tess I know not," said the Knight,
continuing the conversation. "Three weeks remained I with them in
their magnificent palace at London, the attractions whereof were
tenfold heightened by his courteous bearing and her graciousness. Nor
could I without difficulty tear myself away, so lovingly they
delighted to dwell upon the time when, as Miles Arundel, he wooed
Eveline Dunning, or hunted with me, in the wilds of America, and so
sweet were their attentions to my chafed spirit. With them is my
trusty Philip, whose trials are now over, while he basks in the favor
of the Earl and the smiles of the pretty Prudence, his wife,
undisturbed save by her occasional coquetry, which only serves, I
suppose, to make his love more piquant."

"A pleasing episode in your romantic life," said the stranger; but
know you perfectly how you came to leave America so suddenly?"

"There is a mystery connected therewith which hath ever puzzled me,"
replied the Knight.

"How felt you in reference to the plan of converting an English into a
French colony?"

"I did never either feel therefor inclination, or give it the
approbation of my judgment. I cannot forget that I am an Englishman."

"And did Sister Celestina know your sentiments?" inquired the
stranger.

"Surely. Wherefore should I have hesitated to bestow on one so devoted
my absolute confidence?"

"_Ne crede principibus_," said the stranger, "is no more worthy of
acceptance than _ne crede feminis_."

"Chosen friend of my soul, sworn brother of my heart," exclaimed the
Knight, "I conjure thee to tell me what thou knowest or dost suspect
of these mysterious circumstances."

"Thou hast borne, beloved friend, a cross, whereof thou knewest not.
You were betrayed, like him whose name you bear even in the house of
your friends."

"A light begins to dawn upon my mind. And Sister Celestina--"

"Aye, Sister Celestina, or, as she must now be called, the Abbess of
St. Idlewhim, was the traitress. Yet, why call I her so? She did but
obey her vow."

"May it please thee, Albert, to be more explicit?"

"Know, then," said the stranger, "that it was in consequence of
representations from Sister Celestina thou wast recalled."

"How knowest thou this to be true?"

"Ask me not, for that I dare not reveal; but I swear, by the bones of
Loyola, and by our mutual friendship, that it is the sincere truth.
Father ---- (I will not breathe his name, he added, looking cautiously
around,) loves thee n