Page:The Mysterious Warning - Parsons (1796, volume 4).djvu/193

 lady will be happy; for she is a most charming young woman."

"Indeed she is," replied the Count;—"Heaven grant my friend may be alive; the rest we must leave to Providence."

They returned to the house, not a little disconcerted that accident had revealed what they had so industriously sought to conceal.

Mean time, Mr. D'Alenberg found it requisite, for the peace of his daughter, to enter into a full explanation of their hopes and fears; disguise would no longer avail to impose upon her, and he candidly laid every thing before her.

When he had concluded, and again mentioned hope,

"My dear Sir," said she, interrupting him, with a solemnity of look and accent, that penetrated to his heart—"my dear Sir, do not attempt to delude me with hope; rather seek to strengthen my mind, and fortify it to expect the worst. I always told you, because I always felt, that the preference I entertain-