t the laws shall decide
this matter between us. If he escape, I forgive him, and may God
forgive him, too!"

"And must it come to this?" she sobbed forth in the bitterness of her
anguish, whilst the tears streamed down her cheeks from her closed
eyelids. "Will this cruel youth at length extort the horrible
confession!--it must be so--one pang--and it will be over. Let me
forego your support--lay me gently on the pillow, for you will loathe
me. A little while ago, and I told you I had been faithful to him--it
was a bitter falsehood--know, that my son, my abandoned William, is also
the son of your father--say, will his blood now be upon your hands?"

"Tell me, beautiful cause of all our miseries, does your miserable
offspring know this?"

"Yes," said she, very faintly.

"Yet he could seek my life--basely--but no matter. His blood shall
never stain my hand--I will not seek him--if he crosses my path, I will
avoid him--I will even assist him to escape to some country where,
unknown, he may, by a regenerated life, wipe out the dark catalogue of
his crimes, make his peace with man here, and with his God hereafter."

"Will you do all this, my generous, my good, my godlike Ralph?"

"You and God be my witnesses!"

She sprang up wildly from her apparent state of lethargy, clasped me
fervently in her arms, blessed me repeatedly, and then, in the midst of
her raptures, she cried out, "Oh, Ralph, you have renewed my being, you
have given me long years of life, and health, and happiness. You--" and
here she uttered a loud shriek, that reverberated through the mansion--
but it was cut short in the very midst--a thrilling, a horrible silence
ensued--she fell dead upon the couch.

I stood awe-struck over the beautiful corpse, as it lay placidly
extended, disfigured by no contortion, but on the contrary, a heavenly
repose in the features--a sad mockery of worldly vanity. Death had
arrayed himself in the last imported Parisian mode.

At that dying shriek, in rushed the household, headed by the physician,
and closely followed by the companion, with the hired nurses. Methought
that the doctor looked on this wreck of mortality with grim
satisfaction. "I knew it," said he, slowly; "and Doctor Phillimore is
nothing more than a solemn dunce. I told him that she would not survive
to be subjected to the consultation of the morrow. And how happens it,"
said he, turning fiercely to the companion and the nurses, "that my
patien