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 In order, my dear child, to save you from all premature uneasiness, I have avoided this communication till the hour of danger: reflect, therefore, seriously on what you ought to do.

My spirit, when you read these lines, shall hover over and bless you, whatever way you decide.

Florentina folded up the paper again in silence; and, after a pause which her two friends sensibly felt, added:—

“Possibly, my dear friends, this has caused the change in me which you have sometimes condemned. But tell me whether, situated as I am, you would not become troubled, and almost annihilated, by the prediction which announced your death on the very eve of your happiness?

“Here my recital ends. To-morrow the count returns from his travels. The ardour of his affection has induced him to fix on the third day after his arrival for the celebration of our marriage.”

“Then ’tis this very day!” exclaimed Amelia and Maria at the same moment; paleness and inquietude depicted on every feature, when their eyes glanced to a clock on the point of striking nine.

“Yes, this is indeed the decisive day,” replied Florentina, with a grave yet serene air. “The