tain of the steam packet with whom I had agreed
to sail, came to tell me, that accidental circumstances hastened his
departure, and that, if I went with him, I must come on board at five on
the following morning. I hastily gave my consent to this arrangement, and
as hastily formed a plan through which Perdita should be forced to become
my companion. I believe that most people in my situation would have acted
in the same manner. Yet this consideration does not, or rather did not in
after time, diminish the reproaches of my conscience. At the moment, I felt
convinced that I was acting for the best, and that all I did was right and
even necessary.

I sat with Perdita and soothed her, by my seeming assent to her wild
scheme. She received my concurrence with pleasure, and a thousand times
over thanked her deceiving, deceitful brother. As night came on, her
spirits, enlivened by my unexpected concession, regained an almost
forgotten vivacity. I pretended to be alarmed by the feverish glow in her
cheek; I entreated her to take a composing draught; I poured out the
medicine, which she took docilely from me. I watched her as she drank it.
Falsehood and artifice are in themselves so hateful, that, though I still
thought I did right, a feeling of shame and guilt came painfully upon me. I
left her, and soon heard that she slept soundly under the influence of the
opiate I had administered. She was carried thus unconscious on board; the
anchor weighed, and the wind being favourable, we stood far out to sea;
with all the canvas spread, and the power of the engine to assist, we
scudded swiftly and steadily through the chafed element.

It was late in the day before Perdita awoke, and a longer time elapsed
before recovering from the torpor occasioned by the laudanum, she perceived
her change of situation. She started wildly from her couch, and flew to the
cabin window. The blue and troubled sea sped past the vessel, and was
spread shoreless around: the sky was covered by a rack, which in its swift
motion shewed how speedily she was borne away. The creaking of the masts,
the clang of the wheels, the tramp above, all persuaded her that she was
already far from the shores of Greece.--"Where are we?" she cried, "where
are we going?"--

The attendant whom I had stationed to watch her, replied, "to England."--

"And my brother?"--

"Is on deck, Madam."

"Unkind! unkind!" exclaimed the poor victim, as with a deep sigh she looked
on the