d to intercept during a journey taken by Seyton."

"Heavens! Can it be possible?"

"Can you now account for my contempt and aversion towards you?"

"Too, too well!"

"In this letter you developed your ambitious projects with unblushing
effrontery. Me you spoke of with the utmost indifference, treating me
but as the blind instrument by which you should arrive at the princely
station predicted for you. You expressed your opinion that my father had
already lived long enough,--perhaps too long; and hinted at
probabilities and possibilities too horrible to repeat!"

"Alas! All is now but too apparent. I am lost for ever!"

"And yet to protect you, I had even menaced my father's existence!"

"When he next visited me, and, without uttering one word of reproach,
put into my hands your letter, every line of which more clearly revealed
the black enormity of your nature, I could but kneel before him and
entreat his pardon. But from that hour I have been a prey to the
deepest, the most acute remorse. I immediately quitted Germany for the
purpose of travelling, with the intent, if possible, of expiating my
guilt; and this self-imposed task I shall continue while I live. To
reward the good, to punish the evil-doer, relieve those who suffer,
penetrate into every hideous corner where vice holds her court, for the
purpose of rescuing some unfortunate creatures from the destruction into
which they have fallen,--such is the employment I have marked out for
myself."

"It is a noble and holy task,--one worthy of being performed by you."

"If I speak of this sacred vow," said Rodolph, disdainfully, "it is not
to draw down your approbation or praise. But hearken to what remains to
be told; I have lately arrived in France, and I wished not to let my
great purpose of continual expiatory acts stand still during my sojourn
in this country. While I sought then to succour those of good
reputation, who were in unmerited distress, I was also desirous of
knowing that class of miserable beings who are beaten down, trampled
under feet, and brutalised by want and wretchedness, well knowing that
timely help, a few kind and encouraging words, may frequently have
power to save a lost creature from the abyss into which he is falling.
In order to be an eye-witness of the circumstances under which my work
of expiation would be useful, I assumed the dress and appearance of
those I wished to mix with. It was during one of these exploring
adventures tha