t of the question. The Count was furious, as he tried in
vain to shake the solid obstacle; Lafontaine was in despair. I,
rather more quietly, took it for granted that the guillotine would
settle all our troubles in the course of the next day; and the pretty
Julie, in a deluge of tears, charging herself with having undone us
all, hung upon the neck of her cavalier, and pledged herself, by all
the hopes and fears of passion, to die along with him. While the
lovers were exchanging their last vows, Lafontaine, in all the
vexation of his soul, was explaining to me the matchless excellence of
the plot, which had been thus defeated in the very moment of promised
success.

"You perhaps remember," said he, "the letter which the father of
Mariamne, that dearest girl whom I shall now never see again in this
world, gave you for one of his nation in Paris. On the night when I
last saw you, I had found it lying on your table; and in the confusion
of the moment, when I thought you killed, and rushed into the street
to gain some tidings of you, I took charge of the letter, to assist me
in the enquiry. Unlucky as usual, I fell into the hands of a rabble
returning from the plunder of the palace, was fired on, was wounded,
and carried to the St Lazare. The governor was a man of honour and a
royalist, and he took care of me during a dangerous illness and a slow
recovery. But to give me liberty was out of his power. I had lost
sight of the world so long, that the world lost sight of me, and I
remained, forgetting and forgotten; until, within these two days--when
I received a note from the head of the family to whom your letter was
directed, informing me that you had been arrested and sent to the very
prison in which I was--my recollection of the world suddenly revived,
and I determined to save you if possible. I had grown familiar with
the proceedings of that tribunal of demons, the Revolutionary
committee; and as I had no doubt of your condemnation, through the
mere love of bloodshed, I concerted with my Jewish friend the plan of
having you claimed as a British agent, who had the means of making
important disclosures to the government. If this succeeded, your life
was saved for the day, and your escape was prepared for the night.
This weeping girl is the daughter of the late governor, who has
engaged in our plot to save the life of her affianced husband; and
now, within an hour of daylight, when escape will be impossible, all
our plans ar