old me he thought he was of Italian
extraction," replied I.

Low as were our voices, the quick ear of the sufferer caught the name I
had mentioned.

"Spicer," he exclaimed eagerly; "has he returned? Well, man, speak! is
she safely lodged? Cumberland has done his part admirably then. Oh!
it was a grand scheme!--Ha! played me false--I'll not believe it--he
_dares_ not--he knows me--knows I should dog him like his shadow till
we met face to face, and I had torn his false heart out of his dastardly
breast. I say he dares not do it!" and yelling out a fearful oath, he
fell back in a fainting fit.

Let us draw a veil over the remainder of the scene. The death-bed of the
wicked is a horrible lesson, stamped indelibly on the memory of all
who have witnessed it. Happy are they whose pure hearts need not such
fearful training; and far be it from me to dim the brightness of their
guileless spirits by acquainting them with its harrowing details.

Shortly after the scene I have described, internal hemorrhage commenced;
ere another hour had elapsed the struggle was over, and a crushed and
lifeless corpse, watched by hirelings, wept over by none, was all that
remained on earth of the man whom society courted while it feared,
and bowed to while it despised--the successful libertine, the dreaded
duellist, Wilford! I learned some time afterwards that his father had
been an English nobleman, his mother an Italian lady of good family.
Their marriage had been private, and performed only according to the
rites of the Romish Church, although the earl was a Protestant. Availing
himself of this omission, on his return to England he pretended to
doubt the validity of the contract, and having the proofs in his own
possession, contrived to set the marriage aside, and wedded a lady of
rank in this country. Lucia Savelli, the victim of his perfidy, remained
in Italy, devoting herself to the education of her son, whom she
destined for the Romish priesthood. Her plans were, however, frustrated
by the information that the earl had died suddenly, leaving a large
fortune to the boy, on condition that he never attempted to urge his
claim to the title, and finished his education in England. With his
subsequent career the reader is sufficiently acquainted. On hearing
of her son's melancholy fate, Lucia Savelli, to whom the whole of his
fortune was bequeathed, retired to a convent, which she endowed with her
wealth.

~467~~ As Barstone was out of our w