favour in which he stood with the King and Government; in proof of which he exhibited the royal grant, to him and his heirs, of his uncle's estate; and concluded with a formal avowal of his passion, and demand of her hand, urging her to observe, that he came once more as her deliverer, to rescue her from poverty, obscurity and reproach, and restore her, as well as his aunt, to wealth, society, respect, and a residence upon the lost estate of their an

cestors.

Equally unconvinced by his arguments and untempted by his offers, Julia assured him that she could only repeat the expression of the deep gratitude which, for herself personally, she should ever feel bound to entertain towards him; declaring at the same time, in the most explicit and unequivocal terms, that he need never look for the smallest success in his suit, as her affections were not in her own power to bestow; and she therefore urged him to abandon a pursuit which was equally hopeless to him,

and painful to herself and her mother, who had declared her unalterable resolution of never seeing him. With this formal rejection she curtsied and left the room, in spite of all his efforts to detain her, hoping that by the decided manner of his dismissal, he would be discouraged from persecuting her any further. This, however, was far from being the case: in spite of all interdicts he again repeatedly made his way into the house, renewing his solicitations with increased vehemence; and after the doors had been shut against him, he not only accosted Julia and Constantia in an angry and alarming manner, whenever they walked beyond their own premises; but beleaguering the garden, which was only separated from the forest by a hedge, he listened to their conversation, and again urged his overtures with violence of behaviour that almost amounted to menace. Week after week, and month after month, passed away with little variation in this succession of annoyance, except that their tormentor aggravated it by

insolently declaring he would never abandon his pursuit; until at length the inmates of Pippingford Lodge, feeling the unprotected nature of their situation, knowing the character of their assailant, and dreading the desperate expedients to which he might ultimately have recourse, began to consider the propriety of abandoning their abode, and seeking a new place of refuge.

On the discovery of Valentine Walton's real history, Jocelyn had congratulated himself that he had resisted the first impulse of his passion, and had not compromised himself with the daughter of a regicide, a connection which would have been considered little less than treasonable in any one holding a situation about the Court. The disparaging conclusions he had drawn from having seen Julia arm-in-arm with Lady Castlemaine and her cousin, confirmed this feeling. He held himself happy in having escaped from a fascinating but artful woman, whose family was disreputable, and whose character was licentious. He considered that his passion was com

pletely eradicated from his heart, and complimented himself upon the prudence and resolution with which he had effected that difficult measure. But these were transient impressions; there was a void in his bosom which no other object could supply; his thoughts reverted to the first mistress of his affections, sometimes with anger, sometimes with pity, but always with regret; and notwithstanding his experience of its past inefficacy, he again plunged into dissipation in the vain hope of abstracting his thoughts from the painful subject upon which they were perpetually brooding.

Such had been his course of life for some time, when upon returning home one morning, he was told that there was a lady in his apartment, who had been waiting for him two or three hours. Surprised at this intelligence he entered the chamber, when a female figure arose from the chair in which she had been sitting, threw back her hood, and discovered to Jocelyn the large black eyes which he had

never forgotten since they first arrested his attention in the grand tournament at Paris. "Good heavens !" he ejaculated-" Constantia Beverning here!"

"Yes, sir,” replied Constantia-“ I am once more a despiser of conventional forms and observances, for which I have no other excuse than that I slight them, as I did before, in order to render services to my fellow-creatures. I have made a discovery which, I trust, will secure the happiness of the two people I most esteem upon earth, if it be made known to them, but of which, if the established punctilios of social intercourse are to be observed, they may for ever remain ignorant. Before I divulge it, I have one question to ask. You formerly confessed to me that your whole heart was devoted to Julia. Does that attachment continue ?"

"Alas!" replied Jocelyn, "I wish I could answer in the negative. I wish I could tear from my bosom the memory of a woman whom I still love, though she has proved herself unworthy of my affections."