De Valette then quitted the house, and Stanhope gladly sought the
solitude of his own apartment, where he could reflect, at leisure, on
the agitating events of the few last hours. He walked to and fro, with
rapid steps, till, exhausted by his excitement, he threw himself beside
an open window, and endeavoured to collect the confused ideas, which
crowded on his mind and memory. The noise of mirth and music had long
since passed away, and the weary guard, who walked his dull round of
duty in solitude and silence, was the only living object which met his
eye. No sound was abroad, but the voice of the restless stream, which
glittered beneath the rising moon;--the breath of midnight fanned him
with its refreshing coolness, and the calm beauty of that lonely hour
gradually soothed his restless spirits.

He had encountered the object of a fond and cherished attachment, but
under circumstances of perplexity and doubt, which marred the pleasure
of that unexpected meeting. More than two years had elapsed since he
first saw Luciè de Courcy, then residing in the north of England,
whither she had accompanied a maternal aunt, the widow of an Englishman
of rank and fortune. Madame Rossville, who was in a declining state of
health, had yielded to the importunity of her husband's connexions, and
left her native land for the summer months, hoping to receive benefit
from change of scene and climate. She had no children, and Luciè, whom
she adopted in infancy, was dear to her, as a daughter could have been.
They resided at a short distance from the elder Mr. Stanhope; and the
strict Hugonot principles of the French invalid interested the rigid
puritan, and led to a friendly intimacy between the families.

Arthur Stanhope had then just retired from his profession, and the
chagrin and disappointment, which at first depressed his spirits,