njured up against this too
successful stranger all the menacing spectres of suspicion, distrust,
and deceit; recalled to her recollection the too just and too frequent
tales of man's impurity and ingratitude; and tortured herself by her
own apparition, the merited victim of his harshness, his neglect, or his
desertion. And when she had at the same time both shocked and alarmed
her fancy by these distressful and degrading images, exhausted by these
imaginary vexations, and eager for consolation in her dark despondency,
she may have recurred to the yet innocent cause of her sorrow and
apprehension, and perhaps accused herself of cruelty and injustice for
visiting on his head the mere consequences of her own fitful and morbid
temper. She may have recalled his unvarying tenderness, his unceasing
admiration; she may have recollected those impassioned accents that
thrilled her heart, those glances of rapturous affection that fixed her
eye with fascination. She may have conjured up that form over which of
late she had mused in a trance of love, that form bright with so much
beauty, beaming with so many graces, adorned with so much intelligence,
and hallowed by every romantic association that could melt the heart or
mould the spirit of woman; she may have conjured up this form, that was
the god of her idolatry, and rushed again to the altar in an ecstasy of
devotion.

The shades of evening were fast descending, the curtains of the chamber
were not closed, the blaze of the fire had died away. The flickering
light fell upon the solemn countenance of Henrietta Temple, now buried
in the shade, now transiently illumined by the fitful flame.

On a sudden he advanced, with a step too light even to be heard, knelt
at her side, and, not venturing to touch her hand, pressed his lips to
her arm, and with streaming eyes, and in a tone of plaintive tenderness,
murmured, 'What have I done?'

She turned, her eyes met his, a wild expression of fear, surprise,
delight, played over hen countenance; then, bursting into tears, she
threw her arms round his neck, and hid her face upon his breast.

He did not disturb this effusion of her suppressed emotions. His
throbbing heart responded to her tumultuous soul. At length, when the
strength of her passionate affections had somewhat decreased, when the
convulsive sobs had subsided into gentle sighs, and ever and anon he
felt the pressure of her sweet lips sealing her remorseful love and her
charmin