, mingled his tears.

"My father, resumed Edgar, bent on uniting her to Beauman or at least of
preventing her union with you, had removed her to a desolate family
mansion, and placed her under the care of an aunt. At that place, he
either suspected, or really discovered that you had recourse to her
while my aunt was absent on business. She was therefore no longer
entrusted to the care of her aunt, but my father immediately formed and
executed the plan of sending her to his brother in South Carolina, under
pretence of restoring her to health by change of climate, as her health
in reality had began rapidly to decay. There it was designed that
Beauman should shortly follow her, with recommendations from my father
to her uncle, urging him to use all possible means which might tend to
persuade her to become the wife of Beauman. But change of climate only
encreased the load of sorrows, and she soon sunk beneath them. The
letter mentioned nothing of her troubles: possibly my uncle's family
knew nothing of them: to them, probably,

----"She never told her love,
But sat like Patience on a monument
Smiling at grief; while sad concealment,
Like a worm in the bud,
Fed on her damask cheek.

"My father's distress was excessive: often did he accuse himself of
barbarity, and he once earnestly expressed a wish that he had consented
to her union with you. My father, I know, is parsimonious, but he
sincerely loved his children. Inflexible as is his nature, the untimely
death of a truly affectionate and only daughter will, I much fear,
precipitate him, and perhaps my mother also, to a speedy grave.

"As soon as my feelings would permit, I repaired to your father's, and
made enquiry concerning you. I found your parents content in their
humble state, except that your father had been ill, but was recovering.
Of you they had heard nothing since your departure, and they deeply
lamented your absence. And from Vincent I could obtain no farther
information.

"Sick of the world, I returned to the army. An American consul was soon
to sail for Holland:--I solicited and obtained the appointment of
secretary. I hoped by visiting distant countries, in some measure to
relieve my mind from the deep melancholy with which it was oppressed. We
were to proceed first to Paris, where we have been a few days; to-morrow
we are to depart for Holland. The consul is the man who introduced you
into the room where you found me.

"Last evening I lost