powerfully, I cannot divest the thoughts of thee from a certain sadness;
and so the stars, which are like thee, which are full of thee, have a
sadness also! And this, the bed, where every morning I stretch my arms
for thee, and find thee not, and have yet to live through the day, and on
which I now write this letter to thee--for, I who used to rise with the
sun, am now too dispirited not to endeavour to cheat the weary day--I have
made them place nearer to the window; and I look out upon the still skies
every night, and have made a friend of every star I see. I question it of
thyself, and wonder, when thou lookest at it, if thou hast any thought of
me. I love to look upon the heavens much more than upon the earth; for
the trees, and the waters and the hills around, thou canst not behold; but
the same heaven which I survey is above thee also; and this, our common
companion, seems in some measure to unite us. And I have thought over my
father's lore, and have tried to learn it; Day, thou mayest smile, but it
is thy absence that has taught me superstition.

"But tell me, dearest, kindest, tell me when--oh, when wilt then return?
Return only this once--if but for a day, and I will never persecute thee
again. Truant as thou art, thou shalt have full liberty for life. But I
cannot tell thee how sad and heavy I am grown, and every hour knocks at my
heart like a knell! Come back to thy poor Lucilla--if only to see what
joy is! Come--I know thou wilt! But should anything I do not foresee
detain thee, fix at least the day--nay, if possible, the hour--when we
shall meet, and let the letter which conveys such happy tidings be long,
and kind, and full of thee, as thy letters once were. I know I weary
thee, but I cannot help it. I am weak, and dejected, and cast down, and
have only heart enough to pray for thy return."

"You have conquered--you have conquered, Lucilla!" said Godolphin, as he
kissed this wild and reproachful letter, and thrust it into his bosom;