ting himself was present,
and he was ashamed to give so glaring an instance of his infidelity,
which must in all probability render him the contempt of both.

This night, however, lost Melanthe the heart she had thought herself so
secure of; but little suspecting her misfortune, she treated the
inconstant count with a tenderness he was far from deserving; and having
transplanted all the affection she once had for Henricus on this new
object, told him, at a time that such discovery was least welcome to
him, that she was not insensible of his merit, nor could be ungrateful
to his passion, provided she could be convinced of the sincerity of it.
He had gone too far with her now to be able to draw back, therefore
could not avoid repeating the vows he before had made, tho' his heart
was far from giving any asient to what his tongue was obliged to utter;
but blinded by her own desires, she perceived not the change in his, and
appointed him to come the next day to her lodgings, promising to be
denied to all other company, that she might devote herself entirely
to him.

It is possible he was so lost in his passion for Louisa, as not to be
sensible of the condescension made him by Melanthe; but it is certain,
by the sequel of his behaviour, that he was much less so than he
pretended.

The ball being ended, these ladies carried with them very different
emotions, tho' neither communicated to the other what she felt. Melanthe
had a kind of awe for those virtuous principles she observed in Louisa,
tho' so much her inferior and dependant, and was ashamed to confess her
liking of the count should have brought her to such lengths; not that
she intended to keep it always a secret from her, but chose she should
find it out by degrees; and these thoughts so much engrossed her, that
she said little to her that night. Louisa, for her part, having lost the
presence of her agreeable partner, was busy in supplying that deficiency
with the idea of him; so that each having meditations of her own of the
most interesting nature, had not leisure to observe the thoughtfulness
of the other, much less to enquire the motive of it.

One of the great reasons that we find love so irresistable, is, that it
enters into the heart with so much subtilty, that it is not to be
perceived till it has gathered too much strength to be repulsed. If
Louisa had imagined herself in any danger from the merits of monsieur du
Plessis, she would at least have been less e