e had made. Still I
was not satisfied, nor nearly so; young minds have a reluctance almost
insurmountable to believing upon any thing short of unquestionable
proof, the existence of premeditated guilt in any one whom they have
ever trusted; and in support of this feeling I was assured that if the
assertion of Lord Glenfallen, which nothing in this woman's manner had
led me to disbelieve, were true, namely, that her mind was unsound,
the whole fabric of my doubts and fears must fall to the ground.
I determined to state to Lord Glenfallen freely and accurately the
substance of the communication which I had just heard, and in his
words and looks to seek for its proof or refutation; full of these
thoughts I remained wakeful and excited all night, every moment
fancying that I heard the step, or saw the figure of my recent visitor
towards whom I felt a species of horror and dread which I can hardly
describe. There was something in her face, though her features had
evidently been handsome, and were not, at first sight, unpleasing,
which, upon a nearer inspection, seemed to indicate the habitual
prevalence and indulgence of evil passions, and a power of expressing
mere animal anger, with an intenseness that I have seldom seen
equalled, and to which an almost unearthly effect was given by the
convulsive quivering of the sightless eyes. You may easily suppose
that it was no very pleasing reflection to me to consider, that
whenever caprice might induce her to return, I was within the reach of
this violent, and, for aught I knew, insane woman, who had, upon that
very night, spoken to me in a tone of menace, of which her mere words,
divested of the manner and look with which she uttered them, can
convey but a faint idea. Will you believe me when I tell you that I
was actually afraid to leave my bed in order to secure the door, lest
I should again encounter the dreadful object lurking in some corner or
peeping from behind the window curtains, so very a child was I in my
fears.

The morning came, and with it Lord Glenfallen. I knew not, and
indeed I cared not, where he might have been; my thoughts were wholly
engrossed by the terrible fears and suspicions which my last
night's conference had suggested to me; he was, as usual, gloomy and
abstracted, and I feared in no very fitting mood to hear what I had
to say with patience, whether the charges were true or false. I was,
however, determined not to suffer the opportunity to pass, or L