during the inclement winter of 1816, he heard the grumbling tones of the poor girl's mother, intermixed with the sobs of her daughter, busily employed as she was in embroidering some roses on a splendid muslin dress. He slackened his pace, and, at the risk of being taken for a robber, crept close to the window, and closely scrutinised both mother and daughter through the crevices of the shutters. A sealed strip of parchment was upon the table between them, which he guessed to be a summons; and the lamentations of the mother, and the melancholy, yet caressing consolations of Caroline, confirmed him in his thoughts.

"Why do you vex yourself so, my dear mother? Our landlord cannot possibly sell our furniture, or attempt to turn us out of doors before I have finished this dress. In two days I shall carry it home to Madame Chignard."

"And if, as usual, she makes you wait for payment? But, in any case, will it pay the baker too?"

The stranger who witnessed the scene, was accustomed to read the emotions of the heart upon the features, and he distinguished as much ill-nature and rancour in the old woman, as truth in the quiet sorrow of the girl. He disappeared silently and swiftly, and returned before half an hour had elapsed.

When he again looked through the crevice, Caroline was alone, her mother having retired. The indefatigable girl was leaning over her work, and her slender fingers were moving to and fro with inconceivable rapidity. On the table, by the side of the summons, was a plate with a slice of bread for her nourishment during the night, which she was to employ in her task.

The stranger was agitated with tenderness and sadness. He held in his hand a silk purse, which contained twenty golden Napoleons. He drew aside the shutter, and flung it through the paper pane of the window, so that it should fall at the girl's feet; and without stopping to notice her surprise, he fled away with beating heart, and with crimsoned cheeks.

The next morning, the sad and taciturn stranger passed on his usual way, affecting an abstracted and pre-occupied demeanour; but he could not escape the recompense which awaited him. Tears were rolling down Caroline's cheeks, as she pretended to be employed in removing the snow from the window-sill; a palpa

ble and ingenious pretext, which sufficiently indicated to the stranger that she did not desire that he should again see her only through the windows.

She bowed to her lofty and silent protector in a manner that seemed to say, "I can only repay you with my heart."

He affected not to understand this mute acknowledgment of a true and heart-felt gratitude. On his return in the evening, Caroline was employed in re-pasting a sheet of paper on the broken sash. She smiled upon him with the smile of an angel, and in so doing showed, as a promise and a pledge, the white enamel of her snowy and lustrous teeth.

IV.

In newly built houses in Paris, there are apartments which seem expressly designed for recently married people to spend their honey-moon. The paintings and papering are as fresh as the enamoured couple, and the decorations and their love are in their first blossom. All is in harmony with young desire, and the purple light of love.

In one of these mansions of the Rue du Helder was a suite of rooms which had been occupied for about a month by a young female. She had found everything furnished and arranged for her by one of those modern upholsterers whose genius, taste, and tact entitle them to the appellation of artists.

A succinct description of one chamber will suffice to afford an idea of the wonders of elegance and refinement which this charming and mysterious spot presented to its new mistress on her installation there. The walls were decorated with hangings of dove-coloured satin, relieved by figures of green silk. The furniture was covered with sky-blue cassimere, and was fashioned in the lightest and most graceful forms which the latest caprice of the mode had devised. A wardrobe of rosewood, exquisitively polished, contained the treasures of her dress; and a writing table, of a similar material, was furnished with every accessory for tender correspondence. The bed, with its drapery disposed after the antique fashion, inspired an idea of voluptuous ease, by the graceful and seducing folds of its skilfully arranged muslins. Curtains of grey silk, with green fringes, hung down across the windows, to intercept the glare of light, and admit only a softened shade into the room. The clock on the marble mantlepiece represented Love

crowning Psyche, and a thick earpet, with Gothic figures upon a crimson ground, brought into bolder relief all the accessories of this chamber of delight. Opposite a glorious marble statue of Psyche was a dressing table, at which was seated a young lady, who was impatient at the slow progress of her coiffeur.

"Do you really intend to finish dressing my hair to-day?" inquired she.

"I should have done so long ago, madame, only your hair is so long and so thick !" replied the celebrated Plaisir.

The lovely girl could not help smiling. The flattering excuse of the artist, no doubt, awakened in her heart the recollection of her beloved's admiration of the beautiful tresses which he idolised.

The door of the room was opened, and a gentleman hurried in, seized the lovely creature in his arms, and clasped her to his heart, with that effusion of tenderness which always accompanies the meeting of two persons who love each other passionately, and see each other but seldom. He led her, or rather they walked by one impulse, although entwined in each other's arms, toward that bridal and balmy apartment. An ottoman before the fire received the fond pair, and they gazed upon each other in silence, while the warm pressure of their hands expressed the rapture of their meeting; and the fervid feelings of their hearts were communicated by the speechless intensity of their mutual gaze.

"Yes," she said, "it is him! It is my Eugene! Do you know, sir, that it is two days since I saw you; two entire days? Two centuries rather! But what is the matter? Something has vexedyou.' "My poor Caroline."

"Oh! is that all? your poor Caroline." "Do not smile, for you cannot go to the opera this evening."

Caroline pouted her rosy lip for an instant, but she quickly recovered her serenity. Her face became radiant, and she said

"How very silly I am! How could I think of any other spectacle when I have you to gaze upon? What dearer pleasure can I enjoy than to look upon him I love?" And she amused herself with passing her taper and caressing fingers through the dark and perfumed locks of her Eugene.

"I am obliged to attend the head of our department about an affair of moment. He met me at the palace, and engaged

me to dine with him; but you, my dar ling, can go to the opera with your mother, and if the conference does not delay me, I will join you there and escort you home."

"Go to the opera without you!" she ejaculated with astonishment. "Partake of a pleasure in which you don't share ! Oh, Eugene, you do not deserve this kiss!" added she, clinging to his neck with an artless and tender emotion.

"You must not detain me, silly one. I am compelled to go!" "Cruel!"

"Caroline! I must dress to attend the minister. It is some distance from here to the department, and the business"

"Take care what you say," interrupted Caroline; "my mother has told me that when gentlemen begin to talk about business, they have already commenced to tire of us. But never mind, my good Eugene, I will spend the evening in working, and while I amuse myself with my embroidery, I will dream over again those former days, when you passed by my window without speaking, but not without glancing at me. Those happy days, when the thought of your kind looks kept me sleepless all night. You do not know," she added, seating herself on the knees of the stranger, who, overcome by irresistible emotion, had sank into a chair. "Listen to me-what I earn by my embroidery I will give to the poor, for you have made me so rich! Oh, how I love that beautiful little estate of Bellefeuille! not so much on its own account, as that it is your present! Listen," she said again-"I can sing my sonata like an angel." And while her fingers ran over the ivory keys, she felt herself caught by her waist, and clasped to her loved one's breast.

"Caroline, Fought to be far away by this time!"

"You wish to be away; very well, go! for what you wish is my wish too." She said this poutingly; but as she looked at the clock, she smiled and cried-"At all events, I have detained you a quarter of an hour longer!"

V.

Five years after the installation of Mademoiselle Caroline de Bellefeuille in the pretty mansion of the Rue du Helder, there took place another of those domestic scenes which tighten so closely the bonds of affection which unite those who love.

In the centre of a saloon richly furnished with blue hangings, and which opened on a balcony, a boy, about four years and a-half old, was shouting and lashing his rocking-horse, which did not go fast enough to the taste of the young cavalier. His beautiful face, whose blond ringlets fell in a thousand curls upon his embroidered collar, smiled with an angel's look upon his mother, when from her arm-chair she whispered to him—“ Not so loud, Charles ! or you will wake your little sister!"

Caroline was at this time about twentyfour years old. A happiness unclouded, and an uninterrupted scene of pleasures, had developed all her beauty, and she was in the full perfection of female loveliness. The slightest wish of her Eugene had been a law to her, and she had succeeded in acquiring all the accomplish ments in which she was deficient. She played and sang divinely. Unacquainted with the usages of a society which she had always shunned, mindful of the axiom which says "a happy woman will not mix with the world"-she had not acquired that empty polish, nor caught that tone of fashionable talk, so full of words and destitute of thoughts and feeling, so much prized in good society.

During these six years of happiness and transport, her moderate wishes had never, by any misplaced ambition, wearied the heart of Eugene, that real treasure of kindness. She had never sighed for a costly diamond, or an extravagant dress. She had declined the twenty times repeated offer of a carriage—and to wait upon the balcony for Eugene's arrival, to go with him to the opera, or to ramble about the environs of Paris in lovely weather-to look for him when absent, to bask in the sunshine of his presence, and to begin again to look for his return when he departed-these were the eras of her whole life, which, though destitute of events, was full of love.

Caroline, on this occasion, arranged he fair damask linen which was to serve for the repast at which Eugene was expected; she saw that the dessert was in order, and when, with overflowing heart, she had seen that nothing was wanting that might conduce to his comfort, she placed her infant in its cradle, and stepped out upon the balcony to look for Eugene's arrival.

She did not wait long before she discerned the well-known cabriolet. Eu

gene hastened into the saloon, and when the first burst of his Caroline's and the little fellow's caresses had subsided, he went to the cradle, contemplated the slumber of his daughter, and kissed her smooth brow. Then drawing from his pocket a long slip of paper, covered with lines of figures—

"Caroline, here is a portion for that little beauty."

Madame de Bellefeuille took the acknowledgment of her daughter's fortune, which was an inscription in the public funds in her name.

Caroline was fair and fresh as a newlyopened lily; her tresses falling around her neck in thousands of chestnut curls, surrounded her head as if with a dark mass of foliage, and the attempered softness of the light from the lamp, brought out all her graces in strong relief, multiplying upon her, around her, and throwing on her vestments and those of her infant's, those picturesque effects produced by the combinations of light and shade. The mother's calm and tranquil visage seemed infinitely gentler than ever to Eugene, who gazed with tenderness upon those soft and vermillion lips, on which the accents of discontent had never murmured. The same thought shone in Caroline's eyes, who furtively scrutinised Eugene's features, either to enjoy the effect which she produced upon him, or to guess at the future which would succeed these evenings of love.

Her companion discerned the innocent coquetry of that sly and exquisite glance, for he observed, with counterfeit sadness

"I must go now, I have an important matter to decide upon, and I am waited for even now. Duty before everything else, my dearest."

Caroline looked at him with an air both of sorrow and sweetness, but with that resignation which shows that the amount of the sacrifice is felt while it is submitted to.

"Adieu !" she said-" go now, go at once-for if you stay an hour longer, I shall never be able to part with you.'

"My angel," he smilingly replied, “I have three days' leave of absence, and at this moment I am supposed to be twenty leagues from Paris."

The scene of domestic happiness was complete.

VI.

In the first week of December, 1829,

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honour of offering you my arm. The pavement is so slippery this evening or rather this morning, that-if we do not support each other," said he, as if to spare the self-love of the old nobleman, we shall find it difficult to escape a fall." "But, my dear sir," said the Count de Grandville, "I am, unhappily, only fifty; and a physician of your reputation ought to know that at that age a man is in the vigour of life."

"In that case, you must be engaged in some intrigue; for it is not your custom, I believe, to move about Paris afoot. If I had such a magnificent equipage as you-and I have no doubt that you have a large sum of money about your person! Are you not aware,' said the physician, "that it is an invitation for the dagger of the prowling robber ?"

They are my slightest apprehension," replied the count, with a sad and indifferent tone. "But you have caught me acting the part of a spy. At whatever hour of the day or night I pass this house, on foot or in my carriage, for some time past, I have never failed to observe the shadow of a person at that garret window, who appears to labour with a most heroic and persevering courage." At these words the count paused, as if he was struck by a sudden pang; but he instantly added, "do you know I take as much interest in that garret, as a citizen of Paris takes in the completion of the Palais Royal ?"

"Ah!" said a young man, eagerly, "I am enabled to inform you that

"Do not interrupt me," said the count, hastily interrupting the young physician. "I would not give a cent to know whether the shadow that glances

through yon tattered curtain is that of a male or female, or whether the inhabitant of that garret is contented or miserable! If I was surprised to perceive that no one was at work this evening, and if I stopped to look, it was only to please myself in forming those hundred trifling conjectures which make the business of an idle and unoccupied fancy. For the last two years, I have ceased to wonder that old men take such pleasure in cultivating flowers, and planting trees; the events of their lives have taught them to put no trust in human affections; and, for some little time past, I, too, have become old-and, with the like feelings, I would not allow myself to become attached to anything but to animals that cannot reason, to plants and flowers, in fact, to the external world; and I only love to gaze upon the surface of things without exposing myself to the disappointment and misery of examining too closely. The motions of Taglioni are of more consequence to me now than any human sentiment. I am tired of a world where I am alone! Nothing," added the count, with an expression which made his companion shudder, can agitate or interest me further!"' "But you have children !"

66

"Children!" rejoined he, with a bitter accent. Yes-my daughters are all well married. They love, and are loved by, their husbands. They have their household matters to attend to, and the son-in-law supplants the father! As to my sons, they are distinguished in the world, and the oldest is even now at the head of the law; but they have their affairs, their cares, and their inquietudes, and they, too, know how to calculateat this moment they are anticipating my fortune."

"How could this fancy have taken possession of your mind, my lord? You, who are so good, so generous, so humane! In truth, were I not myself a living example of that noble and extensive benevolence

swept over my heart like the lava stream of Vesuvius over Herculaneum. The city exists still, it is true-but it is dead!"

"Those persons have much to answer for who reduced so tender and and warm a heart as yours was, to such a point of insensibility."

"Say not another word on the subject," said the count, with a trembling voice.

"You have a disorder, my lord count," observed the youth, with emotion, "which you must permit me to cure."

"Have you any remedy for death?" inquired the count impatiently.

"I would lay any wager that I could warm that heart, which you fancy is so petrified."

"Are you equal to Talma ?" demanded De Grandville, ironically.

"No, my lord count. But nature is as superior to what Talma was, as Talma surpassed me. The garret in which you are interested, is inhabited by a female about thirty years of age, and a youth not yet twenty. In her heart, love is a sort of fanaticism. He is a gambler, and I know not whether he is more addicted to wine than to low amours. This unhappy woman has sacrificed for him a splendid career, and abandoned a man who adored her. But what ails you, count?"

"Nothing at all! Continue your narration."

"She has allowed him to waste a handsome fortune. She would give him the world if she possessed it. She works night and day; and she has frequently witnessed the wretch to whom she is so passionately attached, snatch from her the hard-earned money which she has destined for the clothing and nourishment of her children. Three days ago, she cut off the most silky, and the longest tresses I ever beheld, and sold them for food. He came, and before she had concealed the money, he demanded it of her; and for a smile, a caress, she surrendered to him the means of procuring subsistence and tranquillity for herself and children for a fortnight. It is both horrible and sublime ! incessant toil has begun to trace furrows in her cheeks, and the cries of her children have pierced her heart. She fell sick, and is now languishing on a bed of straw. This very evening she had nothing to eat, and her children were worn out and exhausted with crying. When

But

I came to visit them, it was an affecting picture."

The young physician ceased. At this moment Count de Grandville, as if mechanically, thrust his hand into his pocket.

"I perceive, my young friend," said he-" and if you took her in charge, she might yet survive?"

"Poor creature," said the physician, "who would not succour her? I wish I was richer than I am; I would try and cure her of her frenzied passion."

"But," rejoined the count, drawing from his pocket his hand filled with gold, without the physician noticing the gesture," why should I pity sorrows, whose blended transports I would purchase at the cost of all my revenues? This woman feels, and though she suffers, her excitement is ecstatic. Would not Louis the Fifteenth willingly surrender his broad kingdom, to rise again from his coffin, and enjoy three days of youth and life?" "Poor Caroline," sighed the physician.

At these words the Count de Grandville trembled. He clutched the arm of the physician, who thought it was clasped in an iron vice.

"Is her name Caroline Crochard ?" asked the count, in a voice whose gasping tones were scarcely intelligible.

"Do you know her?" inquired the astonished young man.

"You have, indeed, kept your word with me," replied the noble; "for you have shaken my heart with the most vivid emotion it can feel ere it crumbles to dust!"

At this moment the count and the physician had reached the corner of the Rue de la Chaussée d'Antin. There one of the children of darkness and poverty, with a wicket basket at his back, and an iron crooked; stick in his hand, was leaning against the lamp-post when De Grandville approached. The count addressed the rag collector :

"Do you ever find bank-notes for a thousand francs in your researches?' asked he.

"Sometimes, sir."

"And do you ever restore them?" "That's according to the reward offered for their recovery."

"Here, then," said the count, "is one of them. Take it but remember the condition on which I give it. Get you to the tavern, spend it in drinking, brawling, and rioting; beat your wife, and outrage