diamonds, placed them in the case, and put it within his coat, which he buttoned over it. In vain I implored him not to take them, and promised to send him money the very next day. He was deaf to my entreaties; and, having said that, shortly, he would call again, and be presented to milord, he rang the bell, and, when the domestic arrived, took a respectful leave of me, and departed. I am utterly confounded; and so agitated, by contending emotions, that I am incapable of thinking. Though the jewels are of great value, my husband attaches even more importance to them from the number of years they have been in the family, than from their intrinsic worth. How shall I be able to conceal that I no longer possess them? How get off appearing at court to-morrow? I am all in a tremor! I must lie down, for my head swims, and I can scarcely support myself. Delphine, I would prefer death to seeing this wretch intrude himself into the presence of my husband, to remind me of a crime I would give worlds to forget, and the memory of which, ever since I became a wife, is more hateful to me than ever. Think of a miscreant, stained with theft-with murder finding himself beneath the roof of an honourable man, and I tacitly sanctioning his monstrous effrontery by my silence! O God, have pity on me! Lord Annandale found me so ill when he returned, that he was the first to propose my abandoning all thought of going to the drawing-room to-day. This is a reprieve; but, alas! a brief one; for in ten days more there will be another, and I shall be expected to go. The kindness of my husband melts me to tears—and this was the man I judged so harshly! How my heart reproaches me; and how I wish I were more worthy of his affection! When Claudine asked me, last night, for the diamonds to fasten on my dress, I felt cheeks glow as I told her that I had locked them up. "Madame la comtesse's illness was very sudden," observed she; "for I thought I had not seen sa seigneurie so well for a long time as just before that gentleman arrived." I was painfully conscious that I again changed countenance. "It was strange, madame la comtesse," resumed she," that the tones of his voice, and the air of that gentleman, quite startled me, by reminding me of that terrible man who came to le château d'Annandale.” Think how I trembled! "One often does see such strange resemblances," continued she. "This gentleman is about the same height, but he has no whiskers; and then he has not a patch over his eye. Enfin, this is a grand seigneur, and the other was like a mendicant. Still one reminds me of the other." How I writhed while she spoke! I think I can perceive - but it may be only my timid sense of guilt that suggests the apprehension— that she already associates in her mind the visit of this man, my sudden indisposition, and the disappearance of the diamonds. My position is a fearful one, and becomes every day more precarious. The state of incessant agitation and alarm in which this wretch plunges me has destroyed my health; and there are moments when I feel such a total prostration of physical as well as moral strength, that I am led to think I cannot long sustain this life of wretchedness. This man is my scourge the avenger of all my sins. Oh! may the Almighty accept the pangs I now endure as some atonement for my transgressions, and limit my suffering to this life; permitting me to hope that, in the life to come, I may be pardoned. Should my prophetic forebodings be realised should death soon end the insupportable anguish I endure, I entreat - nay, more, I command you, Delphine, to make known to Lord and Lady Vernon, and Lord Annandale, the perfect innocence of the wronged Augusta. To-day, Delphine, De Carency presented himself in due form at my door. The audacity of this man is not to be imagined. On hearing that I was indisposed, and not visible, he inquired for Lord Annandale, and sent in his card; was shewn into the library, and acted l'aimable so adroitly to my husband, representing himself as an old friend of mine, and the bearer of sundry messages to me from you, |