitation. Whence this
+arose, whether from fear or from joy, or from intermixed emotions, it
+would not be easy to ascertain. Having entered the gate, the visitant,
+remounting his horse, set the animal on full speed. Every moment brought
+him nearer, and added to her first belief. He stopped not till he
+reached the mansion. The person of Ormond was distinctly recognised.
+
+An interview at this dusky and lonely hour, in circumstances so abrupt
+and unexpected, could not fail to surprise, and, in some degree, to
+alarm. The substance of his last conversation was recalled. The evils
+which were darkly and ambiguously predicted thronged to her memory. It
+seemed as if the present moment was to be, in some way, decisive of her
+fate. This visit she did not hesitate to suppose designed for her, but
+somewhat uncommonly momentous must have prompted him to take so long a
+journey.
+
+The rooms on the lower floor were dark, the windows and doors being
+fastened. She had entered the house by the principal door, and this was
+the only one at present unlocked. The room in which she sat was over the
+hall, and the massive door beneath could not be opened without noisy
+signals. The question that occurred to her, by what means Ormond would
+gain admittance to her presence, she supposed would be instantly
+decided. She listened to hear his footsteps on the pavement, or the
+creaking of hinges. The silence, however, continued profound as before.
+
+After a minute's pause, she approached the window more nearly and
+endeavoured to gain a view of the space before the house. She saw
+nothing but the horse, whose bridle was thrown over his neck, and who
+was left at liberty to pick up what scanty herbage the lawn afforded to
+his hunger. The rider had disappeared.
+
+It now occurred to her that this visit had a purpose different from that
+which she at first conjectured. It was easily conceived that Ormond was
+unacquainted with her residence at this spot. The knowledge could only
+be imparted to him by indirect or illicit means. That these means had
+been employed by him, she was by no means authorized to infer from the
+silence and distance he had lately maintained. But if an interview with
+her were not the purpose of his coming, how should she interpret it?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+While occupied with these reflections, the light hastily disappeared,
+and darkness, rendered, by a cloudy atmosphere, uncommonly intense,
+succeeded. She had the means of lighting a lamp that hung against the
+wall, but had been too much immersed in thought to notice the deepening
+of the gloom. Recovering from her reverie, she looked around her with
+some degree of trepidation, and prepared to strike a spark that would
+enable her to light her lamp.
+
+She had hitherto indulged an habitual indifference to danger. Now the
+presence of Ormond, the unknown purpose that led him hither, and the
+defencelessness of her condition, inspired her with apprehensions to
+which she had hitherto been a stranger. She had been accustomed to pass
+many nocturnal hours in this closet. Till now, nothing had occurred that
+made her enter it with circumspection or continue in it with reluctance.
+
+Her sensations were no longer tranquil. Each minute that she spent in
+this recess appeared to multiply her hazards. To linger here appeared to
+her the height of culpable temerity. She hastily resolved to return to
+the farmer's dwelling, and, on the morrow, to repair to New York. For
+this end she was desirous to produce a light. The materials were at
+hand.
+
+She lifted her hand to strike the flint, when her ear caught a sound
+which betokened the opening of the door that led into the next
+apartment. Her motion was suspended, and she listened as well as a
+throbbing heart would permit. That Ormond's was the hand that opened,
+was the first suggestion of her fears. The motives of this unseasonable
+entrance could not be reconciled with her safety. He had given no
+warning of his approach, and the door was opened with tardiness and
+seeming caution.
+
+Sounds continued, of which no distinct conception could be obtained, or
+the cause that produced them assigned. The floors of every apartment
+being composed, like the walls and ceiling, of cement, footsteps were
+rendered almost undistinguishable. It was plain, however, that some one
+approached her own door.
+
+The panic and confusion that now invaded her was owing to surprise, and
+to the singularity of her situation. The mansion was desolate and
+lonely. It was night. She was immersed in darkness. She had not the
+means, and was unaccustomed to the office, of repelling personal
+injuries. What injuries she had reason to dread, who was the agent, and
+what were his motives, were subjects Of vague and incoherent meditation.
+
+Meanwhile, low and imperfect sounds, that had in them more of inanimate
+than human, assailed her ear. Presently they ceased. An inexplicable
+fear deterred her from calling. Light would have exercised a friendly
+influence. This it was in her power to produce, but not without motion
+and noise; and these, by occasioning the discovery of her being in the
+closet, might possibly enhance her danger.
+
+Conceptions like these were unworthy of the mind of Constantia. An
+interval of silence succeeded, interrupted only by the whistling of the
+blast without. It was sufficient for the restoration of her courage. She
+blushed at the cowardice which had trembled at a sound. She considered
+that Ormond might, indeed, be near, but that he was probably unconscious
+of her situation. His coming was not with the circumspection of an
+enemy. He might be acquainted with the place of her retreat, and had
+come to obtain an interview, with no clandestine or mysterious purposes.
+The noises she had heard had, doubtless, proceeded from the next
+apartment, but might be produced by some harmless or vagrant creature.
+
+These considerations restored her tranquillity. They enabled her,
+deliberately, to create a light, but they did not dissuade her from
+leaving the house. Omens of evil seemed to be connected with this
+solitary and darksome abode. Besides, Ormond had unquestionably entered
+upon this scene It could not be doubted that she was the object of his
+visit. The farm-house was a place of meeting more suitable and safe than
+any other. Thither, therefore, she determined immediately to return.
+
+The closet had but one door, and this led into the chamber where the
+sounds had arisen. Through this chamber, therefore, she was obliged to
+pass, in order to reach the staircase, which terminated in the hall
+below.
+
+Bearing the light in her left hand, she withdrew the bolt of the door
+and opened. In spite of courageous efforts, she opened with
+unwillingness, and shuddered to throw a glance forward or advance a step
+into the room. This was not needed, to reveal to her the cause of her
+late disturbance. Her eye instantly lighted on the body of a man,
+supine, motionless, stretched on the floor, close to the door through
+which she was about to pass.
+
+A spectacle like this was qualified to startle her. She shrunk back, and
+fixed a more steadfast eye upon the prostrate person. There was no mark
+of blood or of wounds, but there was something in the attitude more
+significant of death than of sleep. His face rested on the floor, and
+his ragged locks concealed what part of his visage was not hidden by his
+posture. His garb was characterized by fashionable elegance, but was
+polluted with dust.
+
+The image that first occurred to her was that of Ormond. This instantly
+gave place to another, which was familiar to her apprehension. It was at
+first too indistinctly seen to suggest a name. She continued to gaze and
+to be lost in fearful astonishment. Was this the person whose entrance
+had been overheard, and who had dragged himself hither to die at her
+door? Yet, in that case, would not groans and expiring efforts have
+testified his condition and invoked her succour? Was he not brought
+hither in the arms of his assassin? She mused upon the possible motives
+that induced some one thus to act, and upon the connection that might
+subsist between her destiny and that of the dead.
+
+Her meditations, however fruitless in other respects, could not fail to
+show her the propriety of hastening from this spot. To scrutinize the
+form or face of the dead was a task to which her courage was unequal.
+Suitably accompanied and guarded, she would not scruple to return and
+ascertain, by the most sedulous examination, the cause of this ominous
+event.
+
+She stepped over the breathless corpse, and hurried to the staircase. It
+became her to maintain the command of her muscles and joints, and to
+proceed without faltering or hesitation. Scarcely had she reached the
+entrance of the hall, when, casting anxious looks forward, she beheld a
+human figure. No scrutiny was requisite to inform her that this was
+Ormond.
+
+She stopped. He approached her with looks and gestures placid but
+solemn. There was nothing in his countenance rugged or malignant. On the
+contrary, there were tokens of compassion.
+
+"So," said he, "I expected to meet you. Alight, gleaming from the
+window, marked you out. This and Laffert's directions have guided me."
+
+"What," said Constantia, with discomposure in her accent, "was your
+motive for seeking me?"
+
+"Have you forgotten," said Ormond, "what passed at our last interview?
+The evil that I then predicted is at hand. Perhaps you were incredulous;
+you accounted me a madman or deceiver; now I am come to witness the
+fulfilment of my words and the completion of your destiny. To rescue you
+I have not come: that is not within the compass of human powers.
+
+"Poor Constantia," he continued, in tones that manifested genuine
+sympathy, "look upon thyself as lost. The toils that beset thee are
+inextricable. Summon up thy patience to endure the evil. Now will the
+last and heaviest trial betide thy fortitude. I could weep for thee, if
+my manly nature would permit. This is the scene of thy calamity, and
+this the hour."
+
+These words were adapted to excite curiosity mingled with terror.
+Ormond's deportment was of an unexampled tenor, as well as that evil
+which he had so ambiguously predicted. He offered no protection from
+danger, and yet gave no proof of being himself an agent or auxiliary.
+After a minute's pause, Constantia, recovering a firm tone, said,--
+
+"Mr. Ormond, your recent deportment but ill accords with your
+professions of sincerity and plain dealing. What your purpose is, or
+whether you have any purpose, I am at a loss to conjecture. Whether you
+most deserve censure or ridicule, is a point which you afford me not the
+means of deciding, and to which, unless on your own account, I am
+indifferent. If you are willing to be more explicit, or if there be any
+topic on which you wish further to converse, I will not refuse your
+company to Laffert's dwelling. Longer to remain here would be indiscreet
+and absurd."
+
+So saying, she motioned towards the door. Ormond was passive, and seemed
+indisposed to prevent her departure, till she laid her hand upon the
+lock. He then, without moving from his place, exclaimed,--
+
+"Stay! Must this meeting, which fate ordains to be the last, be so
+short? Must a time and place so suitable for what remains to be said and
+done be neglected or misused? No. You charge me with duplicity, and deem
+my conduct either ridiculous or criminal. I have stated my reasons for
+concealment, but these have failed to convince you. Well, here is now an
+end to doubt. All ambiguities are preparing to vanish."
+
+When Ormond began to speak, Constantia paused to hearken to him. His
+vehemence was not of that nature which threatened to obstruct her
+passage. It was by entreaty that he apparently endeavoured to detain her
+steps, and not by violence. Hence arose her patience to listen. He
+continued:--
+
+"Constantia! thy father is dead. Art thou not desirous of detecting the
+author of his fate? Will it afford thee no consolation to know that the
+deed is punished? Wilt thou suffer me to drag the murderer to thy feet?
+Thy justice will be gratified by this sacrifice. Somewhat will be due to
+him who avenged thy wrong in the blood of the perpetrator. What sayest
+thou? Grant me thy permission, and in a moment I will drag him hither."
+
+These words called up the image of the person whose corpse she had
+lately seen. It was readily conceived that to him Ormond alluded; but
+this was the assassin of her father, and his crime had been detected and
+punished by Ormond! These images had no other effect than to urge her
+departure: she again applied her hand to the lock, and said,--
+
+"This scene must not be prolonged. My father's death I desire not to
+hear explained or to see revenged, but whatever information you are
+willing or able to communicate must be deferred."
+
+"Nay," interrupted Ormond, with augmented vehemence, "art thou equally
+devoid of curiosity and justice? Thinkest thou that the enmity which
+bereft thy father of life will not seek thy own? There are evils which I
+cannot prevent thee from enduring, but there are, likewise, ills which
+my counsel will enable thee and thy friend to shun. Save me from
+witnessing thy death. Thy father's destiny is sealed; all that remained
+was to punish his assassin; but thou and thy Sophia still live. Why
+should ye perish by a like stroke?"
+
+This intimation was sufficient to arrest the steps of Constantia. She
+withdrew her hand from the door, and fixed eyes of the deepest anxiety
+on Ormond:--"What mean you? How am I to understand--"
+
+"Ah!" said Ormond, "I see thou wilt consent to stay. Thy detention shall
+not be long. Remain where thou art during one moment,--merely while I
+drag hither thy enemy and show thee a visage which thou wilt not be slow
+to recognise." Saying this, he hastily ascended the staircase, and
+quickly passed beyond her sight.
+
+Deportment thus mysterious could not fail of bewildering her thoughts.
+There was somewhat in the looks and accents of Ormond, different from
+former appearances; tokens of a hidden purpose and a smothered meaning
+were perceptible,--a mixture of the inoffensive and the lawless, which,
+added to the loneliness and silence that encompassed her, produced a
+faltering emotion. Her curiosity was overpowered by her fear, and the
+resolution was suddenly conceived of seizing this opportunity to escape.
+
+A third time she put her hand to the lock and attempted to open. The
+effort was ineffectual. The door that was accustomed to obey the
+gentlest touch was now immovable. She had lately unlocked and passed
+through it. Her eager inspection convinced her that the principal bolt
+was still withdrawn, but a small one was now perceived, of whose
+existence she had not been apprized, and over which her key had no
+power.
+
+Now did she first harbour a fear that was intelligible in its dictates.
+Now did she first perceive herself sinking in the toils of some lurking
+enemy. Hope whispered that this foe was not Ormond. His conduct had
+bespoken no willingness to put constraint upon her steps. He talked not
+as if he was aware of this obstruction, and yet his seeming acquiescence
+might have flowed from a knowledge that she had no power to remove
+beyond his reach.
+
+He warned her of danger to her life, of which he was her self-appointed
+rescuer. His counsel was to arm her with sufficient caution; the peril
+that awaited her was imminent; this was the time and place of its
+occurrence, and here she was compelled to remain, till the power that
+fastened would condescend to loose the door. There were other avenues to
+the hall. These were accustomed to be locked; but Ormond had found
+access, and, if all continued fast, it was incontestable that he was the
+author of this new impediment.
+
+The other avenues were hastily examined. All were bolted and locked. The
+first impulse led her to call for help from without; but the mansion was
+distant from Laffert's habitation. This spot was wholly unfrequented. No
+passenger was likely to be stationed where her call could be heard.
+Besides, this forcible detention might operate for a short time, and be
+attended with no mischievous consequences. Whatever was to come, it was
+her duty to collect her courage and encounter it.
+
+Tho steps of Ormond above now gave tokens of his approach. Vigilant
+observance of this man was all that her situation permitted. A vehement
+effort restored her to some degree of composure. Her stifled
+palpitations allowed her steadfastly to notice him as he now descended
+the stairs, bearing a lifeless body in his arms. "There!" said he, as he
+cast it at her feet; "whose countenance is that? Who would imagine that
+features like those belonged to an assassin and impostor?"
+
+Closed eyelids and fallen muscles could not hide from her lineaments so
+often seen. She shrunk back and exclaimed, "Thomas Craig!"
+
+A pause succeeded, in which she alternately gazed at the countenance of
+this unfortunate wretch and at Ormond. At length, the latter
+exclaimed,--
+
+"Well, my girl, hast thou examined him? Dost thou recognise a friend or
+an enemy?"
+
+"I know him well: but how came this? What purpose brought him hither?
+Who was the author of his fate?"
+
+"Have I not already told thee that Ormond was his own avenger and thine?
+To thee and to me he has been a robber. To him thy father is indebted
+for the loss not only of property but life. Did crimes like these merit
+a less punishment? And what recompense is due to him whose vigilance
+pursued him hither and made him pay for his offences with his blood?
+What benefit have I received at thy hand to authorize me, for thy sake,
+to take away his life?"
+
+"No benefit received from me," said Constantia, "would justify such an
+act. I should have abhorred myself for annexing to my benefits so bloody
+a condition. It calls for no gratitude or recompense. Its suitable
+attendant is remorse. That he is a thief, I know but too well; that my
+father died by his hand is incredible. No motives or means--"
+
+"Why so?" interrupted Ormond. "Does not sleep seal up the senses? Cannot
+closets be unlocked at midnight? Cannot adjoining houses communicate by
+doors? Cannot these doors be hidden from suspicion by a sheet of
+canvas?"
+
+These words were of startling and abundant import. They reminded her of
+circumstances in her father's chamber, which sufficiently explained the
+means by which his life was assailed. The closet, and its canvas-covered
+wall; the adjoining house untenanted and shut up--but this house, though
+unoccupied, belonged to Ormond. From the inferences which flowed hence,
+her attention was withdrawn by her companion, who continued:--
+
+"Do these means imply the interposal of a miracle? His motives? What
+scruples can be expected from a man inured from infancy to cunning and
+pillage? Will he abstain from murder when urged by excruciating poverty,
+by menaces of persecution, by terror of expiring on the gallows?"
+
+Tumultuous suspicions were now awakened in the mind of Constantia. Her
+faltering voice scarcely allowed her to ask, "How know _you_ that Craig
+was thus guilty?--that these were his incitements and means?"
+
+Ormond's solemnity now gave place to a tone of sarcasm and looks of
+exultation:--"Poor Constantia! Thou art still pestered with incredulity
+and doubts! My veracity is still in question! My knowledge, girl, is
+infallible. That these were his means of access I cannot be ignorant,
+for I pointed them out. He was urged by these motives, for they were
+stated and enforced by me. His was the deed, for I stood beside him when
+it was done."
+
+These, indeed, were terms that stood in no need of further explanation.
+The veil that shrouded this formidable being was lifted high enough to
+make him be regarded with inexplicable horror. What his future acts
+should be, how his omens of ill were to be solved, were still involved
+in uncertainty.
+
+In the midst of fears for her own safety, by which Constantia was now
+assailed, the image of her father was revived; keen regret and vehement
+upbraiding were conjured up.
+
+"Craig, then, was the instrument, and yours the instigation, that
+destroyed my father! In what had he offended you? What cause had he
+given for resentment?"
+
+"Cause!" replied he, with impetuous accents. "Resentment! None. My
+motive was benevolent; my deed conferred a benefit. I gave him sight and
+took away his life, from motives equally wise. Know you not that Ormond
+was fool enough to set value on the affections of a woman? These were
+sought with preposterous anxiety and endless labour. Among other
+facilitators of his purpose, he summoned gratitude to his aid. To
+snatch you from poverty, to restore his sight to your father, were
+expected to operate as incentives to love.
+
+"But here I was the dupe of error. A thousand prejudices stood in my
+way. These, provided our intercourse were not obstructed, I hoped to
+subdue. The rage of innovation seized your father: this, blended with a
+mortal antipathy to me, made him labour to seduce you from the bosom of
+your peaceful country; to make you enter on a boisterous sea; to visit
+lands where all is havoc and hostility; to snatch you from the influence
+of my arguments.
+
+"This new obstacle I was bound to remove. While revolving the means,
+chance and his evil destiny threw Craig in my way. I soon convinced him
+that his reputation and his life were in my hands. His retention of
+these depended upon my will, on the performance of conditions which I
+prescribed.
+
+"My happiness and yours depended on your concurrence with my wishes.
+Your father's life was an obstacle to your concurrence. For killing him,
+therefore, I may claim your gratitude. His death was a due and
+disinterested offering at the altar of your felicity and mine.
+
+"My deed was not injurious to him. At his age, death, whose coming at
+some period is inevitable, could not be distant. To make it unforeseen
+and brief, and void of pain,--to preclude the torments of a lingering
+malady, a slow and visible descent to the grave,--was the dictate of
+beneficence. But of what value was a continuance of his life? Either you
+would have gone with him to Europe or have stayed at home with me. In
+the first case, his life would have been rapidly consumed by perils and
+cares. In the second, separation from you, and union with me,--a being
+so detestable,--would equally have poisoned his existence.
+
+"Craig's cowardice and crimes made him a pliant and commodious tool. I
+pointed out the way. The unsuspected door which led into the closet of
+your father's chamber was made, by my direction, during the life of
+Helena. By this avenue I was wont to post myself where all your
+conversations could be overheard. By this avenue an entrance and
+retreat were afforded to the agent of my newest purpose.
+
+"Fool that I was! I solaced myself with the belief that all impediments
+were now smoothed, when a new enemy appeared. My folly lasted as long as
+my hope. I saw that to gain your affections, fortified by antiquated
+scruples and obsequious to the guidance of this new monitor, was
+impossible. It is not my way to toil after that which is beyond my
+reach. If the greater good be inaccessible, I learn to be contented with
+the less.
+
+"I have served you with successless sedulity. I have set an engine in
+act to obliterate an obstacle to your felicity, and lay your father at
+rest. Under my guidance, this engine was productive only of good.
+Governed by itself or by another, it will only work you harm. I have,
+therefore, hastened to destroy it. Lo! it is now before you motionless
+and impotent.
+
+"For this complexity of benefit I look for no reward. I am not tired of
+well-doing. Having ceased to labour for an unattainable good, I have
+come hither to possess myself of all that I now crave, and by the same
+deed to afford you an illustrious opportunity to signalize your wisdom
+and your fortitude."
+
+During this speech, the mind of Constantia became more deeply pervaded
+with dread of some overhanging but incomprehensible evil. The strongest
+impulse was to gain a safe asylum, at a distance from this spot and from
+the presence of this extraordinary being. This impulse was followed by
+the recollection that her liberty was taken away, that egress from the
+hall was denied her, and that this restriction might be part of some
+conspiracy of Ormond against her life.
+
+Security from danger like this would be, in the first place, sought, by
+one of Constantia's sex and opinions, in flight. This had been rendered,
+by some fatal chance or by the precautions of her foe, impracticable.
+Stratagem or force was all that remained to elude or disarm her
+adversary. For the contrivance and execution of fraud, all the habits of
+her life and all the maxims of her education had conspired to unfit her.
+Her force of muscles would avail her nothing against the superior
+energy of Ormond.
+
+She remembered that to inflict death was no iniquitous exertion of
+self-defence, and that the penknife which she held in her hand was
+capable of this service. She had used it to remove any lurking
+obstruction in the wards of her key, supposing, for a time, this to be
+the cause of her failing to withdraw the bolt of the door. This resource
+was, indeed, scarcely less disastrous and deplorable than any fate from
+which it could rescue her. Some uncertainty still involved the
+intentions of Ormond. As soon as he paused, she spoke:--
+
+"How am I to understand this prelude? Let me know the full extent of my
+danger,--why it is that I am hindered from leaving this house, and why
+this interview was sought."
+
+"Ah, Constantia, this, indeed, is merely a prelude to a scene that is to
+terminate my influence over thy fate. When this is past I have sworn to
+part with thee forever. Art thou still dubious of my purpose? Art thou
+not a woman? And have I not entreated for thy love and been rejected?
+
+"Canst thou imagine that I aim at thy life? My avowals of love were
+sincere; my passion was vehement and undisguised. It gave dignity and
+value to a gift in thy power, as a woman, to bestow. This has been
+denied. That gift has lost none of its value in my eyes. What thou
+refusest to bestow it is in my power to extort. I came for that end.
+When this end is accomplished, I will restore thee to liberty."
+
+These words were accompanied by looks that rendered all explanation of
+their meaning useless. The evil reserved for her, hitherto obscured by
+half-disclosed and contradictory attributes, was now sufficiently
+apparent. The truth in this respect unveiled itself with the rapidity
+and brightness of an electrical flash.
+
+She was silent. She cast her eyes at the windows and doors. Escape
+through them was hopeless. She looked at those lineaments of Ormond
+which evinced his disdain of supplication and inexorable passions. She
+felt that entreaty and argument would be vain; that all appeals to his
+compassion and benevolence would counteract her purpose, since, in the
+unexampled conformation of this man's mind, these principles were made
+subservient to his most flagitious designs. Considerations of justice
+and pity were made, by a fatal perverseness of reasoning, champions and
+bulwarks of his most atrocious mistakes.
+
+The last extremes of opposition, the most violent expedients for
+defence, would be justified by being indispensable. To find safety for
+her honour, even in the blood of an assailant, was the prescription of
+duty. Tho equity of this species of defence was not, in the present
+confusion of her mind, a subject of momentary doubt.
+
+To forewarn him of her desperate purpose would be to furnish him with
+means of counteraction. Her weapon would easily be wrested from her
+feeble hand. Ineffectual opposition would only precipitate her evil
+destiny. A rage, contented with nothing less than her life, might be
+awakened in his bosom. But was not this to be desired? Death, untimely
+and violent, was better than the loss of honour.
+
+This thought led to a new series of reflections. She involuntarily
+shrunk from the act of killing: but would her efforts to destroy her
+adversary be effectual? Would not his strength and dexterity easily
+repel or elude them? Her power in this respect was questionable, but her
+power was undeniably sufficient to a different end. The instrument which
+could not rescue her from this injury by the destruction of another
+might save her from it by her own destruction.
+
+These thoughts rapidly occurred; but the resolution to which they led
+was scarcely formed, when Ormond advanced towards her. She recoiled a
+few steps, and, showing the knife which she held, said,--
+
+"Ormond! Beware! Know that my unalterable resolution is to die
+uninjured. I have the means in my power. Stop where you are; one step
+more, and I plunge this knife into my heart. I know that to contend with
+your strength or your reason would be vain. To turn this weapon against
+you I should not fear, if I were sure of success; but to that I will
+not trust. To save a greater good by the sacrifice of life is in my
+power, and that sacrifice shall be made."
+
+"Poor Constantia!" replied Ormond, in a tone of contempt; "so thou
+preferrest thy imaginary honour to life! To escape this injury without a
+name or substance, without connection with the past or future, without
+contamination of thy purity or thraldom of thy will, thou wilt kill
+thyself; put an end to thy activity in virtue's cause; rob thy friend of
+her solace, the world of thy beneficence, thyself of being and pleasure?
+
+"I shall be grieved for the fatal issue of my experiment; I shall mourn
+over thy martyrdom to the most opprobrious and contemptible of all
+errors: but that thou shouldst undergo the trial is decreed. There is
+still an interval of hope that thy cowardice is counterfeited, or that
+it will give place to wisdom and courage.
+
+"Whatever thou intendest by way of prevention or cure, it behooves thee
+to employ with steadfastness. Die with the guilt of suicide and the
+brand of cowardice upon thy memory, or live with thy claims to felicity
+and approbation undiminished. Choose which thou wilt. Thy decision is of
+moment to thyself, but of none to me. Living or dead, the prize that I
+have in view shall be mine."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+
+It will be requisite to withdraw your attention from this scene for a
+moment, and fix it on myself. My impatience of my friend's delay, for
+some days preceding this disastrous interview, became continually more
+painful. As the time of our departure approached, my dread of some
+misfortune or impediment increased. Ormond's disappearance from the
+scene contributed but little to my consolation. To wrap his purposes in
+mystery, to place himself at seeming distance, was the usual artifice of
+such as he,--was necessary to the maturing of his project and the
+hopeless entanglement of his victim. I saw no means of placing the
+safety of my friend beyond his reach. Between different methods of
+procedure, there was, however, room for choice. Her present abode was
+more hazardous than an abode in the city. To be alone argued a state
+more defenceless and perilous than to be attended by me.
+
+I wrote her an urgent admonition to return. My remonstrances were
+couched in such terms as, in my own opinion, laid her under the
+necessity of immediate compliance. The letter was despatched by the
+usual messenger, and for some hours I solaced myself with the prospect
+of a speedy meeting.
+
+These thoughts gave place to doubt and apprehension. I began to distrust
+the efficacy of my arguments, and to invent a thousand reasons, inducing
+her, in defiance of my rhetoric, at least to protract her absence. These
+reasons I had not previously conceived, and had not, therefore,
+attempted, in my letter, to invalidate their force. This omission was
+possible to be supplied in a second epistle; but, meanwhile, time would
+be lost, and my new arguments might, like the old, fail to convince
+her. At least, the tongue was a much more versatile and powerful
+advocate than the pen; and, by hastening to her habitation, I might
+either compel her to return with me, or ward off danger by my presence,
+or share it with her. I finally resolved to join her by the speediest
+conveyance.
+
+This resolution was suggested by the meditations of a sleepless night. I
+rose with the dawn, and sought out the means of transporting myself,
+with most celerity, to the abode of my friend. A stage-boat, accustomed
+twice a day to cross New York Bay to Staten Island, was prevailed upon,
+by liberal offers, to set out upon the voyage at the dawn of day. The
+sky was gloomy, and the air boisterous and unsettled. The wind, suddenly
+becoming tempestuous and adverse, rendered the voyage at once tedious
+and full of peril. A voyage of nine miles was not effected in less than
+eight hours and without imminent and hairbreadth danger of being
+drowned.
+
+Fifteen miles of the journey remained to be performed by land. A
+carriage, with the utmost difficulty, was procured, but lank horses and
+a crazy vehicle were but little in unison with my impatience. We reached
+not Amboy ferry till some hours after nightfall. I was rowed across the
+Sound, and proceeded to accomplish the remainder of my journey--about
+three miles--on foot.
+
+I was actuated to this speed by indefinite but powerful motives. The
+belief that my speedy arrival was essential to the rescue of my friend
+from some inexplicable injury haunted me with ceaseless importunity. On
+no account would I have consented to postpone this precipitate
+expedition till the morrow.
+
+I at length arrived at Dudley's farm-house. The inhabitants were struck
+with wonder at the sight of me. My clothes were stained by the water by
+which every passenger was copiously sprinkled during our boisterous
+navigation, and soiled by dust; my frame was almost overpowered by
+fatigue and abstinence.
+
+To my anxious inquiries respecting my friend, they told me that her
+evenings were usually spent at the mansion, where it was probable she
+was now to be found. They were not apprized of any inconvenience or
+danger that betided her. It was her custom sometimes to prolong her
+absence till midnight.
+
+I could not applaud the discretion nor censure the temerity of this
+proceeding. My mind was harassed by unintelligible omens and
+self-confuted fears. To obviate the danger and to banish my inquietudes
+was my first duty. For this end I hastened to the mansion. Having passed
+the intervening hillocks and copses, I gained a view of the front of the
+building. My heart suddenly sunk, on observing that no apartment--not
+even that in which I knew it was her custom to sit at these unseasonable
+hours--was illuminated. A gleam from the window of the study I should
+have regarded as an argument at once of her presence and her safety.
+
+I approached the house with misgiving and faltering steps. The gate
+leading into a spacious court was open. A sound on one side attracted my
+attention. In the present state of my thoughts, any near or unexplained
+sound sufficed to startle me. Looking towards the quarter whence my
+panic was excited, I espied, through the dusk, a horse grazing, with his
+bridle thrown over his neck.
+
+This appearance was a new source of perplexity and alarm. The inference
+was unavoidable that a visitant was here. Who that visitant was, and how
+he was now employed, was a subject of eager but fruitless curiosity.
+Within and around the mansion, all was buried in the deepest repose. I
+now approached the principal door, and, looking through the keyhole,
+perceived a lamp, standing on the lowest step of the staircase. It shed
+a pale light over the lofty ceiling and marble balustrades. No face or
+movement of a human being was perceptible.
+
+These tokens assured me that some one was within: they also accounted
+for the non-appearance of light at the window above. I withdrew my eye
+from this avenue, and was preparing to knock loudly for admission, when
+my attention was awakened by some one who advanced to the door from the
+inside and seemed busily engaged in unlocking. I started back and waited
+with impatience till the door should open and the person issue forth.
+
+Presently I heard a voice within exclaim, in accents of mingled terror
+and grief, "Oh, what--what will become of me? Shall I never be released
+from this detested prison?"
+
+The voice was that of Constantia. It penetrated to my heart like an
+icebolt. I once more darted a glance through the crevice. A figure, with
+difficulty recognised to be that of my friend, now appeared in sight.
+Her hands were clasped on her breast, her eyes wildly fixed upon the
+ceiling and streaming with tears, and her hair unbound and falling
+confusedly over her bosom and neck.
+
+My sensations scarcely permitted me to call, "Constantia! For Heaven's
+sake, what has happened to you? Open the door, I beseech you."
+
+"What voice is that? Sophia Courtland! O my friend! I am imprisoned!
+Some demon has barred the door, beyond my power to unfasten. Ah, why
+comest thou so late? Thy succour would have somewhat profited if sooner
+given; but now, the lost Constantia--" Here her voice sunk into
+convulsive sobs.
+
+In the midst of my own despair, on perceiving the fulfilment of my
+apprehensions, and what I regarded as the fatal execution of some
+project of Ormond, I was not insensible to the suggestions of prudence.
+I entreated my friend to retain her courage, while I flew to Laffert's
+and returned with suitable assistance to burst open the door.
+
+The people of the farm-house readily obeyed my summons. Accompanied by
+three men of powerful sinews, sons and servants of the farmer, I
+returned with the utmost expedition to the mansion. The lamp still
+remained in its former place, but our loudest calls were unanswered. The
+silence was uninterrupted and profound.
+
+The door yielded to strenuous and repeated efforts, and I rushed into
+the hall. The first object that met my sight was my friend, stretched
+upon the floor, pale and motionless, supine, and with all the tokens of
+death.
+
+From this object my attention was speedily attracted by two figures,
+breathless and supine like that of Constantia. One of them was Ormond. A
+smile of disdain still sat upon his features. The wound by which he fell
+was secret, and was scarcely betrayed by the effusion of a drop of
+blood. The face of the third victim was familiar to my early days. It
+was that of the impostor whose artifice had torn from Mr. Dudley his
+peace and fortune.
+
+An explication of this scene was hopeless. By what disastrous and
+inscrutable fate a place like this became the scene of such complicated
+havoc, to whom Craig was indebted for his death, what evil had been
+meditated or inflicted by Ormond, and by what means his project had
+arrived at this bloody consummation, were topics of wild and fearful
+conjecture.
+
+But my friend--the first impulse of my fears was to regard her as dead.
+Hope and a closer observation outrooted, or, at least, suspended, this
+opinion. One of the men lifted her in his arms. No trace of blood or
+mark of fatal violence was discoverable, and the effusion of cold water
+restored her, though slowly, to life.
+
+To withdraw her from this spectacle of death was my first care. She
+suffered herself to be led to the farm-house. She was carried to her
+chamber. For a time she appeared incapable of recollection. She grasped
+my hand, as I sat by her bedside, but scarcely gave any other tokens of
+life.
+
+From this state of inactivity she gradually recovered. I was actuated by
+a thousand forebodings, but refrained from molesting her by
+interrogation or condolence. I watched by her side in silence, but was
+eager to collect from her own lips an account of this mysterious
+transaction.
+
+At length she opened her eyes, and appeared to recollect her present
+situation, and the events which led to it. I inquired into her
+condition, and asked if there were any thing in my power to procure or
+perform for her.
+
+"Oh, my friend," she answered, "what have I done, what have I suffered,
+within the last dreadful hour! The remembrance, though insupportable,
+will never leave me. You can do nothing for my relief. All I claim is
+your compassion and your sympathy."
+
+"I hope," said I, "that nothing has happened to load you with guilt or
+with shame?"
+
+"Alas! I know not. My deed was scarcely the fruit of intention. It was
+suggested by a momentary frenzy. I saw no other means of escaping from
+vileness and pollution. I was menaced with an evil worse than death. I
+forebore till my strength was almost subdued: the lapse of another
+moment would have placed me beyond hope.
+
+"My stroke was desperate and at random. It answered my purpose too well.
+He cast at me a look of terrible upbraiding, but spoke not. His heart
+was pierced, and he sunk, as if struck by lightning, at my feet. O much
+erring and unhappy Ormond! That thou shouldst thus untimely perish! That
+I should be thy executioner!"
+
+These words sufficiently explained the scene that I had witnessed. The
+violence of Ormond had been repulsed by equal violence. His foul
+attempts had been prevented by his death. Not to deplore the necessity
+which had produced this act was impossible; but, since this necessity
+existed, it was surely not a deed to be thought upon with lasting
+horror, or to be allowed to generate remorse.
+
+In consequence of this catastrophe, arduous duties had devolved upon me.
+The people that surrounded me were powerless with terror. Their
+ignorance and cowardice left them at a loss how to act in this
+emergency. They besought my direction, and willingly performed whatever
+I thought proper to enjoin upon them.
+
+No deliberation was necessary to acquaint me with my duty. Laffert was
+despatched to the nearest magistrate with a letter, in which his
+immediate presence was entreated and these transactions were briefly
+explained. Early the next day the formalities of justice, in the
+inspection of the bodies and the examination of witnesses, were
+executed. It would be needless to dwell on the particulars of this
+catastrophe. A sufficient explanation has been given of the causes that
+led to it. They were such as exempted my friend from legal
+animadversion. Her act was prompted by motives which every scheme of
+jurisprudence known in the world not only exculpates, but applauds. To
+state these motives before a tribunal hastily formed and exercising its
+functions on the spot was a task not to be avoided, though infinitely
+painful. Remonstrances the most urgent and pathetic could scarcely
+conquer her reluctance.
+
+This task, however, was easy, in comparison with that which remained. To
+restore health and equanimity to my friend; to repel the erroneous
+accusations of her conscience; to hinder her from musing, with eternal
+anguish, upon this catastrophe; to lay the spirit of secret upbraiding
+by which she was incessantly tormented, which bereft her of repose,
+empoisoned all her enjoyments, and menaced not only the subversion of
+her peace but the speedy destruction of her life, became my next
+employment.
+
+My counsels and remonstrances were not wholly inefficacious. They
+afforded me the prospect of her ultimate restoration to tranquillity.
+Meanwhile, I called to my aid the influence of time and of a change of
+scene. I hastened to embark with her for Europe. Our voyage was
+tempestuous and dangerous, but storms and perils at length gave way to
+security and repose.
+
+Before our voyage was commenced, I endeavoured to procure tidings of the
+true condition and designs of Ormond. My information extended no further
+than that he had put his American property into the hands of Mr.
+Melbourne, and was preparing to embark for France. Courtland, who has
+since been at Paris, and who, while there, became confidentially
+acquainted with Martinette de Beauvais, has communicated facts of an
+unexpected nature.
+
+At the period of Ormond's return to Philadelphia, at which his last
+interview with Constantia in that city took place, he visited
+Martinette. He avowed himself to be her brother, and supported his
+pretensions by relating the incidents of his early life. A separation at
+the age of fifteen, and which had lasted for the same number of years,
+may be supposed to have considerably changed the countenance and figure
+she had formerly known. His relationship was chiefly proved by the
+enumeration of incidents of which her brother only could be apprized.
+
+He possessed a minute acquaintance with her own adventures, but
+concealed from her the means by which he had procured the knowledge. He
+had rarely and imperfectly alluded to his own opinions and projects, and
+had maintained an invariable silence on the subject of his connection
+with Constantia and Helena. Being informed of her intention to return to
+France, he readily complied with her request to accompany her in this
+voyage. His intentions in this respect were frustrated by the dreadful
+catastrophe that has been just related. Respecting this event,
+Martinette had collected only vague and perplexing information.
+Courtland, though able to remove her doubts, thought proper to withhold
+from her the knowledge he possessed.
+
+Since her arrival in England, the life of my friend has experienced
+little variation. Of her personal deportment and domestic habits you
+have been a witness. These, therefore, it would be needless for me to
+exhibit. It is sufficient to have related events which the recentness of
+your intercourse with her hindered you from knowing but by means of some
+formal narrative like the present. She and her friend only were able to
+impart to you the knowledge which you have so anxiously sought. In
+consideration of your merits and of your attachment to my friend, I have
+consented to devote my leisure to this task.
+
+It is now finished; and I have only to add my wishes that the perusal of
+this tale may afford you as much instruction as the contemplation of the
+sufferings and vicissitudes of Constantia Dudley has afforded to me.
+Farewell.
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
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