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The night so unhappy to Cornelia was very much more unhappy to Hyde He had sent his letter to her before eleven in the , and if Fortune were kind to hi Madame Jacobus Her departure froenius of his love, but he told hirown to perfection, and could, he hoped, stand in its own strength" Restlessly he watched the hours away, now bla bliss, then fidgeting and fearing disappoint When noon passed, and one o'clock struck, he rang for souessed very accurately the reason of delay

"Cornelia has been visiting or shopping," he thought; "and if it were visiting, no one would part with her until the last et home by dinner-time it is as much as I can expect I may as well eat, and then wait in what patience I can, another hour or two--yes, it will be two hours I will give her two hours--for she will be obliged to serve others before me Well, well, patience is my penance"

But in truth he expected the letter to be in advance of three o'clock "Twenty words will answer ht; "yes, ten words; and she will find or make the time to write them;" and between this hope and the certainty of three o'clock, he worried the minutes away until three struck Then there was a knock at his door and he went hastily to answer it Balthazar stood there with the longed-for letter in his hand He felt first of all that he must be quite alone with it So he turned the key and then stood a moment to examine the outside A letter from Cornelia! It was a joy to see his own name written by her hand He kissed the superscription, and kissed the white seal, and sank into his chair with a sigh of delight to read it

In a few e beyond all expression caer, despair cruelly assailed hi had ruined all his hopes He was for soreat cala, which required neords to explain it This trance of grief was followed by passionate i themselves away to an utter a the letter to the floor, but he lifted it again and went over the cruel words, forcing himself to read them slowly and aloud Every period was like a fresh sentence of death