t prepare her body and mind to
encounter the ills which await her sex, and I will teach her to consider
you as her second mother, and herself as the prop of your age. Yes,
Jemima, look at me--observe me closely, and read my very soul; you merit
a better fate;" she held out her hand with a firm gesture of assurance;
"and I will procure it for you, as a testimony of my esteem, as well as
of my gratitude."

Jemima had not power to resist this persuasive torrent; and, owning that
the house in which she was confined, was situated on the banks of the
Thames, only a few miles from London, and not on the sea-coast, as
Darnford had supposed, she promised to invent some excuse for her
absence, and go herself to trace the situation, and enquire concerning
the health, of this abandoned daughter. Her manner implied an intention
to do something more, but she seemed unwilling to impart her design; and
Maria, glad to have obtained the main point, thought it best to leave her
to the workings of her own mind; convinced that she had the power of
interesting her still more in favour of herself and child, by a simple
recital of facts.

In the evening, Jemima informed the impatient mother, that on the morrow
she should hasten to town before the family hour of rising, and received
all the information necessary, as a clue to her search. The "Good night!"
Maria uttered was peculiarly solemn and affectionate. Glad expectation
sparkled in her eye; and, for the first time since her detention, she
pronounced the name of her child with pleasureable fondness; and, with
all the garrulity of a nurse, described her first smile when she
recognized her mother. Recollecting herself, a still kinder "Adieu!" with
a "God bless you!"--that seemed to include a maternal benediction,
dismissed Jemima.

The dreary solitude of the ensuing day, lengthened by impatiently
dwelling on the same idea, was intolerably wearisome. She listened for
the sound of a particular clock, which some directions of the wind
allowed her to hear distinctly. She marked the shadow gaining on the
wall; and, twilight thickening into darkness, her breath seemed oppressed
while she anxiously counted nine.--The last sound was a stroke of
despair on her heart; for she expected every moment, without seeing
Jemima, to have her light extinguished by the savage female who supplied
her place. She was even obliged to prepare for bed, restless as she was,
not to disoblige her new attendant. She had