her duty even
if she died at the altar. Almost she wished that she had ceased to live,
and then the recollection of Armine came back to her so vividly! And
those long days of passionate delight! All his tenderness and all his
truth; for he had been true to her, always had he been true to her. She
was not the person who ought to complain of his conduct. And yet she
was the person who alone punished him. How different was the generous
conduct of his cousin! She had pardoned all; she sympathised with him,
she sorrowed for him, she tried to soothe him. She laboured to unite
him to her rival. What must he think of herself? How hard-hearted, how
selfish must the contrast prove her! Could he indeed believe now that
she had ever loved him? Oh, no! he must despise her. He must believe
that she was sacrificing her heart to the splendour of rank. Oh! could
he believe this! Her Ferdinand, her romantic Ferdinand, who had thrown
fortune and power to the winds but to gain that very heart! What a
return had she made him! And for all his fidelity he was punished;
lone, disconsolate, forlorn, overpowered by vulgar cares, heart-broken,
meditating even death------. The picture was too terrible, too
harrowing. She hid her face in the pillow of the sofa on which she was
seated, and wept bitterly.

She felt an arm softly twined round her waist; she looked up; it was her
father.

'My child,' he said, 'you are agitated.'

'Yes; yes, I am agitated,' she said, in a low voice.

'You are unwell.'

'Worse than unwell.'

'Tell me what ails you, Henrietta.'

'Grief for which there is no cure.'

'Indeed! I am greatly astonished.'

His daughter only sighed.

'Speak to me, Henrietta. Tell me what has happened.'

'I cannot speak; nothing has happened; I have nothing to say.'

'To see you thus makes me quite unhappy,' said Mr. Temple; 'if only for
my sake, let me know the cause of this overwhelming emotion.'

'It is a cause that will not please you. Forget, sir, what you have
seen.'

'A father cannot. I entreat you tell me. If you love me, Henrietta,
speak.'

'Sir, sir, I was thinking of the past.'

'Is it so bitter?'

'Ah! that I should live!' said Miss Temple.

'Henrietta, my own Henrietta, my child, I beseech you tell me all.
Something has occurred; something must have occurred to revive such
strong feelings. Has--has------ I know not what to say, but so much
happens that surprises me; I know, I have heard, that you have seen