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of her window, in the hope of his words reaching her.

She heard him sigh deeply, but for some time she could not distinguish whether he spoke or not; at length she heard him exclaim, "O Heaven, have mercy! take me, O take me to thy eternal repose!" again he breathed a lengthened sigh of despair, again he sunk upon the ground, and once more silence prevailed.

Thus elapsed a space of several minutes. With a start as vivid as the lightning, she then saw him rise upon his feet; here he paused, his face raised, and his hands extended towards Heaven; "Forgive, merciful Providence!" he cried, "the rashness of the act!" and darted in an instant from her sight.

"Miserable wretch!" mentally exclaimed Eleonora; "suicide is his purpose!" and it was with difficulty that she could restrain herself from uttering an exclamation fo withhold him from his design.

In a few moments she beheld him flying,

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with the swiftness of an antelope, along a path which led to the banks of the river; she now attempted to call, but her tongue cleaved to her mouth, and denied her the power of utterance. Now she saw him precipitately climbing the eminence from whence she had a couple of evenings before witnessed the humanity of Sir Sigismund; from thence she dreaded that he intended to plunge himself into the river; her blood turned cold, every sense but that of sight died within her. Now he extended his arms to throw himself forward at this instant his companion darted upon him, and forcibly withdrew him from the spot of danger.

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Eleonora clasped her hands, and breathed a prayer of thankfulness to Heaven for its interposition in his favour.

On again looking out, she observed the preserver of his companion's life leading him by the arm along a path which ran immediately opposite to her window; they continued to approach, and she observed,

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that the countenance of him who had endeavoured to commit the rash act, from which he had just been saved, was buried in his hands; she received it as a mark of his contrition, and her pity was more strongly than ever excited towards him.

From him she turned her eyes towards his companion; the tall lankness of his form peculiarly struck her, and she could not forbear imagining that she had seen a figure resembling his before her arrival at Castle Gower; at the moment this idea entered her mind, the light of the moon fell full on his contenance; and, to her inexpressible astonishment, she recognised in him, past all possibility of doubt, the pallid and terrific being whom she had once for an instant beheld at the entrance of the hermit Agatha's lonely dwelling!

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CHAP. III.

"Full many a melancholy night
He watch'd the slow return of light;

And sought the pow'rs of sleep,

To spread a momentary calm

O'er his sad couch, and in the balm

Of bland oblivion's dews, his burning eyes to steep."

T. WARTON.

"When we in our viciousness grow hard,
Oh misery on't! the wise gods seal our eyes,
drop our clear judgments, make us
Adore our errors, laugh at's, while we strut
To our confusion."

SHAKSPEARE.

ELEONORA passed a restless night. When Gillian, on the following morning, entered her chamber, she perceived that her lady's spirits appeared more discomposed than when she had left her on the preceding evening. She made the observation with sorrow; for the kind complacency of Eleonora's disposition had gained her the

warmest

warmest affection from her attendant; and when Eleonora confessed that Gillian's remark was a just one, the faithful girl exclaimed," Now do, pray, my dear Lady, make yourself as comfortable as you can in your present miserable situationdo pray do. When things get to the worst, the proverb says they mend; so do try and give your thoughts to the retrospect of the future, and don't be always anticipating the past."

Ill at ease as was the heart of Eleonora, she could scarcely forbear a smile at the eloquence of her simple companion, who continued thus:-"Then, my Lady, consider what the worthy Bishop, your good father, used so often to preach to us, 'That when we are unhappy, we should consider how many are unhappy besides ourselves, and perhaps a great deal more miserable than we are;' as much as to say with the proverb, at least so I understand it, 'That we ought to let company in distress make our trouble the less.' I am

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