ts punishments
appeared to surround her; in vain she endeavoured to allay remorse by the
memory of her real integrity; the rest of the world, and she among them,
judged of her actions, by their consequences. She prayed for her husband's
soul; she conjured the Supreme to place on her head the crime of his
self-destruction--she vowed to live to expiate his fault.

In the midst of such wretchedness as must soon have destroyed her, one
thought only was matter of consolation. She lived in the same country,
breathed the same air as Raymond. His name as Protector was the burthen of
every tongue; his achievements, projects, and magnificence, the argument of
every story. Nothing is so precious to a woman's heart as the glory and
excellence of him she loves; thus in every horror Evadne revelled in his
fame and prosperity. While her husband lived, this feeling was regarded by
her as a crime, repressed, repented of. When he died, the tide of love
resumed its ancient flow, it deluged her soul with its tumultuous waves,
and she gave herself up a prey to its uncontrollable power.

But never, O, never, should he see her in her degraded state. Never should
he behold her fallen, as she deemed, from her pride of beauty, the
poverty-stricken inhabitant of a garret, with a name which had become a
reproach, and a weight of guilt on her soul. But though impenetrably veiled
from him, his public office permitted her to become acquainted with all his
actions, his daily course of life, even his conversation. She allowed
herself one luxury, she saw the newspapers every day, and feasted on the
praise and actions of the Protector. Not that this indulgence was devoid of
accompanying grief. Perdita's name was for ever joined with his; their
conjugal felicity was celebrated even by the authentic testimony of facts.
They were continually together, nor could the unfortunate Evadne read the
monosyllable that designated his name, without, at the same time, being
presented with the image of her who was the faithful companion of all his
labours and pleasures. They, their Excellencies, met her eyes in each line,
mingling an evil potion that poisoned her very blood.

It was in the newspaper that she saw the advertisement for the design for a
national gallery. Combining with taste her remembrance of the edifices
which she had seen in the east, and by an effort of genius enduing them
with unity of design, she executed the plan which had been sent to the
Protect