revelled, was not the least attractive feature of that luxurious
sleeping apartment. Every arrangement being completed, and as it was
still early in the afternoon, Mrs. Belmont resolved to carry out a plan
which she had formed some days previously--a plan by which she could
enjoy an interview with Nero the black. The reader is already aware that
she disguised herself in boys' clothes, and accomplished her object
without much difficulty.

That evening, Mrs. Belmont was seated in the comfortable parlor of her
new abode, before a fine fire which glowed in the ample grate, and
diffused a genial warmth throughout the apartment. She had just partaken
of a luxurious supper; and the materials of the repast being removed,
she was indulging in reflections which were far more pleasing at that
moment, than any which had employed her mind since her separation from
her husband.

She was attired with tasteful simplicity; for although she expected no
company that evening, she had taken her usual pains to dress herself
becomingly and well, being a lady who never neglected her toilet, under
any circumstances--a trait of refinement which we cannot help admiring,
even in one so depraved and abandoned as she was.

As she lounged indolently upon the sofa, complacently regarding her
delicate foot, which, encased in a satin slipper, reposed upon the rich
hearth-rug, her thoughts ran somewhat in the following channel--:

'Well--I am now not only mistress of my own actions, but also mistress
of a splendidly furnished house. Ah, 'twas a fortunate day for me when I
separated from that man I once called husband! Yet with what cool
contempt he treated me on the night when he commanded me to leave his
house forever! How bitterly I hate that man--how I long to be revenged
upon him. Not that he has ever injured me--oh, no--'tis I that have
injured him; therefore do I hate him, and thirst for revenge! And poor
Nero, whom I visited this afternoon in his dungeon--how emaciated and
feeble has he become by close confinement in that gloomy place! His
liberation must be effected, at all hazards; for strange as it is, I
love the African passionately. Now, as regards my own position and
affairs: I am young, beautiful, and accomplished--skilled in human
nature and intrigue. Two distinct paths lie before me, which are equally
desirable: as a virtuous widow lady, I can win the love and secure the
hand of some rich and credulous gentleman, who, satisfied with h