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But the perfect gentleness and timid softness of this sweet girl forbade me to cherish one harsh thought. I could not violate the sacred defencelessness of that artless feeling which had so long spread the simple purity of infancy through my thoughts, and reigned in my heart with a childlike holiness of truth. The fact and the satisfaction were taken from my life; the delusion and the dream still stayed behind.

That the change which the sentiments of Emily had undergone did not arise from want of real regard on her part previously, or any natural decline of that affection which had once been warm, was sufficiently apparent from her language and manner. Some inexplicable circumstance had intervened to overthrow her opinion of my character, and force upon her judgment what her heart might still oppose. What that event was, and how the impression which it had left might be removed, were more than I could resolve; but I could still retain the hope that when time or accident had removed the barrier of error which now opposed my wishes, I might recover that favourable respect which had been lost, and once more renew the pure attachment which it once sustained. Meanwhile, it was a mystery that puzzled my best ingenuity to discover.

CHAPTER XV.

There is no power

Of sweetness in the softest tones of love,

Or in the whisper of reposing peace,

Can glad the heart with half that strength of joy
Which the shrill ringings of the trumpet's blast
Spread through the frame.

Herein we will forget the world awhile,
And merrily will laugh one hour away
Of life's dull calendar.

BAILLIE.

COLERIDGE.

THE strange disappearance of the letter from beneath my pillow, which I have spoken of in a preceding chapter, occasioned me the greatest surprise and uneasiness. To believe that any one had entered my chamber in the night and possessed himself of any thing in such a situation as it was, seemed impossible. No one could possibly conjecture where I would place the letter, if he were even aware of my possessing it; and if accident or reason should guide him to the very spot, I could not conceive how any one could enter and leave my chamber and the house, without either creating alarm or leaving behind any trace of his passage. The doors and windows of all the rooms stood on the following morning as they had been left; nothing furnished the slightest evidence that there had been any intrusion within the walls of the house.

When I called to mind, however, what my father had said of the incredible ingenuity and daring of those who were specially interested in obtaining this document,

and what I myself had discovered of their knowledge and disposition, I was strongly persuaded that it was to their acts and efforts that the loss of this paper was to be attributed. The conversation which I had overheard in the hall of the club-house evinced their acquaintance with the possessor of the letter, as well as their determination to obtain it by some means or other. That a band of resolute and scheming men could, under these circumstances, have entered my apartment and removed what they pleased without disturbance or detection was by no means impossible. By reasoning boldly upon the probabilities of the case, they might have been directed to the place where the valued writing was actually concealed; for I had chosen the protection which almost any man would have selected who would not trust to the safety of his drawer or his writing-desk. In the utter absence, at least, of any probable mode of accounting for the disappearance of the letter, I was compelled to conclude that those unknown persons whose interference had been so much dreaded and deprecated, had obtained the instrument which of all others it was desirable to conceal from them.

The conviction that these formidable adventurers were near me, and that I had been thus far the victim of their designs, roused in me a resolution to grapple with their mysterious strength, and frustrate, if it were possible, their lawless enterprise. The task seemed full of difficulty and danger; but I could fight with the same weapons which they did, and could start a spirit to oppose them, as stern and deadly as their own. If intellect and a cool heart gave them their power, I had the same sources of counsel and energy, and was not afraid to meet them firmly, mind to mind. If they could intrigue, I could scheme too; and could fling as thick dangers and clogs about their path as they could throw around mine. If, "be bold, be bold, and every where, be bold," had been the motto of their triumphs, I had as brave a temper as their own; if, "be not too bold" had been their shield from peril, I could forge as strong an armour of caution as they could do. At all events, 20

VOL. I.

exertion and the strife of contest are grateful to the manly mind. They rouse within the soul a depth and strength of life which testify how cognate with its true character is the stirring force of action. In the rage of passion, and the roar of danger, the thrilling spirit tastes its keenest joy.

The club-house suggested itself to me as the place where I should be most likely to hear or see something which might throw light upon the character of that company of persons who were united in those plans which I was anxious to overthrow. The two persons whom I had overheard in the entry seemed to reside in some part of the building, and so far as I could judge from their allusions, were not without connexion with some of that party whom I was now going to meet. I entertained the hope that by some means or other I might obtain such information as would aid my future plans.

Accordingly in the evening I walked down in the direction which Tyler and myself had previously taken. I was not certain of the precise situation of the house, and I passed through a number of streets which were wholly new to me, before I discovered the proper route. After wandering about for a good while I at length came upon the narrow street in which the old building was placed. I lingered for a few minutes in the entry and around the door with the hope of meeting some one of the persons of whose kindly intentions towards myself I had been the unsuspected discoverer on the former occasion. No one, however, was visible, and I presently walked into the library of the club, of which I had taken a hasty glance on my last visit. Two or three men of gentlemanly appearance were reading in different parts of the room. The collection of books, so far as I could judge from a rapid inspection, appeared to be a good one, and the whole apartment bore marks of refinement and taste. I passed through several chambers which seemed to be designed for private sitting-rooms, and were arranged with neatness and elegance. There were several rooms on the same floor with which there was no communication, and a number of passages

which ran from the extreme parts of the building, and gave an air of intricacy to its plan which somewhat surprised me. It did not appear to me that the arrangement of the place was that which the ostensible use of the pile required.

Finding nothing to detain me longer there, I strolled into the supper-room. A number of persons were sitting at a well supplied table, and my entrance was greeted at once by Seward and two or three more of my friends. Mr. Tyler appeared to be doing his duty with the glasses at the top of the table. It was as inviting a picture of joviality as I ever saw.

I am one of those who divide their pains from their pleasures by a pretty distinct interval, and never suffer the long shadow of coming trouble to darken the brightness of the present scene. It is the unfortunate condition of ordinary being that when gayety and grief partake our life, it is the former conquers. When the circumstances which are around us differ in their complexion from the spirit which is within us, the latter sometimes triumphs, and is sometimes quelled. But the law which regulates the difference, makes not for our comfort; for a gloomy temper flings a dusky colouring over the fairest state, and the gayety of the stoutest heart struggles dimly and is soon depressed, amid scenes of suffering. To reverse this rule, were to attain the true law of life. Could we teach our mood to yield in pleasure and prevail in grief, content might always sit upon our crest. Acting on this philosophy at least in halves, I threw aside all disturbing recollections, and gave myself up to the enjoyment of the hour.

.

A chair was placed for me at the table by one of the smallest and blackest men I ever beheld. His head and countenance resembled one of those shrivelled pieces of fruit that one sees in the spring on an apple-tree which has survived the winter.

"That man," said Seward, who was sitting opposite to me and had been enjoying my surprise at the little object, "is like the substance from which Raymond Sully first made alcohol, nigrum nigrius nigro,' and

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