to get off, those gentlemen would no doubt compound for the rest.

Some difficulty was now met with in procuring a conveyance to carry Mary to Pistoia. A sort of litter was however

at length obtained, and they arrived at that town without any farther danger or adventure. The first thing that presented itself to their sight on reaching the inn, was the carriage of lady Anne Milsome, whose delight at seeing Mary return safe almost overpowered her; but the presence of Frederic, of whom she was equally fond, divided her attention, without lessening her pleasure. After the first tumult of her happiness was over, and a great many general questions had been asked, she insisted upon Charles giving her a detail of all that had happened.

Lady Anne entered into every incident that Charles recounted with keen interest, and wept, and looked frightened, and laughed, and smiled, and kissed Mary, embraced lord Burton, and shook hands I 2

with

with Charles, by turns. But such a dread had she taken at the robbers, that she seemed scarcely to conceive herself out of their reach, and had much reluctance to remain at Pistoia that night, proposing to go on to Florence, though Mary could scarcely hold up her head, with all the fatigue and terror she had undergone.

As Charles concluded his tale, which Mary had frequently interrupted, to supply parts of his own conduct on which he did not choose to dwell, lord Burton shook him warmly by the hand." I owe you much, Charles," said he-" very much. I will not praise the way you have behaved, for it is above any commendation that I could bestow."

Charles was highly gratified-lord Burton's approbation was not that of a common man. But that was not all; he was Mary's brother, and the beam which lighted up her eyes as Frederic spoke, told that she too participated in all he said.

There is one circumstance," said Fre

deric, "which weighs more upon my mind than any other, because it leaves something to be accounted for, of which I perceive no possible explanation.-You say, Charles, that the man who once before attempted to carry off my sister, when at Ilfracombe, was with the robbers when you came up; but are you sure it is the same? may you not have made a mistake? it is very unlikely that he should be in Italy."

"He is certainly in this country," replied Mary," though I did not see him this time; but we met with him not far from Turin,” and she detailed all that had occurred on that occasion.

lord

At the name of the baron de S Burton turned his eyes with a smile towards Charles, into whose cheek the blood began to rise with no very comfortable feelings." I hope we shall meet with the baron," said Frederic-" he is a very old friend of mine; and though there are some parts of his conduct I do not understand,

yet I never found him personally any thing but most estimable."

This conversation was so little to Charles's taste, that he was glad to retire to his own apartment to avoid it, which had the effect of breaking up their party for the evening.

The next morning Mary found herself sufficiently refreshed to proceed, and they pursued their journey to Florence, where they calculated on remaining a month at least. But the adventure of the Apen

nines had given lady Anne so great a distaste to the whole neighbourhood, that she prevailed on the rest to proceed to Rome, it being seemingly determined on, by tacit agreement, that they were to pursue their tour through Italy together. Mary, on whose health the fatigues she had undergone made no serious impression, soon recovered her bloom; and it being stipulated that they should return by Tuscany, they quitted the banks of the Arno, after a sojourn of five days, lady Anne wishing

most

most devoutly that all the carbonari, &c. might be exterminated from the face of the earth before she ever saw it again, which lord Burton assured her was very likely to be the case, at least so far as con-cerned the banditti, for that the Austrian government could not long remain inactive spectators of the atrocities that were daily committed.

Their journey to Rome was without incident; but they had not long been in that city, before Charles began heartily to wish they were any where else. He had, in the first instance, naturally conceived the idea that lord Burton would, of his own accord, give some explanation of the line of conduct he had hitherto pursued; but, on the contrary, he remained most pertinaciously silent on every subject in which Charles's happiness was concerned, or his curiosity excited. He neither explained his motives for accompanying him in disguise, nor the means he had taken to prevent any circumstance from betray