read. The direction was in a small,
delicate hand, and the post-mark New York. Hurriedly opening it,
when she saw this, she read its brief contents, which were as
follow:

"DEAR HENRY--I heard, indirectly, within the last hour, that you
were married. I cannot believe it, yet the thought has maddened me!
If you do not come to me by to-morrow night, I will go to you on the
following day--for the truth or falsity of what I have heard must be
verified to me at once. If it be true--God help the innocent heart
you have betrayed, and most cruelly wronged. It can only break!

"ADELAIDE."

"The trembling hands of the horror-stricken wife could hold the
fatal epistle no longer than to permit her eyes to rest upon the
signature. It then fell rustling to the floor, and she sat pale,
quivering in every nerve, and unconscious of any thing but a wild
whirling of all her senses.

"It was my fortune, or misfortune, to call upon my young friend just at
this time. I was told that she was in her chamber; and, as our intimacy
was very great, I took a liberty we were in the habit of taking with
each other, and went up to her, unannounced. My gentle tap at her door
not being answered, I opened it and went in. As I have just described
her, thus I found her. My entrance but partially restored her
self-command. She stared wildly at me, stretched out her hands, and made
an effort to speak. I sprang toward her, and she fell forward against my
bosom, with a deep groan that made me shudder. Thus she lay for nearly
five minutes as still as a statue. Then a slight quiver ran through her
frame, which was followed by a gush of tears. For a long time she
continued weeping and sobbing, but at length grew calmer. All this time
I could see an open letter lying upon the floor, which I doubted not was
the caused of this distressing scene. When the self-command of Harriet
was at last restored, and she began to reflect upon the consequences
likely to flow from another's witnessing the wild agitation she had
displayed, a shade of anxious confusion passed over her face. At this
moment her eye rested upon the fatal letter, which she caught up eagerly
and concealed. I asked no question, nor made any remarks. She looked at
me steadily for a moment, and then let her eyes fall thoughtfully to the
floor.

"'You are surprised and confounded, no doubt,' she at length said,
mournfully, 'at what you have seen. Pardon me if I refrain from
mentioning the cause. It is