bark,
The beautiful by love enshrined,
And worshipp'd with such fond excess;
Whose being with my being twined
In one bright dream of happiness,
Not death itself can rend apart
The link that binds thee to my heart.

Spurn not the crush'd and wither'd flower;
There yet shall dawn a brighter hour,
When ev'ry tear you shed o'er this
Shall be repaid with tenfold bliss;
And hope's bright arch shall span the cloud
That wraps us in its envious shroud.
Then banish from thy breast for ever
The cold, ungenerous thought of ill,
Falsehood awhile our hearts may sever,
But injured worth must triumph still.

Juliet did not for a moment doubt that Anthony Hurdlestone was the
author of these lines, and involuntarily she pressed the paper to her
lips. Realities are stern things, but Juliet could not now believe him
guilty: and with all the romance of her nature, she was willing to hope
against hope; and she retired to bed, comforted for her past sufferings,
and as much in love with Anthony as ever.

While Juliet enjoyed a profound and tranquil sleep, her unfortunate
lover was a prey to the most agonising doubts and fears. "Surely,
surely, she cannot think me guilty," thought the devoted Anthony, as he
tossed from side to side upon his restless bed. "She is too generous to
condemn me without further evidence. Yet, why do I cling to a forlorn
hope? Stronger minds than hers would believe appearances which speak so
loudly against me. But why should I bear this brand of infamy? I will go
to her in the morning and expose the real criminal."

This idea, entertained for a moment, was quickly abandoned. What, if he
did expose his cousin's guilt, might not Godfrey deny the facts, and
Mary, in order to shield her unprincipled lover, bear him out in his
denial; and then his ingratitude to the father would be more
conspicuously displayed in thus denouncing his son. No: for Algernon's
sake he would bear the deep wrong, and leave to Heaven the vindication
of his honor. He had made an appeal to her feelings; and youth, ever
sanguine, fondly hoped that it had not been made in vain.

Another plan suggested itself to his disturbed mind. He would inform
Godfrey of the miserable situation in which he was placed, and trust to
his generosity to exonerate him from the false charge, which Mary, in
her waywardness or madness, had fixed upon him. Judging his cousin's
mind by his own,