illage and hastened to
Honfleur, hoping every hour, every moment, to receive some tidings of
her lover. She paced the pier, and wearied the seamen of the port with
her inquiries. She made a daily pilgrimage to the chapel of Our Lady
of Grace; hung votive garlands on the wall, and passed hours either
kneeling before the altar, or looking out from the brow of the hill
upon the angry sea.

At length word was brought that the long-wished-for vessel was in
sight. She was seen standing into the mouth of the Seine, shattered
and crippled, bearing marks of having been sadly tempest-tost. There
was a general joy diffused by her return; and there was not a brighter
eye, nor a lighter heart, than Annette's, in the little port of
Honfleur. The ship came to anchor in the river, and shortly after a
boat put off for the shore. The populace crowded down to the
pier-head, to welcome it. Annette stood blushing, and smiling, and
trembling, and weeping; for a thousand painfully-pleasing emotions
agitated her breast at the thoughts of the meeting and reconciliation
about to take place.

Her heart throbbed to pour itself out, and atone to her gallant lover
for all its errors. At one moment she would place herself in a
conspicuous situation, where she might catch his view at once, and
surprise him by her welcome; but the next moment a doubt would come
across her mind, and she would shrink among the throng, trembling and
faint, and gasping with her emotions. Her agitation increased as the
boat drew near, until it became distressing; and it was almost a
relief to her when she perceived that her lover was not there. She
presumed that some accident had detained him on board of the ship; and
she felt that the delay would enable her to gather more
self-possession for the meeting. As the boat neared the shore, many
inquiries were made, and laconic answers returned.

At length Annette heard some inquiries after her lover. Her heart
palpitated--there was a moment's pause: the reply was brief, but
awful. He had been washed from the deck, with two of the crew, in the
midst of a stormy night, when it was impossible to render any
assistance. A piercing shriek broke from among the crowd; and Annette
had nearly fallen into the waves.

The sudden revulsion of feelings after such a transient gleam of
happiness, was too much for her harassed frame. She was carried home
senseless. Her life was for some time despaired of, and it was months
before she recov