He expresses alarm for my health, and proposes change of climate; but what change of climate or scene can ever banish from my memory the fatal recollections that poison my existence, and dash the cup of peace from my thirsty and fevered lips?

Adieu, chère Delphine! votre amie,

CAROLINE.

THE COUNTESS OF ANNANDALE TO THE MARQUISE DE VILLEROI.

DELPHINE, Delphine, I am lost! The assassin is here--he has found me! and well do I know that neither the arm of love, nor the protection of our princely household, can shield me from this fiend in human shape.

I was regaining some portion of my lost peace the present was less bitter, the future less frowning; and I began to hope

that, by a deep contrition for the past, and a strict fulfilment of my new duties, I might ultimately obtain pardon from the Almighty. But it was not to be; for me there is no peace either here or hereafter: and terror, vague yet irresistible, palsies my nerves!

I left my chamber this morning with spirits less depressed than usual. The day was beautiful, and all nature seemed rejoicing. When I looked on the vast woods around this princely domain, and the countless herds of deer, grazing on the green lawns that intersperse them, the repose and grandeur of the scene delighted me; and I remembered, with pleasure, that this noble spot called me mistress. Its lord joined me on the terrace, and, marking the pleasure with which I gazed on the view, he drew me more affectionately to his side, and whispered kind, fond words, expressive of his increased partiality to Annandale Castle,

now that it had pleased me, and become a witness of his happiness.

How soothing is affection! and how do those who, like me, have known little of this sweetener of life, turn, with awakened tenderness, to him who administers the cordial! But why do I dwell on this now? Alas! I cling to the memory of this bright morning, and the hopes I then dared to indulge, as the last remnant of domestic peace; for the destroyer is at hand, and for his victim there is no escape.

Soon after breakfast, my husband proposed driving me in a pony phaeton; and we entered it, in cheerful spirits. Having proceeded through the beautiful grounds, he wished to shew me a picturesque point of view at the other side of a neighbouring village; in passing through which we suddenly came on him whose sight nearly deprived me of reason.

Hearing the wheels of a carriage, he turned round quickly, and, as I caught his glance, I uttered a piercing shriek, and fell back, nearly fainting. Lord Annandale instantly stopped, and, in the kindest way, inquired the cause of my alarm; which, when I had recovered, I attributed to the sight of a child running across the road, and my fears that it would be trampled by the horses.

I proposed returning to the castle, feeling too much agitated and unwell to continue our drive; and, even now that some hours have elapsed since I beheld that monster, I feel overpowered with terror: I dread being alone, and tremble each time that a servant enters, lest he should come to announce the presence of my enemy, or be the bearer of a letter from him.

Brief as was the glance I had of him, I saw that his apparel denoted the same state

of poverty as when I last had the misfortune. to behold him consequently, it is evident

that the large sum, and the price of the jewels plundered from my murdered aunt, must have all disappeared, and he is come here to extort fresh supplies.

What will become of me? Oh, Delphine! my heart faints within me, and my brain is nearly maddened. Death, in its most fearful shape, would be preferable to dragging on an existence, every moment of which may be embittered by the presence or menaces of that atrocious man; who, after all my sacrifices, may denounce me when I can no longer administer to his wants.

Sometimes, in a fit of desperation, I have thought of avowing all to Lord Annandale ; but a moment's reflection on the peculiarities of his character has led me to abandon the project. When I look around me, and