I relied upon his integrity, as I did upon the promises of the Holy Scriptures.

I did hot urge him to explain the motives of his departure, satisfied that they were just and honorable.
"Oh! little did I think,--when he clasped me in a parting embrace when he committed us both so tenderly and solemnly to the guardianship of our Heavenly Father,--little did I think I should so soon seek to rend him from my heart as a vile, accursed monster; that I should shrink from the memory of his embraces as from the coils of the serpent, the fangs of the wolf.

God in his mercy veils the future, or who could bear the burden of coming woe! "A few days after his departure, as I was seated in the nursery, watching your innocent witcheries as you lay cradled in the lap of Peggy, I was told a lady wished to see me.

It was too early an hour for fashionable calls, and I went into the parlor expecting to meet one of those ministering spirits, who go about on errands of mercy, seeking the aid of the rich for the wants of the poor.
"A lady was standing with her back to the door, seemingly occupied in gazing at a picture over the mantel-piece, an exquisite painting of St.
James.

Her figure was slight and graceful, and she struck me at once as having a foreign air.