welcomed by some new hope--the evening brought with it disappointment.

At length hope was no more; despair usurped her place; and the
mansion which was once the mansion of peace, became the habitation

of pale, dejected melancholy.
The chearful smile that was wont to adorn the face of Mrs. Temple

was fled, and had it not been for the support of unaffected piety,
and a consciousness of having ever set before her child the fairest

example, she must have sunk under this heavy affliction.
"Since," said she, "the severest scrutiny cannot charge me with any

breach of duty to have deserved this severe chastisement, I will bow
before the power who inflicts it with humbleresignation to his will;

nor shall the duty of a wife be totally absorbed in the feelings of
the mother; I will endeavour to appear more chearful, and by appearing

in some measure to have conquered my own sorrow, alleviate the sufferings
of my husband, and rouse him from that torpor into which this misfortune

has plunged him. My father too demands my care and attention:
I must not, by a selfishindulgence of my own grief, forget the

interest those two dear objects take in my happiness or misery:
I will wear a smile on my face, though the thorn rankles in my heart;

and if by so doing, I in the smallest degree contribute to restore
their peace of mind, I shall be amply rewarded for the pain

the concealment of my own feelings may occasion.
Thus argued this excellent woman: and in the execution of so

laudable a resolution we shall leave her, to follow the fortunes
of the haplessvictim of imprudence and evil counsellors.

CHAPTER XVI.
NECESSARY DIGRESSION.

ON board of the ship in which Charlotte and Mademoiselle were embarked,
was an officer of large unincumbered fortune and elevated rank,

and whom I shall call Crayton.
He was one of those men, who, having travelled in their youth,

pretend to have contracted a peculiarfondness for every thing foreign,
and to hold in contempt the productions of their own country;

and this affected partiality extended even to the women.
With him therefore the blushing modesty and unaffectedsimplicity

of Charlotte passed unnoticed; but the forward pertness of La Rue,
the freedom of her conversation, the elegance of her person,

mixed with a certain engaging JE NE SAIS QUOI, perfectly enchanted him.
The reader no doubt has already developed the character of La Rue:

designing, artful, and selfish, she had accepted the devoirs
of Belcour because she was heartily weary of the retired life

she led at the school, wished to be released from what she
deemed a slavery, and to return to that vortex of folly and

dissipation which had once plunged her into the deepest misery;
but her plan she flattered herself was now better formed:

she resolved to put herself under the protection of no man till
she had first secured a settlement; but the clandestine manner

in which she left Madame Du Pont's prevented her putting this plan
in execution, though Belcour solemnly protested he would make

her a handsome settlement the moment they arrived at Portsmouth.
This he afterwards contrived to evade by a pretended hurry of business;

La Rue readily conceiving he never meant to fulfil his promise,
determined to change her battery, and attack the heart of Colonel Crayton.

She soon discovered the partiality he entertained for her nation;
and having imposed on him a feigned tale of distress, representing Belcour

as a villain who had seduced her from her friends under promise
of marriage, and afterwards betrayed her, pretending great remorse

for the errors she had committed, and declaring whatever her affection
for Belcour might have been, it was now entirely extinguished,

and she wished for nothing more than an opportunity to leave a course
of life which her soul abhorred; but she had no friends to apply to,

they had all renounced her, and guilt and misery would undoubtedly
be her future portion through life.

Crayton was possessed of many amiable qualities, though the peculiar
trait in his character, which we have already mentioned,

in a great measure threw a shade over them. He was beloved for his
humanity and benevolence by all who knew him, but he was easy and

unsuspicious himself, and became a dupe to the artifice of others.
He was, when very young, united to an amiable Parisian lady, and perhaps

it was his affection for her that laid the foundation for the partiality
he ever retained for the whole nation. He had by her one daughter,

who entered into the world but a few hours before her mother left it.
This lady was universallybeloved and admired, being endowed with

all the virtues of her mother, without the weakness of the father:
she was married to Major Beauchamp, and was at this time in the same

fleet with her father, attending her husband to New-York.
Crayton was melted by the affected contrition and distress of La Rue:

he would converse with her for hours, read to her, play cards
with her, listen to all her complaints, and promise to protect

her to the utmost of his power. La Rue easily saw his character;
her sole aim was to awaken a passion in his bosom that might turn

out to her advantage, and in this aim she was but too successful,
for before the voyage was finished, the infatuated Colonel gave

her from under his hand a promise of marriage on their arrival
at New-York, under forfeiture of five thousand pounds.

And how did our poor Charlotte pass her time during a tedious
and tempestuous passage? naturally delicate, the fatigue and

sickness which she endured rendered her so weak as to be almost
entirely confined to her bed: yet the kindness and attention of

Montraville in some measurecontributed to alleviate her sufferings,
and the hope of hearing from her friends soon after her arrival,

kept up her spirits, and cheered many a gloomy hour.
But during the voyage a great revolution took place not

only in the fortune of La Rue but in the bosom of Belcour:
whilst in pursuit of his amour with Mademoiselle, he had attended

little to the interesting, inobtrusive charms of Charlotte, but when,
cloyed by possession, and disgusted with the art and dissimulation

of one, he beheld the simplicity and gentleness of the other,
the contrast became too striking not to fill him at once with

surprise and admiration. He frequently conversed with Charlotte;
he found her sensible, well informed, but diffident and unassuming.

The languor which the fatigue of her body and perturbation of her
mind spread over her delicate features, served only in his opinion

to render her more lovely: he knew that Montraville did not design
to marry her, and he formed a resolution to endeavour to gain her

himself whenever Montraville should leave her.
Let not the reader imagine Belcour's designs were honourable.

Alas! when once a woman has forgot the respect due to herself,
by yielding to the solicitations of illicit love, they lose all

their consequence, even in the eyes of the man whose art has betrayed them,
and for whose sake they have sacrificed every valuable consideration.

The heedless Fair, who stoops to guilty joys,
A man may pity--but he must despise. Nay, every libertine will

think he has a right to insult her with his licentious passion;
and should the unhappy creature shrink from the insolent overture,

he will sneeringly taunt her with pretence of modesty.
CHAPTER XVII.

A WEDDING.
ON the day before their arrival at New-York, after dinner,

Crayton arose from his seat, and placing himself by Mademoiselle,
thus addressed the company--

"As we are now nearly arrived at our destined port, I think
it but my duty to inform you, my friends, that this lady,"

(taking her hand,) "has placed herself under my protection.
I have seen and severely felt the anguish of her heart, and through

every shade which cruelty or malice may throw over her, can discover
the most amiable qualities. I thought it but necessary to mention my

esteem for her before our disembarkation, as it is my fixed resolution,
the morning after we land, to give her an undoubted title to my

favour and protection by honourably uniting my fate to hers.
I would wish every gentleman here therefore to remember that her

honour henceforth is mine, and," continued he, looking at Belcour,
"should any man presume to speak in the least disrespectfully of her,

I shall not hesitate to pronounce him a scoundrel."
Belcour cast at him a smile of contempt, and bowing profoundly low,

wished Mademoiselle much joy in the proposed union; and assuring
the Colonel that he need not be in the least apprehensive of

any one throwing the least odium on the character of his lady,
shook him by the hand with ridiculousgravity, and left the cabin.

The truth was, he was glad to be rid of La Rue, and so he was but freed
from her, he cared not who fell a victim to her infamous arts.