sages upon this occasion, and even abhorring the person to
whose duty and zeal I was beholden for the intelligence, even while I
endeavoured to persuade myself that the inquiry would end in the
detection of some paltry intrigue between the maid and her own gallant.
I intercepted her in returning from church, and, commanding her to follow
me to a convenient place, extorted from her, by dint of threats, the
fatal letter, which I read to this effect:--

"The whole business of my life, O divine Serafina! will be to repay that
affection I have been so happy as to engage. With what transport then
shall I obey your summons, in performing that enterprise, which will
rescue you from the bed of a detested rival, and put myself in full
possession of a jewel which I value infinitely more than life! Yes,
adorable creature! I have provided everything for our escape, and at
midnight will attend you in your own apartment, from whence you shall be
conveyed into a land of liberty and peace, where you will, unmolested,
enjoy the purity of that religion you have espoused, and in full security
bless the arms of your ever faithful, ORLANDO."

Were you a fond parent, a tender husband, and a noble Castilian, I should
not need to mention the unutterable horrors that took possession of my
bosom, when I perused this accursed letter, by which I learned the
apostasy, disobedience, and degeneracy of my idolised Serafina, who had
overthrown and destroyed the whole plan of felicity which I had erected,
and blasted all the glories of my name; and when the wretched messenger,
terrified by my menaces and agitation, confessed that Antonia herself was
privy to the guilt of her daughter, whom she had solemnly betrothed to
that vile German, in the sight of Heaven, and that by her connivance this
plebeian intended, that very night, to bereave me of my child, I was for
some moments stupefied with grief and amazement, that gave way to an
ecstasy of rage, which had well-nigh terminated in despair and
distraction.

I now tremble, and my head grows giddy with the remembrance of that
dreadful occasion. Behold how the drops trickle down my forehead; this
agony is a fierce and familiar visitant; I shall banish it anon. I
summoned my pride, my resentment, to my assistance; these are the
cordials that support me against all other reflections; those were the
auxiliaries that enabled me, in the day of trial, to perform that
sacrifice which my honour demanded