656 FH-KXCH CONVULSIVES. 



three persons in a strange position ; but I thank you for having assigned me 

 the least ridiculous part, and thus do I discharge it. Pray retire. 



" Indignation gave strength to Indiana ; she rose up, tall and command- 

 ing. ' Who is this woman, then ?' said she to Raymon, ' and by what righ- 

 does she give me orders in your house ?' 



" ' You are in my house, Madame/ replied Laura. 



" ' But do speak,' said Indiana, shaking the arm of the unhappy man in a 

 transport of rage ; ' tell me, at once, is this your mistress or your wife ?' 



" ' My wife,' replied Raymon, with a stupified air. 



" ' I pardon your uncertainty, ' said Madame de Ramiere, with a cruel smile. 

 ' If you had remained where your duty placed you, you had received a letter, 

 informing you of this gentleman's marriage. Come, Raymon,* added she, in a 

 tone of caustic amenity, 'I pity your embarrassment; you'are somewhat young, 

 I hope you will learn that a little more prudence is requisite in life. I leave you 

 to conclude this absurd scene ; I shall laugh if you look so woe-begone." 



Indiana is again on the point of sinking under her misfortunes, 

 and again she is restored by the opportune interference of Sir Ralph 

 Brown. Pier husband had died on the night of her departure, with- 

 out being aware of the circumstance of her flight. But all the assi- 

 duity and tenderness of Sir Ralph were insufficient to cure the 

 disease of her mind ; so, finding all his efforts unavailable, he coolly 

 proposes one peculiar to himself. And what is that, think you, gentle 

 reader ? why nothing more or less than suicide, which he charac- 

 terizes as the principal superiority of man over the brute. After 

 examining the matter, both parties determine on adopting this 

 remedy. It only remains to fix upon how and when Sir Ralph cuts 

 this matter short, thus 



" ' I would die,' said he, ' joyfully, with brow serene, and eyes upturned 

 to heaven ; but not here. I will tell you, then, where suicide has appeared 

 to me under its most noble and most solemn aspect ; it is on the edge of a 

 precipice in the Isle of Bourbon ; it is from the sumnait of that cascade 

 which leaps forward translucent, and clothed with a glorious prism, in the 

 solitary ravine of Bernica ; it is there we have passed the sweetest hours of 

 our infancy ; it is there I have learnt to pray to hope ; it is there that I 

 would wish, on a fine night of those climes, to bury myself beneath the clear 

 waters, and to descend into the fresh and flowery tomb presented by the 

 depth of the green gulph.' " 



We question if, even in the pages of the most extravagant 

 romances, we could find a passage of similar absurdity; but we 

 must hasten to the conclusion of the drama. This proposal is 

 adopted ; they set sail for the Isle of Bourbon, and a three months' 

 voyage has a most decided effect in composing the mind of Indiana. 

 A change equally extraordinary, and equally beneficial, had taken 

 place in the mind of Sir Ralph. But this did not prevent them from 

 proceeding to carry their meditated scheme into effect. Arrayed in 

 their gayest attire, they stand above the fatal cataract, in the moon- 

 light, and, just before taking the leap that is to end their earthly sor- 

 rows, Sir Ralph gives vent to his long-compressed feelings, and 

 details the history of his profound attachment, from infancy down- 

 wards, of his sufferings and despair, in a strain of such impassioned 

 eloquence, that Indiana beholds him in a new light ; and they are, as 

 it were, miraculously preserved, to enjoy a life of the most exquisite 

 domestic felicity. 



