eliberation. In
a few minutes the flame of resentment was again lighted up in his bosom.
He proceeded with his accustomed vehemence--

"I hate myself for this folly. I can find no apology for this tale. Yet
I am irresistibly impelled to relate it. She that hears me is apprized
of every particular. I have only to repeat to her her own words. She
will listen with a tranquil air, and the spectacle of her obduracy will
drive me to some desperate act. Why then should I persist! yet persist I
must."

Again he paused. "No," said he, "it is impossible to repeat your avowals
of love, your appeals to former confessions of your tenderness, to
former deeds of dishonor, to the circumstances of the first interview
that took place between you. It was on that night when I traced you to
this recess. Thither had he enticed you, and there had you ratified an
unhallowed compact by admitting him--

"Great God! Thou witnessedst the agonies that tore my bosom at that
moment! Thou witnessedst my efforts to repel the testimony of my ears!
It was in vain that you dwelt upon the confusion which my unlooked-for
summons excited in you; the tardiness with which a suitable excuse
occurred to you; your resentment that my impertinent intrusion had
put an end to that charming interview: A disappointment for which you
endeavoured to compensate yourself, by the frequency and duration of
subsequent meetings.

"In vain you dwelt upon incidents of which you only could be conscious;
incidents that occurred on occasions on which none beside your own
family were witnesses. In vain was your discourse characterized by
peculiarities inimitable of sentiment and language. My conviction was
effected only by an accumulation of the same tokens. I yielded not but
to evidence which took away the power to withhold my faith.

"My sight was of no use to me. Beneath so thick an umbrage, the darkness
was intense. Hearing was the only avenue to information, which the
circumstances allowed to be open. I was couched within three feet
of you. Why should I approach nearer? I could not contend with your
betrayer. What could be the purpose of a contest? You stood in no need
of a protector. What could I do, but retire from the spot overwhelmed
with confusion and dismay? I sought my chamber, and endeavoured to
regain my composure. The door of the house, which I found open, your
subsequent entrance, closing, and fastening it, and going into your
chamber, which had been thus long