CHAPTER XXXV. "Tis bitterness enough to feel Our hopes and wishes vain, The dearly cherished pain; But worse it is to think, how blest Our dreams of life must be, Then feel the pang that wrings the breast, "THERE is no time to be lost, Sir,' uttered I," all your valuable property, and that which you hold in trust for Agatha, must this night be removed to the old Abbey ;—or it will lead to disclosures which we are yet forbidden to make: but, for the safety of your foster-daughter, I swear, by the Father of all creation, to leave her under the protection only of the Fisher Blust; and if he does not offer it to her in the supposition that by your death she has become a helpless orphan, I will then provide means for her escape from all the machinations of her cruel grandmother somewhere else but after this I must instantly depart in the most secret manner from the Cottage on the Cliff; and may very probably be accused of being a robber and a purloiner of your property and that of Miss Singleton; but this reproach I cannot avoid, and I had better lay myself under such a stigma than hazard the fury of the enraged Duchess, and expose the safety of my life, and that of all my confederates, to her direst vengeance.' เ "Be quick, then, in your operations, and let me in silence depart before you leave me time for a moment's serious reflection,' uttered the Captain, with considerable emotion; I have pledged my word to you for the preservation of your life, and I will never depart from it; but the torments I feel in separating myself from that beloved child are uncontrolable, for it is Nature's eloquence that pleads in her behalf. Be quick then, and let me depart ere I behold her loved form again, which, I confess, would stagger my firmest resolutions. Men are generally poor philosophers, Paulo Michello! it is a title of which many boast, but useless have been their efforts to maintain it. "And at best what is it but an absolute perversion of Nature's sacred rights?-feeling and humanity were never yet centered in a breast from which the tenderest emotions are shut out; but a good man scorns to ape what he does not truly feel; and I am no philosopher, neither am I ambitious of being thought one when woman, helpless woman, calls for that protection which Nature and Heaven give her an exclusive right to, did she possess no other from the softness of her sex. Man was born to protect woman, and when he does not do so, he degenerates into the brute creation, and bears no longer the image of the all-perfect Being who has formed him,-let me no longer then behold the sweet face of Agatha, if you wish me to be steady to my purpose, but by break of day provide me with a boat to convey me to the Abbey !' "I did so, lady, and you and your attendant Claribelle were locked in downy slumbers, when Captain Singleton, to whom I owed eternal gratitude for this last proof of the signal service he had rendered me, silently departed from his beloved Cottage on the Cliff; and ere he did so, how truly, how fervently did he pray for the safety and the peace of the angelic being whom he left behind him! "Remember that the safety of Agatha alone demands this sacrifice,' uttered he, as he stept into the boat. "Behold that bright-shining firmament above us!' exclaimed I; by that, and by Him who made it, Paulo Michello will be true to his trust!" "Farewell! ejaculated the Captain,- Till we meet again, may all good angels visit you with repose!' responded 1: and the 'boat pushed off for her destined course. "Lady, you are no stranger to the events which so rapidly succeeded to this momentous and awfully remembered night! for scarce two hours had elapsed after the departure of my valued friend, before that dreadful and tremendous fury of the elements began to appear, and to threaten us with one of the most violent hurricanes that the boldest and most experienced mariner ever yet had witnessed on the coast of Cromer! but I was well aware, lady, that Captain Singleton would reach the place of his destination long before he could feel much inconvenience from the coming storm. It was not for him that I endured any apprehension, but for you, lady, that I suffered the most agonizing sensations of grief, compunction, and remorse! The state of distraction to which I beheld you reduced for the supposed loss of an affectionate relative so perishing, together with the dreadful fate of the unhappy sufferers who really perished in the tempest of this night, nearly depri ved me of my faculties and of all power of exertion. It was an inauspicious omen, I imagined, of your future destiny in the fatal Cottage on the Cliff! and never was I so rejoiced as when the benevolent fisher came to your relief, and offered you an asylum beneath his friendly roof! which was the immediate signal for my retreat; my presence could now do no good, but possibly much evil; and though honest Peter would have received me into his mansion, as the confidential servant of my late master, I could not but perceive that in this act of humanity, he imposed great restraint on his feelings; and that he did not entertain a very violent predilection in my favour :-for which I freely forgave him, as I own that I had adopted some of the singularities of Captain Sinleton, namely, reserve and mystery; and for which, heaven knows, I had far greater occasion than my excellent friend.' "Well, lady, I very speedily made my exit after the departure of Captain Singleton, well knowing that as soon as you discovered the chests and library to be removed, I should be accused of having committed the robbery :-and so I was—but there was no alternative, and no means of vindicating myself from so foul a charge. "I therefore repaired to the Abbey as soon as possible, and imparted to Captain Singleton the pleasing intelligence that you and Claribelle were safely bestowed beneath the roof of the Fisher Blust. He was by no means satisfied, however, with the reports I had given him, and in disguise often made excursions to Cromer to learn how you were situated at the house of the fisher, and whenever indisposed, he assigned to me this perilous underta king (for perilous it was in both our situations) to inspect all that was going on at Herring Dale. To have appeared in my own character would have been little short of madness; hence I suggested the thought of putting on the attire of an old female gypsy, and in this character I had frequent opportunities not only of beholding you, Lady, but of knowing what passed in the Castle of Montault, for I often went thither to tell fortunes, and to sell posies of the wild-flowers which I culled on the seashore. I also encountered my old female acquaintance, the pretty Isabel, who without knowing what particular design I had in asking her questions, very freely imparted the whole budget of the family concerns, and so long as I predicted the speedy return of her faithless lover, who had so suddenly absconded, she refused me nothing that I was inclined to ask. One evening she informed me that the Duchess was going to reside at the Cottage on the Cliff: that she had rented it of the young lady who had lost her father, and that she believed, from some hints thrown out, that no good was intended to Miss Singleton by this sudden arrangement,-for that the Duchess had vowed vengeance against the beautiful orphan, because her grandson, Lord Montague Montault, had fallen desperately in love with her-and that the Marquis and Marchioness were in the utmost state of alarm about it, fearful that some clandestine proceeding might take place between the young couple. "Lord Montague Montault!' uttered I, my voice smothered to the old gipsy accent and he is destined to wear that sweet flower, Isabel,' pronounced I, crossing my hand in a most mysterious manner; yes, in spite of envious fate, Montague Montault will one day be the husband of that pretty lady.' Our lovely heroine blushed deeply at this remark, and betrayed the utmost embarrassment, which Paulo not appearing to notice, pursued his story. "But how can you predict that, mother?' said Isabel, laughing, seeing that Lord Montague is so rich and grand, and the son of a marquis, while Miss Singleton is only' "His superior both in rank and fortune,' cried I; ' it will turn out so, you may depend, my pretty Isabel, on a day and in an hour when they least expect it. I see it in the moon and in the stars. I hear it in the wild waves, and the winds echo back the sound. Angels have whispered it above in the sweet heavens, and who shall dare to disbelieve them?' "Suffice it to say, lady, that I also continued to whisper something in the ear of Isabel, which she was perfectly satisfied would one day come to pass; so I departed, firmly resolved to acquaint Captain Singleton with what I had gleaned, and to gain more intelligence at some future opportunity and it was to obtain more that I accosted you on the evening you were accompanying the Miss Blusts to the residence of Margaret Craftly. Do you remember the sprig of myrtle that I took from you in spite of your reluctance to part with it? and do you remember the mysterious voice that addressed you under the window of your chamber? It was mine, lady! I wished to apprise you that some one unseen watched over your happiness and guarded your safety. I also wrote that letter thrown into the window." "And did you also place that myrtle-tree beneath it?" inquired our heroine, with some impatience; "was that the gift of Paulo, or of—" Agatha paused and coloured deeply, while Paulo replied, No, lady! another hand than mine placed the blooming myrtle there; it was the gift of Lord Montague Montault. This too I learned from the ingenuous Isabel; and not thinking it prudent of the young Lord to make so clandestine an avowal of his passion, I cautioned you, lady, against all invidious attacks made upon your youthful and unsuspecting heart." "But you found it invulnerable to all such attacks, did not you, Paulo?" cried Agatha, with much spirit; "it is neither in the power of Lord Montague or any one else to alter its determination, when once it suspects mystery or insidious design. I hold no intercourse with any human being who does not approach me by. open, fair, and honourable means." "You are unquestionably right, lady," answered Paulo, "and though I pity the passion with which you have inspired the young Montault, I commend the prudence and the delicacy you have |