n for this.
The sacrifice that she was willing to make can now confer no
benefit on him who sleeps in the churchyard. The Prince has
shown towards her a degree of indifference which will well
warrant this breach. There was no affection on either
side, and it would be but to ratify a falsehood to pledge
fidelity. You alone have influence to effect this. She will
hear your counsels, and follow them with respect, and the
Prince will scarcely oppose what his conduct seems to favor.
This done, Sir Count, let Kate be your daughter; and oh! in
all the glory of your great successes, what have you gained
to compare with this? She loves you already--she has told me
of the affectionate gentleness of your manner, the charm of
your chivalrous sentiments, and a nobility marked by every
word and every gesture. Think, then, of the untaught
devotion of such a child--your own by blood and adoption--
loving, tending, and ministering to you. Think of the proud
beating of your heart as she leans upon your arm, and think
of the happiness, as she throws around your solitary
fireside all the charm of a home! How seldom is it that
generosity doubles itself in its reward, but here it will be
so. You will be loved, and you will be happy. With two such
children, guided by your influence and elevated by your
example, what would be your happiness, and what their
fortune?"

In all these pleadings for those she loved so dearly, no allusion ever
was made by her to her own condition. A few lines at the very end of the
letter were all that referred to herself. They were couched in words of
much humility, excusing herself for the boldness of the appeal she had
made, and apologizing for the hardihood with which it might be said she
had urged her request.

"But you will forgive--you have already forgiven me, Sir
Count," wrote she; "my unlettered style and my trembling
fingers have shown you that this task must have lain near to
my heart, or I had not dared to undertake it. My life has
been spent in a sphere of humble duties and humble
companionship. How easily, then, may I have transgressed the
limits of the deference that should separate us! I can but
answer for my own heart, within which there exists towards
you but the one feeling of devotion--deep and hopeful.

"If in your kind