speaks of leaving. The young wife, conscious that the house
presents no attractions, and that soon she herself shall be laid by,
cannot urge Mrs. Leigh's stay as likely to give her any pleasure, but
only as a comfort to herself.

'You will think me very foolish; but I have tried two or three times,
and cannot talk to you of your departure with a decent visage: so let
me say one word in this way to spare my philosophy. With the
expectations which I have, I never will nor can ask you to stay one
moment longer than you are inclined to do. It would [be] the worst
return for all I ever received from you. But in this at least I am
"truth itself," when I say, that whatever the situation may be, there
is no one whose society is dearer to me, or can contribute more to my
happiness. These feelings will not change under any circumstances,
and I should be grieved if you did not understand them. Should you
hereafter condemn me, I shall not love you less. I will say no more.
Judge for yourself about going or staying. I wish you to consider
yourself, if you could be wise enough to do that, for the first time
in your life.

'Thine,

'A. I. B.'

Addressed on the cover, 'To The Hon. Mrs. Leigh.'

This letter not being dated, we have no clue but what we obtain from its
own internal evidence. It certainly is not written in Lady Byron's usual
clear and elegant style; and is, in this respect, in striking contrast to
all her letters that I have ever seen.

But the notes written by a young woman under such peculiar and
distressing circumstances must not be judged by the standard of calmer
hours.

Subsequently to this letter, and during that stormy, irrational period
when Lord Byron's conduct became daily more and more unaccountable, may
have come that startling scene in which Lord Byron took every pains to
convince his wife of improper relations subsisting between himself and
his sister.

What an utter desolation this must have been to the wife, tearing from
her the last hold of friendship, and the last refuge to which she had
clung in her sorrows, may easily be conceived.

In this crisis, it appears that the sister convinced Lady Byron that the
whole was to be attributed to insanity. It would be a conviction gladly
accepted, and bringing infinite relief, although still surrounding her
path with fea