bare the springs of that dark conspiracy crowned by
the marriage of Rodolph. One of Sarah's letters to her brother was
abstracted by Polidori, the channel of their mutual communications; for
what purpose we shall see hereafter.

A few days after Seyton's departure, Sarah was at the evening court of
the Dowager Grand Duchess. Many of the ladies present looked at her with
an astonished air, and whispered to their neighbours. The Grand Duchess
Judith, in spite of her ninety years, had a quick ear and a sharp eye,
and this little whispering did not escape her. She made a sign to one of
the ladies in waiting to come to her, and from her she learned that
everybody was remarking that the figure of Miss Sarah Seyton of Halsbury
was less slender, less delicate in its proportions than usual. The old
princess adored her young protegee and would have answered to God
himself for Sarah's virtue. Indignant at the malevolence of these
remarks, she shrugged her shoulders, and said aloud, from the end of the
saloon in which she was sitting:

"My dear Sarah, come here."

Sarah rose. It was requisite to cross the circle to reach the place
where the princess was seated, who was anxious most kindly to destroy
the rumour that was circulated, and, by the simple fact of thus crossing
the room, confound her calumniators, and prove triumphantly that the
fair proportions of her protegee had lost not one jot of their symmetry
and delicacy. Alas! the most perfidious enemy could not have devised a
better plan than that suggested by the worthy princess in her desire to
defend her protegee. Sarah came towards her, and it required all the
deep respect due to the Grand Duchess to repress the murmur of surprise
and indignation when the young lady crossed the room. The
nearest-sighted persons saw what Sarah would no longer conceal, for her
pregnancy might have been hidden longer had she but have chosen; but the
ambitious woman had sought this display in order to compel Rodolph to
declare his marriage. The Grand Duchess, who, however, would not be
convinced in spite of her eyesight, said, in a low voice, to Sarah:

"My dear child, how very ill you have dressed yourself to-day,--you,
whose shape may be spanned by ten fingers. I hardly know you again."

We will relate hereafter the results of this discovery, which led to
great and terrible events. At this moment, we will content ourselves
with stating, what the reader has no doubt already guessed, that
F