ness! All these
circumstances rose afresh to her mind, and awakened the various emotions
she had then suffered. Her tenderness for Valancourt became as powerful
as in the moments, when she thought, that she was parting with him and
happiness together, and when the strength of her mind had enabled her to
triumph over present suffering, rather than to deserve the reproach
of her conscience by engaging in a clandestine marriage.--'Alas!' said
Emily, as these recollections came to her mind, 'and what have I gained
by the fortitude I then practised?--am I happy now?--He said, we should
meet no more in happiness; but, O! he little thought his own misconduct
would separate us, and lead to the very evil he then dreaded!'

Her reflections increased her anguish, while she was compelled to
acknowledge, that the fortitude she had formerly exerted, if it had
not conducted her to happiness, had saved her from irretrievable
misfortune--from Valancourt himself! But in these moments she could not
congratulate herself on the prudence, that had saved her; she could only
lament, with bitterest anguish, the circumstances, which had conspired
to betray Valancourt into a course of life so different from that,
which the virtues, the tastes, and the pursuits of his early years had
promised; but she still loved him too well to believe, that his
heart was even now depraved, though his conduct had been criminal. An
observation, which had fallen from M. St. Aubert more than once, now
occurred to her. 'This young man,' said he, speaking of Valancourt, 'has
never been at Paris;' a remark, that had surprised her at the time
it was uttered, but which she now understood, and she exclaimed
sorrowfully, 'O Valancourt! if such a friend as my father had been with
you at Paris--your noble, ingenuous nature would not have fallen!'

The sun was now set, and, recalling her thoughts from their melancholy
subject, she continued her walk; for the pensive shade of twilight was
pleasing to her, and the nightingales from the surrounding groves began
to answer each other in the long-drawn, plaintive note, which always
touched her heart; while all the fragrance of the flowery thickets, that
bounded the terrace, was awakened by the cool evening air, which floated
so lightly among their leaves, that they scarcely trembled as it passed.

Emily came, at length, to the steps of the pavilion, that terminated
the terrace, and where her last interview with Valancourt, before