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Rh of bringing him to a more decided and immediate result.

Valpée, however, had not made up his mind to address her, having without any such éclaircissement returned to his paternal seat; when the thoughts of Oriana, as usual, became wholly centred in Philimore. If betrayed by him, how wretched would become her existence! Alas! at the moment of such a reflection, she trod upon the brink she dreaded.

Her mortification and disappointment we have already described. Sensibly touched by the renewed kindness of her aunt, the confidence she had reposed in her proving so much more fortunate than she had dared to anticipate; she determined on communicating to Philimore the step she had taken, judging that, as it so essentially regarded him, it might tend to revive his fading hopes. As a last effort, she would try to rekindle in his heart a latent spark of the affection he had vowed for her, perhaps not yet wholly extinct.

Having sent her letter, she trembled for its fate! She scarcely allowed herself to hope, seeming as if on its issue depended the happiness or misery of her future life. It might restore her Philimore, or deprive her of him for ever! When labouring under the acute and painful feeling of suspense, thought seems ever active to multiply and aggravate every detail that may still farther oppress the heart. And thus was it with Oriana.