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Stung to the quick by the coldness of this acknowledgment of our acquaintance, after we had talked together for a few moments I walked away, and he seemed relieved. No, I would not ask to be introduced to his sister; she, too, might prefer to forget me. Strolling about the deck with no very pleasant feelings, my eyes again wandered toward the place where Henry stood. There were two or three young men conversing with him, all apparently in high spirits, joking and laughing. Perhaps, thought I, they are more fashionably attired than myself. Old Mr. Francis had died immensely rich: perhaps Henry was glorying in his newly-gotten wealth-for the badge of mourning was yet upon his hat-and despised the child of humble fortune. At length I saw him in earnest conversation with his sister. He seemed vexed, and was evidently endeavouring to dissuade her from something, in which, however, she appeared to persist. Not long after, he came and asked "the pleasure of introducing me to his sister." I was on the point of declining-this, certainly, was my first feeling, but restraining it, I followed him to the other side of the quarter-deck where she was sitting.

London was in sight when he introduced me, and by this time we were close to the wharf. There we parted, but not until she had renewed her invitation to me, to come and see her aunt. I promised to do so.

My term of study had almost expired; in three weeks I was to be examined for admission to the bar, and, of course, had bright hopes for the future. Of these, not the least exhilarating was the prospect of a union with Mary Francis. I had made such good use of her invitation to visit her aunt, that I had wooed and won. Henry, after an absence of eighteen months on the Continent, had unexpectedly returned home, about a week previously, though, as he said, with the intention of returning, as soon as some business, which he had on hand, should be transacted. Mary had written to him of our approaching marriage, and he left Paris very soon after the receipt of that letter.

During the time of my first visits at Mrs. Lajou's, he was still at home, and saw me frequently. The constraint of his manner toward me always continued, yet he treated me with uniform politeness, and, at times I thought there was some

"Mary, this is Mr. Lesley, whom you thing of his old affectionate feeling once knew."

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striving to break through this repulsive coldness. The aunt, on the contrary, was always kind, and received my visits with cordiality.

The

Reader, shall I attempt to describe Mary Francis, such as she then was? Love the most ardent would inspire me in the task, and recollections the most vivid draw the picture-but a picture not to be transferred from the lover's heart. No, I despair of ever beholding a faithful copy of that likeness, which is graven deeply on my memory. beauty of her infancy was mellowed at the age of womanhood, and brightened by the radiance of intellectual fire. None saw her without admiration; few knew her and did not love. She had many admirers, and no small number of real lovers; but I was the favoured one, and even her brother's coldness could not chill my affection, nor his dissatisfaction alloy my happiness.

Henry was ardently attached to his sister-I could not doubt it; but neither could I doubt his opposition to our marriage. Not that I think he despised me, or thought me entirely unworthy of her, on the score of natural endowments,

education, or gentlemanly carriage. This I say, not boastfully, but because I know that his opposition had quite a different motive. He prided himself on family wealth and distinction, and could not bear the idea of the one being shared, or the other disparaged, by a plebeian of humble fortune. There were many good traits in his character, but pride ruled predominant over every other feeling. When I first heard of his unexpected return from abroad, the thought immediately struck me, that the intelligence of our approaching union had brought him back thus hastily. Nor was I mistaken.

His manner toward me was more repulsive and haughty than ever; in fact, when we met at his aunt's, he scarcely treated me with common politeness; but still avoided coming to an explanation, and open rupture. Mary herself spoke freely, and with evident uneasiness of her brother's opposition, and constant endeavours to shake her fidelity. What course ought I to pursue! To demand, myself, an explanation, or to await, patiently, the issue? I had received every assurance that Mrs. Lajou was not unfavourable to our interests, but might not Henry's solicitations have sufficient weight to change her sentiments? But, before I could determine how to act, I was anticipated. Henry at length despaired of impairing the constancy of his sister's affection, and there was but one hope left. I know well that nothing short of desperation goaded him on to this last resort; for I doubt whether pride had yet extinguished all trace of his early friendship.

I was sitting alone in my room one evening, busily preparing for the approaching examination, though with distracted thoughts and feverish brain; for I had seen Mary that afternoon, and, with tears, she had spoken of the increased and implacable violence of her brother's opposition, and expressed many fears for the consequences. While I was thus employed, the door opened, "a gentleman was announced, and Henry Francis entered.

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Notwithstanding my former apprehensions, I was certainly startled at seeing him. It was the first time, for nearly two years, that he had thus visited me. But quickly recovering myself, I rose and welcomed him, with as much appearance of ease as possible. He refused my hand, and sat down, and I, also, resumed my seat.

"Mr. Lesley," he began, "you must already have perceived that I am opposed to my sister's intended marriage; and, I must now, sir, say to you, that I can never consent to it."

I answered in a mild but firm tone:"When your sister sees fit to dismiss me, Mr. Francis, I shall go without a murmur, however hard may be the struggle. Yes, then I will renounce all pretensions to her hand. Before that, were my love less sincere and ardent, honour would forbid me to recede from engagements so solemn.”

"Honour! Mr. Lesley. Do you

think it honourable to have taken advantage of a young and unprotected orphan's inexperience, to win her affections when-when even her only brother was absent? And, do you think it honourable thus to persist, contrary to the wishes of her friends-those whose advice she only ought to have taken ?"

I was stung to the quick by this charge, so unjust, but was able to restrain my feelings and speak calmly.

"Do you call my conduct dishonourable, sir? Was it not by your invitation that I first saw Miss Francis, when we were boys? Was it not by your introduction that I first visited her? And did not I visit her, frequently, while you were yet living under the same roof? Did not your aunt, to whom you saw fit while absent to confide your sister, favour my addresses? Have I used any dishonourable artifice to gain her affections?"

Henry hesitated, seeming conscious of the justice of all that I had said, and, after a momentary silence, began again in a more subdued tone.

"You say that you love my sister, Mr. Lesley? Are you sincere in this love, and are yet willing to make her miserable for her whole life? All her friends are averse to this connexionthey think it a disparagement to her family, and it will, probably, be the cause of an entire separation between her and them for life. No, Mr. Lesley; her brother and your friend I now am; but if Mary is joined to you, I can never see her more."

He seemed overcome with the intensity of his feeling, and leaned his head upon the table. From my heart I pitied him.

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'Perhaps you do not feel well enough to hear me now?" I asked.

"Oh! yes, go on; but, for heaven's

sake, show your love to Mary, by not persisting in that which must make her wretched."

“You speak, sir, of disparagement to your family. I know that mine is more obscure than yours. I know that fortune has not smiled upon me as it has upon you; but, still I have the proud recollection that I have done nothing to dishonour my family, before without reproach. Neither have I ever concealed my real circumstances from Miss Francis-never did I deceive her."

"And will not the world say, Mr. Lesley, that you have married her for her money? Will not the motive of your love be apparent to every one?”

"For what the world says," I answered bitterly, "I care nothing, so long as I am conscious of my own moral rectitude. As to what you say of my motives, know, sir, that from none, save the brother of Miss Francis, would I hear such an insinuation, and not resent it."

"Listen! Mr. Lesley!" he exclaimed, and his whole frame trembled with emotion; "you shall not want an opportunity of resentment. Never shall this detested marriage take place while we both live. One must fall-yes." And he rose, without finishing the sentence, and abruptly left the room.

After his exit, I remained fixed to my chair, stupified with surprise and horror. Then, Henry's last, ominous words, the meaning of which could not be mistaken, uttered with a sudden burst of demoniacal rage-a duel-Mary bereaved and broken-hearted-her hopes and mine for ever blasted, whether by my own fall, or the murder of her brother; thoughts of such things—maddening thoughts-ran riot in my brain.

Another "gentleman" was announced; and it was a friend of Henry's bringing a challenge in due form and phrase. was accepted.

It

At five o'clock in the morning, both parties were on the appointed ground. During the brief space that our seconds were arranging the preliminaries, Henry was walking backward and forward, not able to suppress or conceal the violence of his emotion. His face was carefully averted, but once or twice I caught a glimpse of his features-pale and haggard -the forehead strongly contracted-the struggle of conflicting passions deeply

marked. There was little room for fear in a mind suffering such anguish.

As for myself, I think that I was comparatively calm and self-possessed : certainly I had not such cause for agitation. I could not well have shunned the contest, and had determined that the sin of murder should not blacken my character in life, or in death sink me to a deeper perdition.

The distance, twelve feet, was marked off; we took our places and received the pistols. Henry's hand was now firm and unwavering; minetrembled sensibly. The signal was given-he fired, the ball slightly wounding me in the left arm. With a fiendish look of disappointment, he stood to receive my shot-I discharged the pistol into the air. This was evidently unexpected, for he staggered almost as if struck by the bullet, and remained, for a moment, fixed to the spot, while a dreadful struggle passed within, indicated in every restless feature of his countenance.

I had conquered; and on that height, where I had feared to find a cold bed, we embraced as friends. My claim to Mary's hand was ratified by her brother's approval.

Mary recovered: though for weeks— weeks of agony to me-she lingered upon the borders of the grave. It was long before the rose returned to her cheek, and her eye beamed forth its wonted radiance. Letters came from her brother-letters proving the depth of his affection. He never revisited England. The Continent was a wider, richer field for his range in pursuit of pleasure. A handsome monument, in the cemetery of Père la Chaise, marks the narrow resting-place of "Henry R. Francis, aged twenty-nine years."

BEAUTIFUL SENTIMENT.

ANAMELESS French author truly says: -"The modest deportment of those who are truly wise, when contrasted with the assuming air of the ignorant, may be compared to the different appearances of wheat, which, while its ear is empty, holds up its head proudly, but, as soon as it is filled with grain, bends modestly down, and withdraws from observation."

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THE FRENCH DRAGOON AND SPANISH MAIDEN.

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A TREMBLING ray of light, traced on the ground by the crevice of the door, indicated the spot to Montefiore, and he tapped gently. Juana opened the door, and Montefiore, with a throbbing heart, entered. The noble countenance of the recluse bore an expression of artless curiosity, with an entire ignorance of the danger she was incurring, and an unequivocal admiration of the soldier's manly appearance. He was struck for a moment by the sanctity of the picture presented to his eyes, the result of the admirable harmony which existed between this elegant retreat, and the delicious creature that inhabited it.

The four walls were hung with grey tapestry embroidered with violet-coloured flowers. A small chest of sculptured ebony, an antique mirror, an old and roomy arm-chair of ebony, covered with tapestry, and a table with fancifullytwisted feet, a Turkey carpet on the floor, and a chair near the table-this was the whole of the furniture. Upon the table were scattered flowers, and an unfinished VOL. I. (8.)

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piece of embroidery. In one corner was a light and narrow couch, on which Juana lay absorbed in reverie. Over the bed were three paintings of saints, and just above the pillow were a crucifix, and a small vase of beryl for holy water, between which was a prayer engraved in letters of gold and framed. A slight perfume of flowers was perceptible; a soft and gentle light was thrown from the wax tapers; and all was calm, pure, and holy. The dreamy fancies of Juana seemed to have communicated a heavenly charm to everything around, upon which the impress of her soul was stamped, like the jewel in its shell of mother of pearl. She was dressed in white, and her beauty was her only ornament; she had laid down her rosary to think of love, and would have inspired respect. even to Montefiore, if the silence, the night, the hour, Juana herself, her white bed with its snowy sheets, and her pillow the confidant of her confused and soft dreams, had not fired the daring soldier with their united temptations.

Montefiore remained a considerable time standing, intoxicated with a rapture he had never known before, like that,

I

perhaps, of Satan gazing at the sky through a sudden opening of the clouds which obscured it.

"Directly I saw you," whispered he in pure Tuscan, and with the melodious accents of his Italian voice," I loved you. My heart and soul are centred in you, and, if you will, shall be so for ever."

Juana listened, inhaling the breath of these words, which the language of love made magnificent to her.

"Poor little dear, how long have you been able to bear the restraint of this gloomy dwelling, without perishing by its tediousness? You, who were formed to reign over men's hearts, to inhabit a prince's palace, whose days should be one long holiday, who should live on those joys you inspire in every bosom, and see everything at your feet, effacing each other rare and costly thing by the splendour which can never meet a rival -how have you lingered here so solitary, with only this old merchant and his wife for companions?"

This question was not without a motive, for he wished to learn if Juana had ever had a lover.

“Yes,” she answered; "but how could you have known my secret thoughts? For some months I have been sorrowful to death-oh! I would prefer dying to remaining much longer in this house! Look at this embroidery-there is not a thread of it that has been worked without a thousand sad thoughts. How often have I wished to run away, and throw myself into the sea, and yet I did not know for what. Little childish trifles, but very teazing, notwithstanding their silliness! I have often kissed my mother, of an evening, as if for the last time, while I said to myself- To-morrow I will die.' But I could not do it, because suicides are sent to purgatory, and I am so afraid of that, I preferred to live onto rise, and to go to bed, to do the selfsame work at the self-same hours, and everything in the usual order. It was not weariness, but anguish—and yet my father and mother adore me! Ah! I am very wicked, and I tell my confessor so very often."

And have you any pleasure or amusements here?"

"Oh! I have not always been so! Till I was fifteen, I was delighted with the songs, the music, and the festivals of the church. I was happy to think that I was like the angels, without sin, and to be able to take the communion

every week, because then I loved God. But for the last three years, everything has changed for me. First, I could not do without flowers, and I had very beautiful ones; then I wished- -But I want for nothing now," added she, after a pause, and smiling on Montefiore"have you not just written to me that you love me and always will ?"

"Yes, my Juana," whispered Montefiore, in his sweetest tones, lifting this delightful creature by the waist, and clasping her to his heart. "But let me talk to you as you speak to heaven. Are you not lovelier than the Mary of our worship? Listen! I swear to you," rejoined he, kissing her long curls," I swear that I will take your fair brow as the richest and holiest of altars, that I will make you my idol, and lay at your feet all the joys of the world. For you I have carriages, and a palace at Milanall the jewels and diamonds of my ancient family; and each day there shall be some new enjoyment, some fresh dress-all that there is of happiness and rapture shall be sought for you!"

"Yes," she answered, "I shall like all that very well; but I feel in my heart that, what I should love better than anything in the world, would be my dear and darling husband."

Mio caro sposo! for it would be impossible to attach to any three English words the wonderful tenderness, and the amorous elegance of tone with which the Italian language and pronunciation invest these three delicious words. "In him," she continued, looking at Montefiore with a glance in which the purity of a seraph was beaming, "I shall regain my cherished religion in him. He and heaven, heaven and him. Will not you be that person? Certainly-I am sure you will! Ah! come, and look at the painting which my father brought me from Italy."

She took a light, beckoned to Montefiore, and showed him at the foot of her bed a Saint Michael trampling on the demon.

“Look !” she said. "Has he not got your eyes? And so, when I saw you in the street, the meeting seemed like an intimation from heaven. During my morning dreams, before my mother called me to prayer, I had so often gazed upon this painting, that I ended by making a husband of this angel. But, gracious heaven! I am talking to you as if I was only talking to myself. I must appear

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