ject on the green platform below; and the sounds
became fainter and fainter, till they softened into silence. She
listened, but they returned no more. Soon after, she observed the
planet trembling between the fringed tops of the woods, and, in the next
moment, sink behind them. Chilled with a melancholy awe, she retired
once more to her bed, and, at length, forgot for a while her sorrows in
sleep.

On the following morning, she was visited by a sister of the convent,
who came, with kind offices and a second invitation from the lady
abbess; and Emily, though she could not forsake the cottage, while the
remains of her father were in it, consented, however painful such a
visit must be, in the present state of her spirits, to pay her respects
to the abbess, in the evening.

About an hour before sun-set, La Voisin shewed her the way through the
woods to the convent, which stood in a small bay of the Mediterranean,
crowned by a woody amphitheatre; and Emily, had she been less unhappy,
would have admired the extensive sea view, that appeared from the green
slope, in front of the edifice, and the rich shores, hung with woods
and pastures, that extended on either hand. But her thoughts were
now occupied by one sad idea, and the features of nature were to her
colourless and without form. The bell for vespers struck, as she passed
the ancient gate of the convent, and seemed the funereal note for St.
Aubert. Little incidents affect a mind, enervated by sorrow; Emily
struggled against the sickening faintness, that came over her, and was
led into the presence of the abbess, who received her with an air of
maternal tenderness; an air of such gentle solicitude and consideration,
as touched her with an instantaneous gratitude; her eyes were filled
with tears, and the words she would have spoken faltered on her lips.
The abbess led her to a seat, and sat down beside her, still holding
her hand and regarding her in silence, as Emily dried her tears and
attempted to speak. 'Be composed, my daughter,' said the abbess in
a soothing voice, 'do not speak yet; I know all you would say. Your
spirits must be soothed. We are going to prayers;--will you attend
our evening service? It is comfortable, my child, to look up in our
afflictions to a father, who sees and pities us, and who chastens in his
mercy.'

Emily's tears flowed again, but a thousand sweet emotions mingled with
them. The abbess suffered her to weep without interruption, and watch