image of the most lovely and injured of women! conscious that I merited the vengeance of Heaven, not on my own account, but thine, did I wish to ward off the blow of justice; I wished to save thy gentle nature from the bitter pangs of seeing thy father dragged to torture, and the yet bitterer pangs of knowing he deserved it. But that wish is frustrated at the very time when its frustration was least expected; no doubt for the wisest purposes, to prove to mankind that guilt can never hope for lasting concealment. How my unfortunate story became known to D'Alembert, I cannot conceive; but that it is, that fatal instrument of death too plainly proves. Yes, he spoke truth when he said the blood of innocence had polluted it; it did, and now cries aloud for mine."
"Oh, horror!" groaned Madeline.
"In mercy, in pity to me (exclaimed St. Julian, again straining her to his bosom), try to compose your feelings! Oh, let me not have the excruciating misery of thinking I destroyed my child: exert your resolution,
