"I traced her hither, and should not have desisted from my search if I had not been checked by the plague, which attacked me on the night of my arrival.

I was taken to the pesthouse near Westbourne Green, where I have been for the last three weeks." "If she was brought to London, as you state," rejoined the grocer, "I cannot doubt but she has fallen a victim to the scourge." "It may be," replied Leonard, moodily, "and I would almost hope it is so.

When you peruse my letters, you will learn that she was carried off by the earl from the residence of a lady at Kingston Lisle, whither she had been removed for safety; and after being taken from place to place, was at last conveyed to an old hall in the neighbourhood of Oxford, where she was concealed for nearly a month." "Answer me, Leonard," cried the grocer, "and do not attempt to deceive me.

Has she preserved her honour ?" "Up to the time of quitting Oxford she had preserved it," replied the apprentice.

"She herself assured me she had resisted all the earl's importunities, and would die rather than yield to him.