I was sensible of the inconveniencies
to which my being discovered at your chamber door by any one within
would subject me; I therefore called out in my own voice, but so
modified that it should appear to ascend from the court below, 'Who is
in the chamber? Is it Miss Wieland?"

"No answer was returned to this summons. I listened, but no motion could
be heard. After a pause I repeated my call, but no less ineffectually.

"I now approached nearer the door, and adventured to look in. A light
stood on the table, but nothing human was discernible. I entered
cautiously, but all was solitude and stillness.

"I knew not what to conclude. If the house were inhabited, my call would
have been noticed; yet some suspicion insinuated itself that silence was
studiously kept by persons who intended to surprize me. My approach had
been wary, and the silence that ensued my call had likewise preceded it;
a circumstance that tended to dissipate my fears.

"At length it occurred to me that Judith might possibly be in her own
room. I turned my steps thither; but she was not to be found. I passed
into other rooms, and was soon convinced that the house was totally
deserted. I returned to your chamber, agitated by vain surmises and
opposite conjectures. The appointed hour had passed, and I dismissed the
hope of an interview.

"In this state of things I determined to leave a few lines on your
toilet, and prosecute my journey to the mountains. Scarcely had I taken
the pen when I laid it aside, uncertain in what manner to address you.
I rose from the table and walked across the floor. A glance thrown upon
the bed acquainted me with a spectacle to which my conceptions of horror
had not yet reached.

"In the midst of shuddering and trepidation, the signal of your presence
in the court below recalled me to myself. The deed was newly done:
I only was in the house: what had lately happened justified any
suspicions, however enormous. It was plain that this catastrophe was
unknown to you: I thought upon the wild commotion which the discovery
would awaken in your breast: I found the confusion of my own thoughts
unconquerable, and perceived that the end for which I sought an
interview was not now to be accomplished.

"In this state of things it was likewise expedient to conceal my being
within. I put out the light and hurried down stairs. To my unspeakable
surprize, notwithstanding every motive to fear, you lighted a candle and
proceeded to your