state; and as it had not been ascertained what would prove to be the amount of his property, what her share might be was extremely uncertain.

This sum came very opportunely to the colonel, as it extricated him from the most pressing of his difficulties; added to which, Mrs. Mortimer had a considerable quantity of her aunt's wardrobes. The laces were very valuable, and she cleared by the disposal of them nearly three hundred pounds. Hubertine was very anxious that all the property she had become entitled to by her uncle's death should be settled on her children; but she was disappointed in this, as she had ever been in any wishes she had formed.

The journey abroad had not added to, her domestic felicity; she had met with such a warm and affectionate reception, and such kindness from her friends on the Continent, that the cold meeting which she received from her husband, his au

stere manners, and constant ill-humour, caused her to lament that she had ever united her fate with his. His health continued extremely bad, which increased his natural peevish disposition, and made it require all the fortitude which she could muster to perform her duties with any degree of cheerfulness.

She only returned from France in February, and war was again expected in the month of April. Colonel Mortimer expressed his fears, that if, during the peace, he did not secure his wife's property in Flanders, he should never get possession of it, and he again proposed that she should go to Brussels. This she made strong objections to, as her uncle had not yet been dead more than nine months, and her legacy therefore could not be paid; even if it was, most probably the property could not be disposed of without considerable loss. She also hoped, by its remaining abroad, to secure it to her children; but all she

could advance on this subject was of no avail. He insisted on her going and disposing of her share of the Baron's property immediately; but she had suffered such insults in travelling in the public diligences without a companion or servant in her former expedition, that she resolved, let the consequences prove ever so fatal to her, not to undertake such a journey a second time without a female attendant. At length the Colonel consented to her being accompanied by the widow of a clergyman; and as she paid half her own expences, it did not cost him more than if he had sent a servant with his wife.

The ladies reached Calais without any accident, and Hubertine once more had the pleasure of finding her beloved nuns all well. She only staid a few hours with them, as in the present crisis of poditical affairs she thought it prudent to pursue her journey immediately, and not run the risk of being detained in France,

which, to say the truth, would have been most agreeable to her feelings, if she had not had children who demanded her immediate care and attention.

When she arrived in Brussels, she found every thing in the same state as she left them at her departure from thence, Much of her uncle's property had not yet been discovered: they had found some money buried in his garden, and a small quantity of plate; and they had reason to suppose that the earth concealed much more. Great objections were adduced respecting selling the estates, as money was at that time very scarce, and the country still felt the disastrous effects of the war, under which they had recently smarted, and the people dreaded that they should soon be engaged in another; few persons were therefore anxious to purchase land, as they preferred keeping their money for fear of, or rather to be prepared for, the future.

By every post Mrs. Mortimer received

letters from the Colonel, urging her to dispose of her legacy at all events, as it was absolutely indispensable that he should have money. She consulted her relations abroad, candidly explaining to them her situation; and as they found that she could not return to England without money, they had proper deeds drawn, making over her share of the Baron d'Arrambert's property to a Monsieur de la Motte for five hundred pounds. The latter was a man of strict honour, and could be trusted; and a clause was inserted in the deed, by which, if the property sold for more than that sum, Hubertine was to have the half of such increase. The woods, which were valuable, and could not then be disposed of, were not included in this agreement.

Mrs. Mortimer staid about a fortnight in Flanders, as she thought it adviseable to pay some attention to her mother's relations: they were persons of rank and wealth; and she hoped, hereafter, that