ained to thee, and this my
guardian has permitted. To dispossess Pleyel of this prejudice may be
impossible; but if that be effected, it cannot be supposed that thy
wiles are exhausted; thy cunning will discover innumerable avenues to
the accomplishment of thy malignant purpose.

Why should I enter the lists against thee? Would to heaven I could
disarm thy vengeance by my deprecations! When I think of all the
resources with which nature and education have supplied thee; that thy
form is a combination of steely fibres and organs of exquisite ductility
and boundless compass, actuated by an intelligence gifted with infinite
endowments, and comprehending all knowledge, I perceive that my doom
is fixed. What obstacle will be able to divert thy zeal or repel thy
efforts? That being who has hitherto protected me has borne testimony to
the formidableness of thy attempts, since nothing less than supernatural
interference could check thy career.

Musing on these thoughts, I arrived, towards the close of the day, at
Pleyel's house. A month before, I had traversed the same path; but how
different were my sensations! Now I was seeking the presence of one who
regarded me as the most degenerate of human kind. I was to plead the
cause of my innocence, against witnesses the most explicit and unerring,
of those which support the fabric of human knowledge. The nearer I
approached the crisis, the more did my confidence decay. When the chaise
stopped at the door, my strength refused to support me, and I threw
myself into the arms of an ancient female domestic. I had not courage to
inquire whether her master was at home. I was tormented with fears that
the projected journey was already undertaken. These fears were removed,
by her asking me whether she should call her young master, who had just
gone into his own room. I was somewhat revived by this intelligence, and
resolved immediately to seek him there.

In my confusion of mind, I neglected to knock at the door, but entered
his apartment without previous notice. This abruptness was altogether
involuntary. Absorbed in reflections of such unspeakable moment, I had
no leisure to heed the niceties of punctilio. I discovered him standing
with his back towards the entrance. A small trunk, with its lid raised,
was before him in which it seemed as if he had been busy in packing
his clothes. The moment of my entrance, he was employed in gazing at
something which he held in his hand.

I imagined